Battlehawks Game Notes
April 12, 2023 - XFL (XFL)
St. Louis Battlehawks News Release
SERIES NOTES
This is the second meeting in the XFL between the Battlehawks and Sea Dragons this season and third, overall. St. Louis has won both of the previous matchups, beating Seattle 23-16 at home in 2020 and 20-18 on the road in Week 2 of the 2023 season. The Battlehawks hold a 1.0-game lead over Seattle for the second and final playoff spot in the XFL North Division.
PLAYOFF PUSH
The St. Louis Battlehawks will play the second game of their three-game homestand Sunday against the XFL North Division-rival Seattle Sea Dragons, who sit in third place in the division. A win over Seattle would clinch a spot for St. Louis in the XFL North Division Championship Game at 2 p.m. CT on April 30 against the D.C. Defenders.
St. Louis will finish the regular season with an 11 a.m. CT kickoff Saturday, April 22 against the Orlando Guardians at The Dome at America's Center. The game will be televised on ESPN. Tickets are available at XFL.com/tickets.
FAMILIAR FACES
- Battlehawks Head Coach Anthony Becht played for the St. Louis Rams in 2008.
- Offensive Coordinator Bruce Gradkowski (2008), Defensive Line Coach La'Roi Glover (2006-08), Running Backs Coach Art Valero (2008-09), Wide Receivers Coach Ricky Proehl (1998-2002), Linebackers Coach Chris Claiborne (2005), Director of Player Personnel Dave Boller (2004-07) and Vice President of Team Business and Event Operations Brandon Williams (2007) were also part of the St. Louis Rams organization.
- Running Back Brian Hill graduated from Belleville West High School.
- Wide Receiver Darrius Shepherd (Blue Springs) and Defensive Lineman Freedom Akinmoladun (Grandview) are both from western Missouri.
KARDIAC KAWS, PART 3
The Battlehawks completed their third fourth-quarter comeback of the season with a 21-17 victory Saturday over the Vegas Vipers at The Dome at America's Center in the first overtime game in XFL history.
St. Louis trailed 17-8 with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter when P Sterling Hofrichter completed a 64-yard touchdown pass to WR Gary Jennings on a fake punt that pulled the Battlehawks to within three points, 17-14. K Donny Hageman then tied the game at 17 points with 15 seconds left in regulation.
The Battlehawks stopped each of the first two Vegas twopoint conversion attempts in overtime, and the Battlehawks scored on both of their own to clinch the four-point victory with a 5-yard catch by WR Hakeem Butler from QB Nick Tiano on the first attempt and a 5-yard rush by RB Brian Hill on the second.
Vegas had built an 11-0 lead through the first 16 minutes of game play with a touchdown, two-point conversion and field goal. St. Louis narrowed the deficit to 11-8 with 10:57 left in the second quarter when Tiano and Butler connected for a 32-yard score, followed by a 5-yard run by Tiano to complete a two-point conversion.
The score remained 11-8 into the fourth quarter when Vegas scored a touchdown with 7:09 left to increase its lead to nine points before St. Louis responded with 13 unanswered points.
#FILLTHETOP
Battlehawks fans have set the top three attendance marks in XFL history with a record 38,310 fans in the Week 4 home opener against the Arlington Renegades at The Dome at America's Center followed by 35,868 in Week 5 vs. the D.C. Defenders and 35,167 in Week 8 vs. Vegas. The Battlehawks also held the previous top mark of 29,554, which was set by St. Louis in the 2020 home opener.
Tickets in all seating levels for the Battlehawks two remaining home games are available at xfl.com/tickets.
EMERALD CITY CONNECTIONS
Several members of the Battlehawks grew up in the Seattle area, played at a nearby university or spent time with the city's NFL franchise.
DT Taniela Tupou was born in Marysville, WA, played at Washington collegiately and signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2016. He also played for the Seattle Sea Wolves of Major League Rugby in 2020.
