In this Week 8 matchup, the Houston Roughnecks traveled to Birmingham to take on the undefeated Stallions. This was the second time the two teams faced each other this season, with their first meeting in Week 5 going the Stallions way as they beat the Roughnecks 32-9 in Houston’s Rice Stadium.
The Birmingham Stallions are on a winning streak, with the last time they lost a game being in Week 5 of the USFL season. Ironically, they lost to the Houston Gamblers, a team that became the UFL’s Roughnecks. Essentially, these Roughnecks are looking to duplicate the success they had in 2023 against the Stallions.
When it comes to future fortunes, these two teams are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Birmingham Stallions have booked their ticket to the USFL Conference finals and are looking for a win to help them get home field advantage in that game. Meanwhile, the Houston Roughnecks have been knocked out of playoff contention and are playing for pride and film.
The Ramiz Ahmed kickoff went 65 yards and Reggie Roberson returned the ball to the Houston 40. Houston Roughnecks quarterback Reid Sinnett’s first pass was batted down, and then Sinnett handed to T.J. Pledger who gained one yard. On third and 9, Sinnett was pressured and threw a pass that was intercepted by A.J. Thomas and returned to midfield.
After an encroachment penalty spotted the Stallions 5 yards, Birmingham quarterback Adrian Martinez handed to Ricky Person for a loss of 2 yards, and then a pass to Marlon Williams was dropped. On third and 7, Martinez ran for 14 yards and moved the markers. Martinez passed incomplete to the end zone, and then a pass to Deon Cain was not able to be caught. A third down pass to Kevin Austin moved the chains 15 yards to the Houston 16.
Martinez handed to Person for a 5-yard run, and then passed to Williams for 2 more yards. On third and 3, Martinez passed 9 yards to Deon Cain for a Stallions touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 6-0 for Birmingham.
Roberson returned the Ahmed kickoff to the Houston 30. Nolan Henderson came in at quarterback for Houston. Henderson passed 5 yards to Pledger, and then could not complete a pass intended for Cyril Grayson. On third down, Henderson was nearly picked off on a pass intended for Justin Hall. The Roughnecks were forced to punt.
The Hunter Niswander punt was returned by Amari Rodgers to the Houston 46-yard line. Martinez passed to Jace Sternberger for an 18 -yard gain, and then handed to Person for a 5-yard run. Another handoff to Person gained 3 yards, and then Martinez tossed to Marcus Baugh for a 12-yard gain to move the markers to the Houston 12. A handoff to Binjimen Victor was taken 12 yards into the end zone for a Birmingham touchdown. The two-point conversion failed when Martinez was sacked, making the score 12-0 for Birmingham.
Anthony Ratliff-Williams returned the Ahmed kickoff to the Birmingham 45. After a false start penalty, Reid Sinnett handed to Mark Thompson for a 1-yard gain, and then passed 12 yards to Emmanuel Butler. On third and 2, Thompson ran 37 yards for a Roughnecks touchdown. Birmingham head coach Skip Holtz challenged the play for offensive holding, but his challenge failed. On the two-point conversion, a 5-yard catch by Hall made the score 12-8 for Birmingham.
The J.J. Molson kickoff went 69 yards and was returned by Cyril Grayson to the Birmingham 47. Martinez handed to Person for a 12-yard rush, and then passed to Cain for a 3-yard gain. A 10-yard pass to Jordan Thomas moved the markers to the Houston 28. After a false start penalty, a pass to Cain fell incomplete. Then, Martinez was pressured and scrambled for 8 yards as the first quarter ended.
On third and 8, a Martinez pass fell incomplete and the Stallions settled for a 45-yard Ramiz Ahmed field goal to make the score 15-8 for Birmingham.
Roberson returned the Ahmed kickoff to the Houston 37. Nolan Henderson was pressured and tossed to Keke Chism for a 2-yard gain. A pass to Chism was not caught, but a defensive pass interference penalty gave the Roughnecks a first down on the Houston 44. After a false start penalty, Henderson scrambled for a 3-yard gain. On second and 12, Henderson passed 8 yards to Hall, and then passed 8 yards to Chism to move the chains to the Birmingham 41.
