Wayne Gallman II #30 of the St. Louis Battlehawks rushes ahead of Johnson #32 during the first half at The Dome at America’s Center on May 19, 2024 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/UFL/Getty Images)
D.C. Defenders (3-4) at St. Louis Battlehawks (5-2)
This was the second of two meetings between the D.C. Defenders and St. Louis Battlehawks in 2024. The Defenders lead the all-time series 2-1. During the COVID-shortened 2020 season, D.C. beat St. Louis in week five at Audi Field (15-6). Last year, D.C. defeated St. Louis in week three at Audi Field (34-28) and week five at The Dome at America’s Center (28-20). In week five of this season, the Defenders fell to the Battlehawks (45-12) at Audi Field, the first loss for D.C. since the intense rivalry began.
A Battlehawks win over Washington, D.C., would clinch them a spot in the XFL Conference Championship Game. A D.C. loss could eliminate them from the playoffs if the Brahmas beat the Arlington Renegades in a 3:00 PM CT game that will be held after this matchup.
D.C.’s Paxton Brooks kicked off 69 yards and the Battlehawks Darrius Shepherd returned the ball to the St. Louis 29. Battlehawks quarterback Manny Wilkins passed to Hakeem Butler for 16 yards, and then handed to Saylors for a 4-yard run. A 4-yard pass to Jake Sutherland was followed by another pass to Shepherd that fell incomplete. On fourth and 2, a pass to Ja’Marcus Bradley was incomplete, and St. Louis turned the ball over on downs.
From his own 47-yard line, D.C. quarterback Jordan Ta’amu handed to Darius Hagans for a 9 yard rush, and then handed again to Hagans for 4 more yards and a first down. Ta’amu passed 7 yards to Kaden Smith, and then handed to Hagans for 3 yards. A pass to Alex Ellis was nearly intercepted, and then a handoff to Cam’Ron Harris gained one yard. On third and 9, Ta’amu could not complete a pass to Harris, and the Defenders settled for a 48-yard Matt McCrane field goal to make the score 3-0 for D.C.
The McCrane kickoff was returned by Darrius Shepherd to the St. Louis 37. Wilkins faked a handoff and ran up the middle for a 3-yard gain, and then Wilkins was sacked for a 15-yard loss. Wilkins kept the ball and scrambled, but gained zero yards. The Battlehawks were forced to punt.
Chris Rowland returned the Sterling Hofrichter punt to the D.C. 27. Ta’amu passed 8 yards to Brandon Smith, and then Ta’amu rushed 2 yards for the first down. A handoff to Harris gained 3 yards, and then Ta’amu passed to Ty Scott for a gain of 4 yards. On third and 4, Ta’amu completed a 5-yard pass to Smith to move the sticks to the St. Louis 46.
A handoff to Hagans gained 5 yards, and then a short pass to Smith lost 3 yards. On third and 8, Ta’amu passed 8 yards to Alex Ellis for another first down. Ta’amu handed the ball to Keke Coutee who found a seam and ran 19 yards to the St. Louis 21. A handoff to Hagans lost 5 yards, and then a Ta’amu pass was intercepted by Kameron Kelly and returned to the St. Louis 30-yard line.
Manny Wilkins kept the ball and rushed 9 yards as the first quarter ended.
The second quarter began with a 10 yards Wilkins rush for a first down. Wilkins passed to Butler but the ball fell incomplete, and then a pass to Shepherd was also incomplete. St. Louis head coach Anthony Becht challenged the play for defensive pass interference and won the challenge, giving the Battlehawks a first down on the D.C. 37-yard line.
Wilkins ran for a 13-yard gain, and then hit Butler with a completed pass, but St. Louis was penalized for an ineligible downfield pass. On first and 15, a handoff to Wayne Gallman gained 9 yards, and then Wilkins was sacked for an 11-yard loss. Wilkins threw a screen pass to Jacob Saylors who gained 14 yards on the play. On fourth and 3, Wilkins was pressured and scrambled, reaching out with the ball to barely gain the first down.
A handoff to Saylors gained 2 yards, and then another run by Saylors gained 3 more yards. On third down, Wilkins was pressured and threw the ball away. The Battlehawks settled for a 26-yard Andre Szmyt field goal to tie the game 3-3.
The Hofrichter kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 35-yard line. Ta’amu passed 9 yards to Ty Scott, and then passed to Harris for no gain, but D.C. was called for an illegal blindside block and penalized 15 yards. On second and 16, a handoff to Harris gained zero yards, and then a pass to Ellis gained 3 yards. The Defenders were forced to punt.