LB Lakiem Williams is a Tacoma, WA, native who also signed with the Seahawks, spending time on their practice squad from 2021-22.
LB Travis Feeney, meanwhile, attended Washington from 2012- 15, recording 125 tackles in 38 career games for the Huskies before being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
WR Gary Jennings was selected by the Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, while running backs coach Art Valero was an offensive line coach for Seattle in 2010.
WR Austin Proehl played for the Seattle Dragons during the 2020 XFL season and caught the first touchdown in XFL history on Feb. 8, 2020, a 31-19 home loss to the D.C. Defenders.
WE MEET AGAIN
St. Louis Battlehawks Head Coach Anthony Becht and Seattle Sea Dragons Head Coach Jim Haslett were both part of the 2008 St. Louis Rams squad. Becht played tight end for the Rams while Haslett took over as the interim head coach four games into the season.
Becht also faced off against the Haslett-led New Orleans Saints three times during his playing career. He caught two passes for 34 yards in a 2001 Week 8 matchup in New Orleans while playing for the New York Jets. Becht then faced Haslett's Saints twice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005. Becht's teams won all three contests.
RULES, RULES, RULES
The XFL has brought back several popular, unique rules from the 2020 season while also implementing new, innovative rules for the 2023 season.
Rules such as tiered extra points and double forward passes return, as well as kickoffs in which teams line up five yards apart. The kickoff rule led to fewer injuries and a 92 percent return rate in 2020.
New rules include an extra possession option in the fourth quarter only, teams may now attempt to retain possession by converting a 4th-and-15 play from their own 25-yard line. Teams can utilize an onside kick at any point in the game, but must notify the referee they plan to do so.
The play clock has been increased from 25 to 35 seconds, and each team will have three timeouts to use each half rather than the two at their disposal in 2020.
The league also has new overtime procedures. If a game is tied at the end of regulation, both teams will be given three, alternating two-point conversion opportunities from the 5 yard line. The team with the most points after those three rounds is declared the winner. If the opponents are still tied after three rounds, individual rounds will follow until one team scores and the other does not.
The XFL is also introducing a first of its kind, centralized 'command center' for instant replay review and officiating led by Dean Blandino, Vice President of Officiating and Playing Rules Innovation. The fully cloud-based instant replay program offers live integration during replay reviews and oversight of officiating discrepancies during all 43 XFL games.
USEFUL INNOVATIONS
The Battlehawks have put three of the rules that are unique to the XFL to good use through the first eight weeks of the season.
St. Louis is 13-for-23 on extra-point conversions this season. The Battlehawks were successful in Week 1 at San Antonio on their first of two three-point attempts of the year and converted their second successful one-point attempt in Week 7 at Houston. They are 10-for-15 on two-point conversions.
The Battlehawks were also flawless in the first overtime in league history in Week 8 vs. Vegas. They stopped each of the first two conversion attempts by Vegas and then scored on both of their own to clinch a 21-17 victory.
QB A.J. McCarron and WR Austin Proehl teamed up in Week 1 with the 4th-and-15 extra possession option in the fourth quarter at San Antonio. McCarron hit Proehl for a 22-yard gain to begin the Battlehawks' six-play, 75-yard drive that ended with the game-winning touchdown on a 14-yard pass from McCarron to Proehl. The Battlehawks are 1-of-2 on 4th-and-15 extra possession attempts this season.
LEAGUE LEADERS
QB A.J. McCarron leads the XFL with 18 total touchdowns, 17 touchdown passes and a 17-4 touchdown/interception ratio. His 68.85 percent completion percentage ranks second in the league behind Orlando QB Quinton Dormady's 68.90 percent mark (min. 20 pass attempts). McCarron also sits second in the league with 157 completions and 1,544 passing yards, behind only Seattle's Ben DiNucci (195/2,072).
