Battlehawks narrowly edge Brahmas in AJ McCarron’s return, secure home-field advantage in playoffs

The Battlehawks’ first game of the UFL season ended in a loss after a long field goal from the Michigan Panthers.

Anthony Becht wasn’t ready to see it happen again in the final game of the regular season.

With a new block package in place for scenarios like this, the head coach of the St. Louis Battlehawks watched as his special teams unit blocked San Antonio Brahmas kicker Ryan Santoso’s last-second field goal to secure a 13-12 win on Saturday, June 1, at the Dome at America’s Center.

“That’s pressure in that moment for that kicker,” Becht said. “

Kemari Averett was credited for blocking Santoso’s kick. He said the team practices blocking field goals every Thursday and was ready for his moment.

“It was my time in the game and I was able to block it,” Averett said. “We take pride in our presence.”

Hakeem Butler tipped Santoso’s first kick to send it wide right but it was called back due to Becht calling a timeout to ice the kicker.

“We weren’t going to freeze them if we didn’t get that penalty, felt that was a distance maybe he was just not exact from,” said Becht, referring to the neutral zone infraction penalty that moved San Antonio’s offense up five yards. “But as it got moved up with that silly penalty we had jumping offsides, we made the move.”

Much like the previous home game, the pair of field goals from kicker Andre Szmyt made all the difference for the Battlehawks. Szmyt’s second kick was made possible by a 41-yard punt return by Darius Sheppard.

“I think the effort on special teams has been elite,” Becht said.

All this was possible because of the Battlehawks coaching staff spotting a penalty during the Brahmas 2-point conversion that would’ve been the go-ahead play. A review showed that the conversion was good, but that’s when Becht issued a super challenge that showed an ineligible downfield pass that went unnoticed by the referees and the Battlehawks got a do-over that they converted on in forcing an incomplete pass and maintaining their one-point lead.

“I finally got one right,” Becht said. “That’s been a struggle trying to pick up the right way to use it.”

It was a battle of two of the top defenses in the UFL and it lived up to the billing. Willie Harvey led the team with a game-high 10 tackles to finish the regular season with a team single-season-record 78 tackles and 43 solo tackles. Kameron Kelly intercepted his team-high third pass of the season.

With the win, the Battlehawks (7-3) clinch home field advantage against the Brahmas (7-3) in the XFL Conference Championship Game on Sunday, June 9. The last time this venue hosted a playoff football game was 20 years ago.

Upon leaving the field, Becht turned towards the fans, telling them to “show up next week.”

“All St. Louis fans, anybody that lives in the city of St. Louis needs to show up for this game, Becht said.

34,379 fans showed up to the regular season finale, which is 17 more than their average through the first four home games. The rest of the league averaged 9,834 prior to Week 10 and San Antonio, which was the site of the XFL Championship Game last year, has an average attendance of 11,888 per game.

There’s an expectation that the rest of the upper bowl at the Dome will be open for purchase.

“You guys continue to show up and it is vital, vital that St. Louis comes in droves,” Becht said. “We need them to bring one friend and this place is full.”

Quarterback AJ McCarron came back from missing the previous two games due to an ankle injury but was rusty in his return. The veteran completed 10-of-24 passes for 115 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

McCarron hit wideout Jahcour Pearson for a 21-yard completion, and then a 22-yard touchdown pass to Steven Mitchell Jr. to break a scoreless tie in the second quarter.

Becht probably could have given McCarron another week of rest, given that the only thing on the line between these two teams was who was going to host the playoff game next week. He opted to throw him in on Saturday to allow him to shake off the rust in time for the playoffs.

“It’s a constant conversation,” Becht said. “He’s got an ankle injury and it was my decision to hold him back for a couple weeks. He wanted to play two weeks ago, but this isn’t something that’s going to heal. It is what it is. We’re just trying to manage it, and I thought he looked great today.”

A much better version of McCarron can be expected in Round 2.