Paxton Brooks faked the punt and passed to Vyncint Smith, who was tackled by Gallman short of the first down marker. From the D. C. 41 yard line, Wilkins handed to Saylors for a 2-yard gain, and then passed 13 yards to Butler for a first down. Wilkins faked a handoff and ran left for no gain, but a D.C. face masking penalty gave the Battlehawks 15 yards and a first down.
A handoff to Saylors gained 4 yards, and then a pass to Kemari Averett gained 5 yards to the D.C. 2-yard line. On third down, a 1-yard run by Saylors gave St. Louis a fresh set of downs as the two-minute warning was announced.
A handoff to Saylors was stood up for a loss of a yard, and then another handoff to Saylors saw him fight his way into the end zone for the touchdown. The one-point conversion failed, to make the score 9-3 for St. Louis.
With 1:07 remaining, the Hofrichter kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 22-yard line. Ta’amu passed 6-yards to Rowland on the sideline, and then passed to Scott up the middle to gain 20 yards. On first down, Ta’amu kept the ball and ran for 2 yards, and then could not complete a pass to Rowland. On third down, Ta’amu was swarmed but managed to complete a 12-yard pass to Ty Scott.
With 0:28 remaining, Ta’amu was pressured, but completed a 6-yard pass to Rowland, and then Ta’amu could not find a target and rolled to the left and out of bounds for a loss of 1 yard. A pass to Brandon Smith was incomplete, and then Matt McCrane came out to attempt a 49-yard field goal, which was good to make the score 9-6 for St. Louis.
The Paxton Brooks kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 20 as the second quarter ended.
The second half began with Sterling Hofrichter kicking off 70 yards and D.C.’s Chris Rowland returning the ball to his own 37. A pass intended for Coutee was incomplete, and then Ta’amu rushed up the middle for a 12-yard gain. Ta’amu kept the ball and scrambled up the middle for 5 yards, and then a 6-yard pass to Rowland moved the markers to the St. Louis 41.
A pass across the middle to Smith fell incomplete, and then a pass to Hagans was dropped. On third and 10, Ta’amu completed an 11-yard pass to Smith to move the chains. Another pass to Smith was well-defended and batted away, and then Ta’amu was pressured and nearly sacked, but managed to pass 30-yards to a wide open Alex Ellis for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was good on a 5-yard pass to Ellis at the back of the end zone, to make the score 14-9 for D.C.
The Brooks kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 40. Wilkins was sacked for a 1-yard loss, and then completed a 17-yard pass to Averett. A handoff to Saylors gained 9 yards, and then Wilkins scrambled for 17 yards to the D.C. 13. Wilkins kept the ball again and ran 6 yards, and then handed to Gallman who rushed 7 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was good on a 5-yard pass to Averett, to make the score 17-14 for St. Louis.
The Hofrichter kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 33. Ta’amu passed deep to a well-defended Smith and the ball fell incomplete, and then handed to Hagans for a 2-yard gain. On third and 8, Ta’amu could not complete a pass to Coutee and the Defenders were forced to punt.
Darrius Shepherd fielded the punt at the St. Louis 30-yard line. Wilkins ran right and gained 3 yards before being tackled hard, and then a pass intended for Bradley went over his head. On third and 7, Wilkins scrambled left for 9 yards to move the markers. A handoff to Gallman was good for an 8-yard gain, and then another run by Gallman gained 4 yards for another first down.
Wilkins passed to Butler, but he was hit and could not hang onto the ball. A St. Louis offensive holding penalty pushed the Battlehawks back 10 yards. On first and 20, Gallman rushed for 1 yard, and then Wilkins had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage. On third down, Wilkins was blitzed but he passed to Butler for a gain of 10 yards. The Battlehawks opted to punt.
The punt was taken via fair catch at the D.C. 11-yard line. Ta’amu passed to Scott for a 6-yard gain as the third quarter ended.
A Jordan Ta’amu pass was tipped and intercepted by Qwynnterrio Cole at the D.C. 19-yard line. Wilkins handed to Saylors for no gain, and then passed to Sutherland for a gain of 9 yards. On third and 1, a pass intended for Steven Mitchell was incomplete. On fourth down, D.C. was penalized for encroachment, giving St. Louis a first down on the D.C. 4-yard line.
Wilkins passed to Butler in the end zone, but the pass was too high, and then Wilkins ran left and jumped into the end zone for a touchdown. An offensive holding call negated the play, and pushed the Battlehawks back 10 yards. After Wilkins recovered a low snap, he was sacked for a 5 yard loss, and then a pass to Bradley could not be caught. St. Louis settled for a 37-yard Andre Szmyt field goal to make the score 20-14 for St. Louis.
Rowland returned the kickoff to the D.C. 31-yard line. A handoff to Hagans gained 1 yard, and then Ta’amu fumbled, but recovered the ball only to throw the ball away. On third down, Ta’amu passed 11-yards to Rowland to move the sticks. A pass to Coutee was almost intercepted, and then a pass to Rowland gained 5 yards. On third down, Ta’amu completed a 6-yard pass to Coutee for a first down at the St. Louis 45.
