XFL St. Louis Battlehawks

Week 6 Battlehawks at Vegas Game Notes

Published on March 21, 2023 under XFL (XFL)
St. Louis Battlehawks News Release


SERIES NOTES

This is the first meeting in the XFL between the Battlehawks and Vipers. St. Louis will take its third-ranked scoring offense with 22.0 points/game against a Vegas defense that has allowed 26.8 points/game, the most in the North Division and second-most of the eight teams in the XFL.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The St. Louis Battlehawks begin a two-game road trip with a visit to Sin City to face the Vegas Vipers after splitting a two-game homestand. St. Louis beat the Arlington Renegades, 24-11, on Sunday, March 12 in their home opener at The Dome at America's Center followed by a 23-20 loss Saturday, March 18 to the D.C. Defenders.

The Battlehawks will finish their road swing with a contest against the South Division-leading Houston Roughnecks at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 2 at TDECU Stadium in Houston. The game will be televised on ESPN.

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.

DOWNED BY D.C.

The Battlehawks suffered their first home loss of the season, falling 28-20 to the D.C. Defenders on Saturday, in front of 35,868 fans at The Dome at America's Center.

QB A.J. McCarron and the St. Louis offense nearly made a fourth-quarter comeback. McCarron hit WR Steven Mitchell Jr. for a 50-yard touchdown pass with 4:19 left in the game, and the pair connected again on the ensuing two-point conversion to narrow what had been a 28-12 deficit to only eight points. The Battlehawks were driving again with 55 seconds remaining when D.C. intercepted a pass from McCarron.

After holding a 3-0 lead with 10:02 to play in the second quarter, St. Louis rallied from a 20-6 deficit with 12:24 left in the third quarter to close within one possession of D.C. when WR George Campbell caught his first touchdown of the year on a 5-yard pass from McCarron. D.C. scored its final touchdown of the game and a two-point conversion with 12:16 to play in the fourth quarter, which gave the Defenders a 16-point advantage.

VEGAS CONNECTIONS

Battlehawks OT Jaryd Jones-Smith played in three games for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, and WR Marcell Ateman played in one game for Las Vegas in 2021. Vipers defensive back Antonio Phillips is a native of St. Louis, graduating from Kirkwood High School before he went on to star at Ball State University.

PLAYERS TURNED COACHES

St. Louis and Vegas head coaches Anthony Becht and Rod Woodson will face each other for the first time as coaches, but they took the field several times as opponents during their respective playing careers.

Becht began his 11-year NFL career in 2000, and his first four seasons overlapped with the final years of Woodson's 17-year career. They played four games against one another from 2000-03.

Becht's New York Jets dropped a Week 17 game to Woodson's Baltimore Ravens in 2000 and two games to Oakland in the 2002 season after Woodson joined the Raiders. Becht got the last laugh, however, with a 27-24 Jets win over Oakland in Week 10 of the 2003 campaign. Becht caught a two-point conversion pass from QB Chad Pennington to tie the game, 24-24, with 1:09 left in the game and send it into overtime.

OFFICIAL WATCH PARTIES

The Battlehawks may be on the road, but St. Louis fans can still gather to celebrate on gamedays at our official watch party locations:

- Westport Social, 910 W Port Plaza Dr, St. Louis, MO 63146

- Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, MO 63102

- All 8 Syberg's locations

SCHEDULE CHANGE

The XFL, in partnership with the Walt Disney Company and ESPN, has announced a schedule change for the Battlehawks' Week 7 road game against the Houston Roughnecks at TDECU Stadium in Houston.

The contest is now scheduled to be played at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 2. The game will be televised on ESPN.

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 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 two of the rules that are unique to the XFL to good use in the first half of the season.

St. Louis is 7-for-12 on extra-point conversions this season. The Battlehawks were successful in Week 1 at San Antonio on their only three-point attempt of the year and converted their first successful one-point attempt in Week 4 vs. Arlington. They are 5-for-9 on two-point conversions.

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.

HILL'S THRILLS

RB Brian Hill produced more than 95 all-purpose yards for the second consecutive week. He rushed for 79 yards on 14 carries Saturday vs. D.C. to go with three receptions for 29 yards.

His performance against the Defenders followed his season high 89 rushing yards that were the most by any Battlehawks player this season in Week 4 vs. Arlington. His 18 carries against the Renegades are also a season high among St. Louis rushers.

Hill leads all XFL rushers with a 5.2 yards-per-carry average (min. 15 attempts), and his team-leading 255 rushing yards for the season rank third in the league. Hill has accounted for 58 percent of the Battlehawks' 440 rushing yards for the season.

His 40-yard run in the fourth quarter of Week 1 at San Antonio still stands as the third-longest rush by an XFL player this season.

HAKEEM THE DREAM

WR Hakeem Butler matched his season high with a game-high nine receptions Saturday vs. D.C. He also had a team-leading 86 receiving yards, which are his second most on the season behind only his 105 yards on nine catches in Week 3 at the Defenders.

The Iowa State alum has led the team in receiving yards in three of its five games and is the only Battlehawks receiver to catch at least nine passes in a game this season. Butler also leads the team with five first-down receptions on the year.

Butler's team-high four touchdown receptions are tied for the second most in the XFL this year. He also ranks second in the league with 30 catches, is T-3rd with 336 receiving yards and his five catches of 20-or-more yards are tied for third in the league.

DANGEROUS DARRIUS

WR Darrius Shepherd exploded for an 80-yard kickoff return to begin the second half Saturday vs. the D.C. Defenders, the longest kick return in the XFL this season. He also had a 52- yard return in the second quarter and finished the game with 155 yards on three returns after gashing D.C. for a season high 190 return yards when the teams met for a Week 3 matchup in Washington, D.C.

Shepherd has mustered 345 of his XFL-leading 569 return yards in two games against D.C. this season. He ranks second in the XFL with a 29.9 yards-per-return average and holds four of the five longest kick returns in the league through five weeks.

Shepherd also ranks second on the team with 20 receptions and 191 receiving yards, including a season-high eight catches for 91 yards in Week 4 vs. Arlington.

LEAGUE LEADERS

QB A.J. McCarron leads all XFL players with 12 total touchdowns. He is tied with Houston QB Brandon Silvers for the league lead with 11 passing touchdowns and had a 1-yard rushing touchdown in Week 2 at Seattle.

McCarron ranks third in the league with 108 completions for 1,086 passing yards on the season. He also sits T-3rd among XFL QBs with three rushes of 10-or-more yards.

The St. Louis defense ranks second in the league with 228 tackles on the year. LB Willie Harvey leads the team with 34 tackles, which are tied for the third most in the XFL.

LB Mike Rose follows with 28 tackles that are T-6th in the league.

FUMBLE FACTORY

The Battlehawks defense leads the league with eight takeaways via fumble this season. DL Kevin Atkins, DB Ben DeLuca and LB Travis Feeney are three of the four players with a league-high two fumble recoveries on the season. Feeney and DL LaCale London are tied for second in the league with two forced fumbles each.

St. Louis is also tied for second in the league with 12 takeaways, overall, behind only Houston's 16. The Battlehawks forced multiple turnovers in each of their first four games and hold an 12-9 turnover margin for the season.

ROAD WARRIORS

The Battlehawks are tied for the most road games played this season with three. They are also one of only two teams to win a league-high two road games through the first half of the season.

St. Louis is 2-1 away from The Dome at America's Center, while the D.C. Defenders are 2-0 in their pair of road contests.

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. The team went 2-0 in its two home games that season and is 1-1 at home in 2023.

Check out the St. Louis Battlehawks Statistics

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