Week eight in the UFL continued today with a heavyweight showdown in St. Louis, as the Battlehawks hosted the Birmingham Stallions.
These two teams faced off a year ago in what was arguably the game of the year, with Birmingham just squeaking out a 30-26 victory at home.
This season, both teams are quite a bit different. All of a sudden, J’Mar Smith is the starting quarterback in Birmingham, as they’ve had a plethora of injuries on that end. Meanwhile, Max Duggan has St. Louis on track with three wins in a row, sitting at 5-2.
Let’s take a look at what went down in this one, as The Lou was once again an electric atmosphere, no surprise.
First Quarter
Birmingham received the opening kickoff, but St. Louis’ defense held them to a three and out. Lukas Denis came away with a PBU on a pass intended for Davion Davis, and the Stallions had to punt it away.
St. Louis couldn’t capitalize on the defensive stop, with Max Duggan completely missing Jahcour Pearson on a deep ball. Frank Darby proceeded to drop a 3rd down pass, and St. Louis sent it back. A couple of plays later, J’Mar Smith made the Battlehawks pay. He unloaded a deep ball to Deon Cain, who burned Chris Payton-Jones for the score – and Birmingham had an early 6-0 lead.
Gary Jennings coughed up the ball on the next kickoff return, with the Stallions recovering. St. Louis shot themselves in the foot early, giving the Stallions too much momentum. Birmingham ended up settling for a field goal, making it 9-0.
The Battlehawks were able to put it together on their next drive, courtesy of penalties. Birmingham committed a couple…