A pass to Hagans was dropped, and then a pass intended for Coutee was well-defended and fell to the turf. On third down, with the crowd noise seeming to overcome Ta’amu, he ran 9 yards and was tackled about a yard shy of the first down marker. On fourth and 1, a handoff to Hagans gained 16 yards to the St. Louis 20.
Ta’amu passed 3 yards to Smith, and then passed 17 yards to Ty Scott for a Defenders touchdown. The one-point conversion pass was caught by Smith at the back of the end zone, to make the score 21-20 for D.C.
The Brooks kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 45-yard line. Wilkins handed to Wayne Gallman for a 4-yard run, and then setup a screen pass to Gallman who ran 38 yards to the D.C. 13. A late hit on Gallman drew a D.C. unnecessary roughness penalty, putting the ball on the D.C. 2-yard line.
A handoff to Gallman gained zero yards, and then another Gallman rush gained 1-yard, putting the ball inside the 1-yard line. On third down, Wilkins handed to Gallman a third time for the St. Louis touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 26-21 for St. Louis as the two-minute warning was announced.
The Hofrichter kickoff was returned by Rowland to the D.C. 45-yard line. Jordan Ta’amu threw an 18-yard pass to Brandon Smith, and then passed again to Smith but the ball fell incomplete. A pass to Hagans lost 3 yards, and then Ta’amu was sacked hard for a 10-yard loss. D.C. Defenders head coach Reggie Barlow challenged the play for roughing the passer and his challenge failed.
On fourth down and 24, with 0:55 remaining, Jalan McClendon came in at quarterback and completed a pass to Rowland short of a first down. After D.C. turned over the ball on downs, St. Louis went into victory formation and ran out the clock.
The final score was St. Louis Battlehawks 26, D.C. Defenders 21.
Box Score
SCORE BY QUARTER
TEAM 1 2 3 4 T
DC 3 3 8 7 21
STL 0 9 8 9 26
DC DEFENDERS
DC Defenders Passing
# PLAYER C-A YDS TD I C% RTG
10 Ta'amu, Jordan 23-40 196 2 2 57 105.2
17 McClendon, Jalan 1-1 17 0 0 100 242.8
47 Brooks, Paxton 1-1 8 0 0 100 167.2
DC Defenders Rushing
# PLAYER ATT YDS TD LNG AVG
28 Hagans, Darius 8 37 0 17 4.6
10 Ta'amu, Jordan 5 30 0 11 6
81 Coutee, Keke 1 19 0 19 19
03 Harris, Cam'Ron 3 3 0 2 1
DC Defenders Receiving
# PLAYER NO YDS TD LNG TGT YAC
19 Scott, Ty 6 69 1 20 7 14
12 Rowland, Chris 5 34 0 11 7 11
18 Ellis, Alex 4 59 1 30 5 13
02 Smith, Brandon 4 40 0 19 8 12
89 Smith, Kaden 3 9 0 7 3 0
86 Smith, Vyncint 1 8 0 8 1 4
81 Coutee, Keke 1 6 0 6 6 0
28 Hagans, Darius 1 -4 0 -4 3 0
03 Harris, Cam'Ron 0 0 0 0 1 0
DC Defenders Defense
# Player (Starter) TotTk Solo Sack TFL Int BrUp FF
57 Hines III, Anthony (LB) 7 3 0 0 0 0 0
32 Johnson, Isaiah 5 4 1 1 0 1 0
55 Sanogo, Momo (LB) 5 3 0 0 0 0 0
33 Harris, Trent (DE) 5 2 0 0 0 0 0
24 Kelly, Anthoula (CB) 4 3 0 0 0 0 0
50 Roberson, Derick 4 2 0 0 0 0 0
15 Joseph, Michael (CB) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0
92 Fisher, Malik (DE) 4 1 1 1 0 1 0
06 Gardner, Ferrod 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
21 Nicholson, Montae (SAF) 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
09 Anderson, Deontay 3 2 0 0 0 0 0
72 Barnes, T.J. (DT) 3 1 1 1 0 0 0
02 Smith, Brandon 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
03 Harris, Cam'Ron 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
48 Mintze, Andre 2 1 0.5 0 0 0 0
39 Ramirez, Santos (SAF) 2 1 0.5 0 0 0 0
38 Rouse, Nydair 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
28 Hagans, Darius 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
90 Scott, Niles (DT) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
05 Northrup II, Reggie 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
86 Smith, Vyncint 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
20 Conley, Gareon 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DC Defenders All Purpose Yards