Birmingham blitzed Henderson and he threw the ball away, and then Henderson scrambled for a 7-yard gain. On third and 3, a handoff to Thompson only gained 1 yard. On fourth and 2, J. J. Molson attempted a 51-yard field goal which was wide to the left.
Adrian Martinez started a drive on the Birmingham 41-yard line. He handed to Larry Rountree for a 1-yard run, and then passed deep right and was intercepted by Donald Rutledge Jr., who returned the ball to the Houston 26.
Reid Sinnett handed to Pledger for a 2-yard run, and went back to Pledger for 4 more yards. On third and 4, Sinnett could not find a target and ran the ball 13 yards himself. A handoff to Pledger gained 2 yards, and then a pass to Chism was well-defended and batted away. On third and 8, Sinnett was pressured and nearly sacked, but he managed to deliver a 30-yard pass to Justin Hall on the Birmingham 28.
Sinnett’s pass intended for Butler fell incomplete, and then a handoff to Thompson gained 5 yards. On third and 5, Sinnett completed a pass to Hall who fought for 21 yards to the Birmingham 2-yard line. A run by Thompson was stuffed for no gain as the two-minute warning was announced.
A 2-yard run by Mark Thompson was good for a Roughnecks touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 15-14 for Birmingham.
The Molson kickoff was returned by Gary Jennings to the Birmingham 29. Martinez passed short to Person, and then a pass to Deon Cain gained 6 yards. On third down, Martinez was pressured and was nearly intercepted on a pass to Person. Birmingham was forced to punt, but a defensive offside penalty gave the Stallions a first down.
Martinez passed 12 yards to Cain, and then scrambled for 1 yard. With 0:50 remaining, Martinez was stripped of the ball, and the play was determined to be an incomplete pass. On third and 9, Martinez passed 13 yards to Sternberger to move the markers to the Houston 34.
Martinez passed 19 yards to Marlon Williams, and then tossed 8 yards to Ricky Person. Another pass to Person gave the Stallions a first down on the Houston 8, and then Martinez ran the ball himself for a 4-yard touchdown. On the two-point conversion Martinez was pressured, but managed to complete a pass to Thomas in the end zone. However, an illegible man downfield penalty negated the play. The conversion play was re-run and failed.
With 0:07 remaining in the half, Birmingham led 21-14.
The Ahmed kickoff was returned to the Houston 34 as the clock ran out.
The third quarter began with Gary Jennings returning the Molson kickoff to the Birmingham 38-yard line. Martinez handed to Rountree for a 3-yard run, and then a pass to Rodgers gained 6 more yards. On third and 1, Martinez tossed to Rountree who gained 8 yards for the first down. Martinez was pressured and scrambled 10 yards to move the markers to the Houston 35.
A double reverse to Deon Cain was good for a 10-yard gain, but he was stripped of the ball. After a scramble, Larry Rountree came up with the ball for Birmingham. After a neutral zone infraction penalty against Houston, Martinez passed to Austin for a 5-yard gain.
On first and goal from the Houston 10-yard line, a pass to Amari Rogers in the end zone could not be reeled in. Martinez passed incomplete to Sternberger, and then a 10-yard pass to Rodgers scored a Stallions touchdown. The one-point conversion was good on a 2-yard pass to Jordan Thomas, to make the score 28-14 for Birmingham.
Roberson fumbled on the kickoff return, and the ball was recovered by Houston’s D’Juan Hines on the Houston 25. Nolan Henderson handed to Pledger for a 7-yard run, and then passed to Chism for a 7-yard gain and a first down. Henderson passed to Chism for 6 yards, and then passed 8 yards to Pledger to move the markers to the Houston 46.
