This was the first ever matchup between these two franchises in the first ever game of the United Football League. Not to mention this game was billed as a “Battle of the Champions” with the Birmingham Stallions coming off of back-to-back USFL Championships in 2022 and 2023 and the Arlington Renegades having defeated the D.C. Defenders 35-26 to win the XFL Championship in 2023, despite going 4-6 in the regular season.
With the United Football League leaning into the rivalry between the USFL and XFL conferences, they kicked things off right with the two champions facing each other.
Since both spring leagues crowned a champion in 2023, many wondered what would have happened if the two teams played each other to decide an ultimate champion of spring football. Finally, they got their wish.
The Stallions’ Chris Blewitt kicked off and the ball was by Juwan Manigo to the midfield. A face-masking penalty on the return gave the Renegades 15 yards more.
Perez passed to Tyler Vaughns for a 7-yard gain and then passed again to Deontay Burnett for 4 yards and a first down. Perez handed to De’Veon Smith twice for a total 7-yard gain, and then a Perez was pressured and fumbled. The ball was recovered by the Stallions, who took over on their own 24-yard line.
Matt Corral passed short right to Jace Sternberger for an 18-yard gain. On third and nine Corral completed another pass to Sternberger for a first down at the Birmingham 43. Marable was given the ball and he was stuffed for small gain. On second and seven Corral’s pass was intercepted by Arlington’s Darren Evans at the Arlington 40-yard line.
Perez handed to running back De’Veon Smith twice for short gains, and then looked downfield to connect with Deontay Burnett for a 19-yard gain. Perez handed to Leddie Brown for a 3 yard gain, and then went back to Brown for another 3 yards.
It appeared that the coach to player communications was down and the Renegades were using hand signals.
Perez passed 6 yards to Burnett for a first down on the Birmingham 32. After a timeout, Perez kept it on the ground handing it to Brown for a 3-yard gain and then again to Brown for a 6-yard gain to the Birmingham 17. An Arlington false start penalty on 3rd and 1 moved the chains back. Then, a pass to Burnett was short of the first down. Arlington settled for a 38-yard Taylor Russolino field goal making the score 3-0 for Arlington.
Matt Corral started on his own 38-yard line. He had a pass tipped and then a handoff to Marable went nowhere. Finally, a 12-yard pass to Benjamin Victor moved the chains. Corral handed to Marable for a gain of 12 yards and again to Marable for 4 yards more. Marable was now getting holes to run through as another Marable run moved the ball 12 yards to the Arlington 9-yard line.
At the end of the first quarter the score is 3-0 for Arlington.
Corral kept handing to Marable, first for 2-yards, and then for 3-yards, putting the ball on the Arlington 5-yard line. Unfortunately, Birmingham took a delay of game penalty and the ball was moved back to the 9-yard line. On third down, Corral’s pass was incomplete. The Stallions were forced to kick a 27-yard Blewitt field goal, tying the score at 3-3.
The Blewitt kickoff traveled 62 yards and Juwan Manigo returned the ball to the Arlington 28-yard line. Perez handed to Brown for a 3-yard gain and then passed to Brown for 6 yards more. On third and inches Leddie Brown broke open a run for an 11 yard gain to near midfield.
Perez scrambled and was nearly sacked, but he managed to pick up a yard. Then, Perez passed deep to Isaiah Winstead for a 59 yard touchdown. Arlington inserted quarterback Lindsay Scott for a two point conversion attempt and were successful with a pass to Winstead. The score is now 11-3 for Arlington.
Taylor Russolino kicked off 52 yards and Deon Cain returned the ball to the Birmingham 28. Birmingham brought in Adrian Martinez at quarterback. Martinez handed to Ricky Person who rushed for 7 yards, and then again to person for another 5 yards and a first down. Martinez rushed for 15 yards, and then rushed again for 17 yards to put the ball on the Arlington 33.
Martinez passed incomplete to Cain and head coach Skip Holtz complained about pass interference. On third down, Martinez connected with Cain for a 12-yard gain. On third down, Martinez overthrew his intended receiver and was intercepted by Duron Lowe in the Arlington end zone.
Luis Perez started a drive on his own 25-yard line. A 9 yard pass to Seth Green and then a 3 yard run from De’Veon Smith moved the chains to the Arlington 38 just prior to the two-minute warning.
Perez hit Sal Cannella for an 8-yard pass and then passed incomplete to Tyler Vaughns. After throwing incomplete to Payton the Renegades were forced to punt. Amari Rogers returned the punt to the Birmingham 17.
Martinez was sacked on their own 16-yard line. A 13-yard pass up the middle to Marlon Williams was good for a first down, and then Martinez snapped the ball and took off for a 21-yard run to midfield. Unfortunately, Martinez was injured on the play and need help getting off the field.
Matt Corral came in and ran the ball 8 yards to the Arlington 41-yard line with 0:25 remaining in the half. Corral was pressured and passed incomplete to Victor. On third and one, Corral was pressured again and passed incomplete to Victor. On fourth and one with 0:13 on the clock Corral handed to Person and he ran for the first down on the Arlington 39.
