Jontre Kirklin #13 of the San Antonio Brahmas is tackled by Drew Lewis #33 of the St. Louis Battlehawks and another Battlehawks player during the first quarter in the XFL Conference Championship Game at The Dome at America’s Center on June 09, 2024 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/UFL/Getty Images)
XFL Conference Championship, San Antonio Brahmas (7-3) at St. Louis Battlehawks (7-3)
The St. Louis Battlehawks and San Antonio Brahmas, the top two teams in the United Football League’s XFL Conference, met for the second straight week, but this time a trip to the UFL Championship game was at stake. Last week, in their final game of the UFL regular season, St. Louis beat San Antonio, 13-12, at The Dome at America’s Center. The victory secured first place in the conference and guaranteed the Battlehawks a home match this week.
This was be the third meeting in 2024 between St. Louis and San Antonio. St. Louis won the first two meetings, in San Antonio, 31-24, and in St. Louis, 13-12. In the 2023 XFL, the two teams met once, with St. Louis winning 18-15 in the Alamodome.
The Ryan Santoso kickoff went 69 yards and was returned by Darrius Shepherd to the St. Louis 37-yard line. St. Louis quarterback A.J. McCarron handed the ball to Jacob Saylors for no gain, and then a short pass to Saylors was dropped. On third and 10, a pass to Hakeem Butler was not caught, and the Battlehawks were forced to punt.
The Sterling Hofrichter punt was returned by Marquez Stevenson to the San Antonio 33-yard line. Quarterback Chase Garbers handed to John Lovett for no gain, and then passed to Justin Smith for a 3-yard gain. On third and 7, an 8-yard catch by Jontre Kirklin moved the chains. Garbers handed to Lovett for a 12-yard run, and then passed up the middle to Kirklin, who slipped a tackle and gained 22 yards to the St. Louis 22-yard line.
Garbers pitched the ball to Stevenson who ran for 7 yards, and then handed to Lovett for a 5-yard rush and another first down on the 10-yard line. Garbers handed to Lovett, who faked the reverse, but was tackled for a 5-yard loss. Garbers passed to Kirklin for an 8-yard gain, and then a pass into the end zone was picked off by Kameron Kelly.
Starting on his own 25-yard line, McCarron handed to Saylors for a 3-yard run, and then went back to Saylors who broke it open for a 14-yard rush. The Battlehawks tried to setup a flea-flicker, but bobbled the ball and fumbled, with San Antonio’s Teez Tabor recovering the ball on the St. Louis 20.
Garbers handed to Lovett for no gain, and then passed to Stevenson for a gain of 5 yards. On third and 5, Garbers passed 15 yards to a wide open Marquez Stevenson in the end zone for a Brahmas touchdown. The one-point conversion was good on a 2-yard run by Morgan Ellison, to make the score 7-0 for San Antonio.
The Santoso kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 42. McCarron handed to Saylors for a 7-yard gain, and then McCarron kept the ball and was tackled for no gain. On third and 3, McCarron was sacked for a 4-yard loss, and the Battlehawks were forced to punt.
The Hofrichter punt was returned by Stevenson to the San Antonio 18. A handoff to Lovett gained 2 yards, and then Garbers was flushed out of the pocket and ran for the sideline for no gain. On third and 8, St. Louis was penalized for a neutral zone infraction. Now on third and 3, a pass to Smith gained 7 yards to move the chains. Garbers handed to Lovett for a 6-yard run as the first quarter ended.
Chase Garbers passed to Justin Smith, who threaded the needle between three defenders, and ran 63 yards for a San Antonio touchdown. The one-point conversion failed, making the score 13-0 for San Antonio.
The Santoso kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 34. McCarron passed to Steven Mitchell for a 21-yard gain, and then San Antonio was charged with a 5-yard neutral zone infraction penalty. McCarron handed to Wayne Gallman for an 11-yard run, and then went back to Gallman who was stuffed for a one-yard loss. McCarron handed to Gallman for a 2-yard gain, and then on third and 9, McCarron passed to Butler at the goal line, but he was ruled to have made the catch out of bounds. St. Louis settled for a 46-yard Andre Szmyt field goal to make the score 13-3 for San Antonio.
Stevenson returned the Szmyt kickoff to the San Antonio 24. Chase Garbers handed to Anthony McFarland for a 9-yard run, and the handed to Lovett for 3 more yards and a first down. Garbers passed short to McFarland who fought for a 4-yard gain, and then passed to Stevenson for a 5-yard gain. On third and one, a pitch to Lovett was stuffed for no gain. On fourth and one, a St. Louis neutral zone infraction gave the Brahmas a first down.
A handoff to McFarland gained 5 yards, and then Garbers handed to Lovett for 2 more yards. On third and 2, Garbers was pressured and a pass to McFarland fell incomplete. The Brahmas were forced to punt.
