‘Tiano Time’ leads Battlehawks to historic overtime win

ST. LOUIS — When quarterback Nick Tiano took the field for the St. Louis Battlehawks on Saturday, 35,167 fans at The Dome at America’s Center were taken by surprise.

You could hear the fans loudly ask, “Who’s this guy?” and, “Where’s A.J.?”

A.J. McCarron was out with a shoulder injury from last week’s road game at Houston, so it was up to Tiano to continue the Battlehawks’ winning ways. The 26-year-old out of Chattanooga completed 19 of 34 passes for 184 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in his first-ever professional start, leading the Battlehawks to a 21-17 win over the Vegas Vipers in the first-ever overtime finish in XFL history.

“I’m sure he’d like to have a couple of throws back, but I thought Nick did a good job in a tough spot,’’ Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said. “His leadership and positivity throughout the game were good. Quarterback is not an easy position to play and it’s been a while since he’s played in a game.”

The Battlehawks (6-2) trailed the Vipers (2-6) the entire game. Down 11-0 in the second quarter, Tiano scored his first touchdown on a 32-yard pass to Hakeem Butler. He then ran up the middle for the two-point conversion, colliding with Vegas linebacker D.J. Calhoun at the goal line, helicoptering his way into the end zone for an 11-8 score.

“I knew there was gonna be a collision at the goal line,” Tiano said. “I've been doing that my whole career. I feel like it's just kind of instinct at that point, just lowered the head and do whatever you got to do to get in.”

With a scoreless third quarter and another touchdown by Vegas to increase the deficit to 17-8, hope seemed fleeting for St. Louis when punter Sterling Hofrichter entered the field on 4th-and-6 with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter. He turned heads with a pass to a wide-open Gary Jennings, who made a mad dash 64 yards toward the end zone.

“It was looking grim. There wasn’t a lot for us to hang our hats on today, but I do know our guys will fight,’’ Becht said. “We had a couple of strategic plays go our way.”

Hofrichter punted at Syracuse and in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has never thrown a pass in a football game before Saturday. He said he grew up playing baseball as a middle infielder but originally wanted to play catcher.

Just like a catcher, he received the ball and immediately threw it down the field.

“Honestly, everything happened so fast that I feel like I didn't have any time to react to anything,” Hofrichter said. “I caught the ball looking out and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Gary is wide open.’ I was like just give them a ball, he can catch it and get a first down at least. Gary just turned on his burners and left everyone in the dust.”

Sometimes games are decided by which special teams unit can pull off the fake play. Vegas tried a fake field goal and failed, one that Vipers head coach Rod Woodson regrets calling.

“We saw where the rush was coming from,” Woodson said. “I should have called timeout and canceled (the fake). I take two losses now. The Seattle loss (on March 4) is mine, too, when we should have run the ball at the end of the game.”

After two-quarters of offensive frustration, Tiano had one more opportunity to march the offense down the field and set up a game-tying field goal with seconds to spare. Tiano held up his end and Donny Hageman finished the objective with a 34-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to force the first overtime in league history.

Overtime in the XFL is determined by three alternating two-point tries from the 5-yard line, similar to a shootout in hockey.

Vegas appeared to score on its first try, but an official review showed the pass play to Cam Sutton came up short of the goal line after being brought down by linebacker Willie Harvey.

Tiano’s pass to Butler gave St. Louis its first lead of the game, up 19-17. The Vipers’ hopes of winning ended on an offensive pass interference call in the second attempt and a run up the middle from running back Brian Hill to clinch the 21-17 win for the Battlehawks.

“Didn’t like the last two calls,” Woodson said. “I think the refs need to stay out of the frickin’ game, but they didn’t. They don’t, especially when we play. And we lose.”

Tiano started his college career at Mississippi State before transferring to Chattanooga, where Tiano passed for over 2,700 yards as a junior in 2018 and over 2,200 yards in 2019 as a senior.

“I played with Nick back on the 2020 NFLPA Bowl, and I knew what he's capable of, a lot of guys here knew what he's capable of,” Hofrichter said. “We all stood behind him and knew he could get the job done.”

Tiano completed 1 of 2 passes for 5 yards in a limited relief appearance last week at Houston. Becht said McCarron felt ready to play this week but holding him back was a strategic move for his health and the upcoming games.

“That was my decision,” Becht said. “He was adamant about playing. He was adamant about being in this game. Quite frankly, you got to take out a player's hand sometimes and, look out for him long term and really for this football team.”

Becht expects McCarron to be ready to go on Sunday, April 16, when the Seattle Sea Dragons come to town.

“It worked out from a win standpoint,” Becht said. “Hopefully it works out for him as well, getting his body where it needs to be.”