With 0:09 left, the Stallions tried to run one more play before they attempted a field goal. Corral threw deep on the sideline to Deon Cain and completed a 39-yard pass for a touchdown. Birmingham attempted a two-point conversion and Corral threw complete to Person. The score was now tied 11-11.
Arlington took the kickoff and ran out the final three seconds on the clock. At half time the score was tied 11-11.
To start the second half, Taylor Russolino kicked off 67 yards. Deon Cain returned the ball to the Birmingham 31. Corral connected a 13-yard pass to Rogers for one first down, but could not do much more. The Stallions were forced to punt, and the ball went into the end zone for a touchback.
Perez took the ball on his own 25 yard line. He passed incomplete to Vaughns and then scrambled for a 5-yard gain. On third and five Perez completed a 5 yard pass for the first down.
On first down, Perez was sacked for a 6-yard loss. A short pass to De’Veon Smith was good for 6 yards but a 15-yard tripping penalty on Arlington gave them second and 30 on their own 18-yard line. A short pass to Vaughns was followed by an incomplete pass to Payton. On fourth down, Arlington was forced to punt.
Marquette King punted 62 yards to the Birmingham 20-yard line. Rogers returned the punt to the 40-yard line.
Corral handed to Marable for a 13-yard gain, and then handed to Marable again and he was tackles after a 1-yard gain. Corral passed to Person on the sideline and he tiptoed down the sideline for a 28-yard gain. A 15-yard rushing the passer penalty gave the Stallions the ball on the Arlington 4-yard line.
Corral handed to Marable and he rushed for 3 yards. With the ball on the 2-yard line Corral handed to Person who ran the ball left into the end zone. On the two-point conversion attempt Corral passed complete to Gary Jennings making the score 19-11 for Birmingham.
Blewitt kicked off to the Arlington 13 and Manigo returned the kickoff to his own 34-yard line. A 15-yard penalty against the Stallions moved the ball to the Birmingham 48.
Perez handed to De’Veon Smith for a 4-yard gain and then passed complete to Smith for a 9-yard gain and a first down. On thirs down Perez was pressured but he managed to pass to Payton for 16 yards. A handoff to Leddie Brown was good for 2 more yards and another handoff to Brown lost 2 yards. On third and 10, Arlington took a false start penalty. Now, on third and 15, Perez could not complete a pass to Manigo.
The Renegades settled for a 45-yard Russolino field goal to make the score 19-14 at the end of the third quarter.
To start the fourth quarter, the Russolino kickoff went 67 yards and was returned by Cain to the Birmingham 48-yard line. Corral handed to Marable who rushed for 3 yards. A second handoff to Marable was good for 2 more yards. Then, Corral passed 25 yards to Victor to move the markers to the Arlington 20.
Corral passed 4 yards to Person and then handed to Person for zero yards. On third down a short pass to Person was complete and Person stretched it out for a first down. Corral handed the ball to Marable for a 12-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion attempt drew a delay of game penalty. The Stallions reset, and Corral passed to Rogers who was ruled to have caught the pass with only one foot inbounds. Once the play was reviewed, Rogers was shown to have two feet inbounds and the conversion was awarded. The score was now 27-14 for the Stallions.
Perez started his drive and passed to Sal Cannella for a 9-yard gain to the Arlington 34-yard line. Scott came in at quarterback and rushed right for a 6-yard gain and a first down. Perez completed a 5-yard pass to Vaughns and then a 9-yard pass to Winstead. Then Perez passed down field and was intercepted by Mark Gilbert on the Birmingham 5-yard line.
The Stallions started their drive with two Ricky Person runs for 6-yards total. A delay of game penalty gave the Stallions third and 9, however Corral managed to pass 17 yards to Marlon Williams for a first down on their own 24-yard line. Marable ran for a one-yard pickup, and then a pass to Sternberger was incomplete. Another false start penalty set the Stallions back 5 yards, and then a 13-yard pass to Cain was one yard short of the first down. After review the Stallions were given the first down on their own 33-yard line with 4:44 remaining in the game.
Corral handed off to Amari Rogers for an 8-yard run, and then handed to Rogers again for 6 yards and a first down. The Stallions were effectively running out the clock on this drive.
Corral handed to Marable for a 5-yard rush, and again to Marable for no gain. Birmingham was penalized 5 yards for an illegal shift. Marable caught a short pass and ran for 8-yards to the Arlington 45-yard line at the two-minute warning.
The Stallions continued their time-eating drive, but faced fourth and 2 on the Arlington 34 with 0:27 remaining. Chris Blewit attempted a 53-yard field goal and hit the upright. The score remained 27-14 for Birmingham.
Perez started a drive and valiantly moved the ball to the Birmingham 10-yard line when time ran out.
The final score was 27-14 Birmingham over Arlington.