Player Tot Rush Rec KOR PR IR-FR TDs
Rowland, Chris 208 0 34 161 13 0 0
Scott, Ty 69 0 69 0 0 0 1
Ellis, Alex 58 0 58 0 0 0 1
DC Defenders Punting
Punter NO YDS AVG LNG I20
Brooks, Paxton 1 38 38.0 38 0
DC Defenders Kick Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Rowland, Chris 6 161 27 36 0
DC Defenders Punt Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Rowland, Chris 1 13 13 13 0
DC Defenders Field Goals
Kicker Time Dist Result
McCrane, Matthew 1st-8:33 48 GOOD
McCrane, Matthew 2nd-00:06 49 GOOD
TOTAL 2-2 LONG OF 49
ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS
St. Louis Battlehawks Passing
# PLAYER C-A YDS TD I C% RTG
05 Wilkins, Manny 9-18 126 0 0 50 108.8
St. Louis Battlehawks Rushing
# PLAYER ATT YDS TD LNG AVG
05 Wilkins, Manny 12 80 0 17 6.7
30 Gallman II, Wayne 9 35 2 9 3.9
15 Saylors, Jacob 10 27 1 9 2.7
St. Louis Battlehawks Receiving
# PLAYER NO YDS TD LNG TGT YAC
88 Butler, Hakeem 3 39 0 16 6 16
80 Averett, Kemari 2 22 0 17 2 19
84 Sutherland, Jake 2 13 0 9 2 8
30 Gallman II, Wayne 1 38 0 38 1 40
15 Saylors, Jacob 1 14 0 14 1 14
22 Mitchell Jr., Steve 0 0 0 0 1 0
11 Shepherd, Darrius 0 0 0 0 1 0
18 Bradley, Ja'Marcus 0 0 0 0 3 0
St. Louis Battlehawks Defense
# Player (Starter) TotTk Solo Sack TFL Int BrUp FF
32 Cole, Qwynnterrio (FS) 7 5 0 0 1 1 0
27 Rose, Mike (MLB) 7 6 0 1 0 1 0
51 Harvey, Willie (LB) 6 3 1 2 0 2 0
48 Garrett, Chris 4 2 0 0 0 0 0
24 Hill, Lavert 4 2 0 0 0 0 0
04 Harris, Tim (CB) 4 4 0 0 0 4 0
29 Askew-Henry, Dravon 3 3 0 0 0 1 0
93 Pesefea Jr., T.J. 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 Kelly, Kameron (DB) 3 3 0 0 1 1 0
09 Payton-Jones, Chris(CB) 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
52 Jackson, Antwuan 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
02 Kennedy, Keylon 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
96 Smith, Kobe (DT) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 Gallman II, Wayne 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
20 Bolden, Nico 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
98 Akinmoladun, Freedo(DE) 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
56 Feeney, Travis (DE) 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
22 Mitchell Jr., Steve 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
85 Kapp, Jerome 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
99 Faoliu, Austin (DT) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
26 Wells, Carson 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
16 Hofrichter, Sterlin 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
07 Taumoepenu, Pita (DE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
St. Louis Battlehawks All Purpose Yards
Player Tot Rush Rec KOR PR IR-FR TDs
Shepherd, Darrius 117 0 0 117 0 0 0
Wilkins, Manny 84 79 0 0 0 5 0
Gallman II, Wayne 73 35 38 0 0 0 2
St. Louis Battlehawks Punting
Punter NO YDS AVG LNG I20
Hofrichter, Sterling 2 87 43.5 50 1
St. Louis Battlehawks Kick Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Shepherd, Darrius 5 117 23 32 0
St. Louis Battlehawks Punt Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Shepherd, Darrius 1 0 00 0 0
St. Louis Battlehawks Field Goals
Kicker Time Dist Result
Szmyt, Andre 2nd-7:59 26 GOOD
Szmyt, Andre 4th-11:25 37 GOOD
TOTAL 2-2 LONG OF 37
GAME COMPARISON
STAT DC STL
Total Yds 298 235
Pass Yds 209 94
Rush Yds 89 141
Penalties 6-66 3-25
1st Downs 17 18
3rd Downs 6-12 3-10
4th Downs 1-3 1-2
Total Plays 61 53
Avg Yds/Play 4.9 4.4
Avg Yds/Completion 8.4 10.4
Avg Yds/Rush 5.2 4.5
Sack-Adj Rush Yd(Avg) 100 (6.7) 173 (6.4)
Red Zone 1-1 3-5
Time of Poss 28:08 31:41
Turnovers (Def Pts Off) 2 (6) 0 (0)
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 1-0
Sacks (Def Yds) 4.0 (32.0) 2.0 (11.0)
TFL (Def Yds) 3 (17.0) 5 (22.0)
Alt. Kickoffs 0-0 0-0