WR Darrius Shepherd leads the league with 701 kick return yards, and his 26.0 yards/kick return average ranks second (min. 2 returns). WR Gary Jennings' 23.5 yards/reception mark is tops in the XFL (min. 2 catches), and his 22.20 mph max running velocity as tracked by Catapult was the fastest in the XFL through the first seven weeks. St. Louis held three of the top four speeds, with DB Tim Harris clocking in at 22.12 mph and LB Carson Wells at 21.88 mph.
'T-RAV'-IS
LB Travis Feeney led the Battlehawks defense in Week 8 vs. Vegas with a team-high two tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and five solo tackles as part of his season-high eight tackle performance.
Feeney has mustered a sack in each of his last three games and leads the team with 4.5 sacks for the season. He has also accumulated five tackles for loss in his last three games. His seven tackles for loss on the season are the most among Battlehawks defenders and T-6th in the league.
He also has three forced fumbles on the year, which lead the team and tie him for the league lead in that category with four others. Feeney is also one of three St. Louis players with a team-high two fumble recoveries, which are also tied for the most in the league.
SPEAKING DEFENSIVELY
The St. Louis defense held Vegas to six points Saturday after the second play of the second quarter through the end of overtime. The Battlehawks have allowed fewer than 20 points in all six of their victories. Their 18.0 points allowed per game is the lowest in the XFL North Division and ranks third lowest in the league, overall. The defensive corps also ranks second in the league with 357 tackles on the year. LB Willie Harvey had a team-high nine tackles in Week 8 vs. Vegas and leads the team with 48 tackles, which are the sixth most in the XFL.
LB Carson Wells had a season-high eight tackles and a 0.5 sack vs. Vegas. He ranks second on the team with 2.5 sacks, second with five tackles for loss and third with 36 total tackles.
TURNOVER TERRITORY
The Battlehawks defense leads the XFL with 17 takeaways, including a league-high 10 via fumble this season. DL Kevin Atkins, DB Ben DeLuca and LB Travis Feeney are three of the eight players with a league-high two fumble recoveries on the season. Feeney is tied for the league lead with three forced fumbles, while DT LaCale London is T-6th with two. DBs Lavert Hill and Nate Meadors are T-5th in the league with a teamhigh two interceptions each. The Battlehawks have forced multiple turnovers in six of their eight games and hold a 17-14 turnover margin for the season.
HAKEEM THE DREAM
WR Hakeem Butler caught his team-leading sixth touchdown pass of the season on a 32-yard reception in the second quarter for the Battlehawks' first score of Saturday's Week 8 victory over Vegas. He also caught a 5-yard pass to give St. Louis a 19-17 lead on the team's first two-point conversion attempt of overtime.
Butler is tied with Houston WR Deontay Burnett for the league lead in touchdown receptions. Butler also ranks third in the XFL with a team-high 42 catches for the season, while his team-leading 435 receiving yards rank fifth. He is also T-3rd in the league with six catches of at least 20 yards.
The Iowa State alum has led the team in receiving yards in three games and is the only Battlehawks receiver to catch at least nine passes in a game this season. He accomplished the feat in both Week 3 and Week 5 against D.C.
HOME SWEET DOME
The Battlehawks will hold their five home games at The Dome at America's Center. The Dome was constructed in 1995 and hosted NFL games from 1995-2015.
A multi-purpose facility that has hosted a wide variety of events in its nearly three decades, the Dome also hosted the Battlehawks during the 2020 season before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to suspend operations. The team went 2-0 in its two home games that season and is 2-1 at home in 2023.
XFL Stories from April 12, 2023
- The XFL Week Ahead: Week 9 - XFL
- Seattle Sea Dragons Game Notes - Seattle Sea Dragons
- D.C. Defenders Game Notes - D.C. Defenders
- Arlington Renegades Game Notes - Arlington Renegades
- Houston Roughnecks Game Notes - Houston Roughnecks
- Vegas Vipers Game Notes for Week 9 vs. Houston Roughnecks - Vegas Vipers
- XFL Play of the Week: Week 8 - St. Louis Battlehawks
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