A handoff to Pledger gained 8 yards, and then a 20-yard pass to Chism moved the markers to the Birmingham 34. A handoff to Pledger gained 6 yards, and then a 24-yard pass to Grayson put the ball on the Birmingham 5. Henderson passed to Braedon Bowman, but the ball was batted down. Then, a handoff to Pledger gained 2 yards. On third and goal from the Birmingham 3, Henderson rushed for 1 yard. On 4th and goal, Henderson rolled wide left and made it to the end zone pylon for the touchdown. On the two-point conversion, the Roughnecks had a false start. Then, from the 10-yard line, the two-point conversion failed, making the score 28-20 for Birmingham.
The Molson kickoff was returned by Jennings to the Birmingham 30. A Roughnecks offside penalty tacked on 5 yards to the return. A handoff to Person gained 3 yards, but a Houston face masking penalty granted the Stallions a first down.
Martinez passed 7 yards to Williams, and then handed to Rountree for an 8-yard gain and a first down. A pass to Rountree gained 5 yards, and then a handoff to Person went for 19 yards to the Houston 8-yard line. Adrian Martinez scrambled 8-yards for the touchdown. The two point conversion was good on a 2-yard Larry Rountree run, to make the score 35-20 for Birmingham.
Roberson returned the Ahmed kickoff to the Houston 37. Henderson passed 11-yards to Chism, and then handed to Pledger for a 3-yard run. After another 3-yard rush by Pledger the third quarter ended.
Henderson scrambled 5 yards to the Birmingham 41, and a defensive holding penalty tacked on 10 yards. Henderson passed deep for Grayson, but the ball fell incomplete, and then Henderson ran for a 6-yard gain. On third and 4, a pass to Justin hall gained 13 yards and moved the markers to the Birmingham 17.
A handoff to Thompson gained 6 yards, and then another handoff to Thompson gained no yards. On third and 4, Henderson ran 3 yards, almost to the first down marker. On fourth and 1, a bad snap forced a turnover on downs, and the fumble was recovered by Willie Yarbury.
From his own 7-yard line, Martinez handed to Rountree who ran for 11 yards, but fumbled the ball as he was tackled. Houston’s D’Juan Hines recovered the ball on the Birmingham 21.
A handoff to Thompson gained zero yards, and then Nolan Henderson rushed for 7 yards himself. Reid Sinnett came in and handed to Thompson for a 1-yard gain, but a 15-yard Birmingham unsportsmanlike conduct penalty move the markers to the Birmingham 7.
Sinnett handed to Thompson for no gain, and then Sinnett was pressured and could not complete a pass to Chism in the end zone. On third down, Sinnett passed 2 yards to Braedon Bowman for a Roughnecks touchdown. The two-point conversion was good on a 5-yard pass to Justin Hall, to make the score 35-28 for Birmingham.
Jennings returned the Molson kickoff to his own 37-yard line. Martinez handed to Person for a 6-yard gain, and then another handoff to Person was dropped for a 5-yard loss. On third and 9, Martinez passed down field for Cain but the ball flew over his head. The Stallions were forced to punt.
Justin Hall received the punt, but fumbled the ball on the return. Luckily, Hall recovered his own fumble on the Houston 24-yard line. Sinnett handed to Pledger for a 2-yard gain, and then had his second down pass knocked down. On third down, Sinnett was sacked for a 5-yard loss. On 4th and 13, Houston punted.
The punt was downed at the Birmingham 23-yard line. Martinez handed to Person for a 6-yard run, and then went back to Person for a 4-yard gain as the two-minute warning was announced.
Martinez handed to Person for a 3-yard gain and a first down. Martinez went back to Person for 2 yards, and then another run by Person gained 5 yards. On third and 4, a handoff to Person was stuffed for a 1-yard loss, and the Stallions were forced to punt.
With 0:25 on the clock, the Chrisman punt was returned by Justin Hall to the Houston 34-yard line. A 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Stallions moved the markers to the Houston 42-yard line.
With 0:14 on the clock and no time-outs remaining, Reid Sinnett passed 9 yards to Chism on the sideline, and then passed 25 yards to Chism on the Birmingham 24. With one second remaining, Sinnett was sacked for a 15-yard loss to end the game.
The final score was Birmingham Stallions 35, Houston Roughnecks 28.