The Brad Wing punt was taken via fair catch on the St. Louis 15-yard line. McCarron handed to Saylors for a 4-yard rush, and then a 5-yard defensive offside penalty made it second and one. A handoff to Saylors gained one yard for a Battlehawks first down. McCarron handed to Saylors for a 3-yard loss, and then a 6-yard pass to Butler was not enough for a first down. On third and 5, McCarron could not find a receiver and was sacked for a 7-yard loss as the two-minute warning was announced.
The Battlehawks were forced to punt, and the Hofrichter kick was returned by Stevenson to the San Antonio 26. Garbers handed to McFarland for a one-yard gain, and then a pass intended for Justin Smith was short and hit the turf. On third and 9, a 19-yard pass to Stevenson moved the markers. Garbers passed deep to Lovett, and the ball sailed over his head, and then Garbers handed to Jontre Kirklin who looked to pass downfield, but decided to run 4 yards to the sideline instead. On third and 6, a down field pass to K.D. Cannon was too far, and the Brahmas were forced to punt.
The Wing punt was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 17. With 0:22 remaining, McCarron passed 7 yards to Shepherd on the sideline, and then passed to Butler for a 6-yard gain. A pass to Saylors gained 12 yards to the St. Louis 42 as the half ended. Unfortunately, A.J. McCarron was injured on the play.
The Hofrichter kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, and the ball was placed on the San Antonio 25-yard line. Garbers handed to Lovett for an 11-yard run, and then handed to McFarland for a one-yard gain. Another handoff to McFarland gained 4 yards, and then on third and 5, Garbers completed a pass to Smith that gained only 3 yards. The Brahmas opted to punt.
The Brad Wing punt was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 16. McCarron handed to Saylors for a loss of 2 yards, and then went back to Saylors for a 3-yard gain, but an unnecessary roughness penalty pushed the Battlehawks back to their 2-yard line. On third and 24, a Saylors rush gained only 13 yards and the Battlehawks were forced to punt.
The Hofrichter punt was returned by Stevenson to the St. Louis 47, but a Brahmas illegal blindside block penalty put the ball on the San Antonio 39. A handoff to Anthony McFarland saw him break into open field and run 61-yards for a San Antonio touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 19-3 for San Antonio.
The Santoso kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 41. McCarron handed to Saylors for a 24-yard run, and then went back to Saylors for 9 more yards. A pass to Butler was not caught, and then on third and one, a handoff to Gallman was stuffed for a 3-yard loss. On fourth and 5, McCarron passed to Butler downfield and he made a one-handed catch for a 26-yard gain to the San Antonio 3-yard line.
A handoff to Saylors gained 2 yards, and then another handoff to Saylors saw a Brahmas face-masking penalty which gave the Battlehawks a first down on the San Antonio one-yard line. McCarron passed to Jake Sutherland who reached over the goal line for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, to make the score 19-9 for San Antonio.
The Hofrichter kickoff was returned by Stevenson to the San Antonio 28. A Garber handoff to McFarland was fumbled, and Pita Taumoepenu scooped the ball and scored a Battlehawks touchdown. The two-point conversion failed to make the score 19-15 for San Antonio.
The Hofrichter kickoff went in to the end zone for a touchback. From his own 25-yard line, Garbers handed to Lovett for an 8-yard rush, and then passed to Stevenson for a 12-yard gain. Garbers handed to McFarland for a 7-yard gain, and the another handoff to Lovett was good for a 30-yard run to the St. Louis 19.
Garbers handed to McFarland for a 2-yard gain, and then he kept the ball and scrambled for 2 yards. On third and 6, a handoff to Lovett only made 2 yards, and the Brahmas settled for a 31-yard Ryan Santoso field goal to make the score 22-15 for San Antonio.
The Santoso kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 42. McCarron passed 7 yards to Butler, and then handed to Saylors for a 4-yard gain to move the markers as the third quarter ended.
McCarron passed short to Jahcour Pearson who lost 3 yards, and then McCarron kept the ball and ran for a 5-yard gain. On third and 8, McCarron was sacked for an 8-yard loss, and the Battlehawks were forced to punt.
The Hofrichter punt was returned by Stevenson to the San Antonio 31. Garbers handed to Lovett for a 4-yard gain, and then handed to McFarland who fought his way to the first down marker. A handoff to Lovett was stuffed for only a one-yard gain, and a pass to Kirklin gained 8 yards. On third and 1, a handoff to Ellison lost 4 yards, and the Brahmas were forced to punt.
The Brad Wing punt was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 28. McCarron completed a pass to Shepherd, who ran up field for a 38-yard gain to the San Antonio 33. McCarron handed to Gallman for a 3-yard run, and then passed to Sutherland for a 5-yard gain. On third and 2, McCarron was sacked for a 9-yard loss, and the Battlehawks settled for a 50-yard Andre Szmyt field goal attempt, which missed to the right.
From his own 40-yard line, Garbers handed to Lovett for a 4-yard run, and then passed 13 yards to Kirklin to move the markers. A handoff to McFarland gained 8 yards, and then another run by McFarland was good for 4 yards and another first down. Garbers handed to Lovett for a one-yard loss, and then a deep pass intended for Smith was almost caught. On third and 11, a handoff to Ellison gained only 5 yards as the two-minute warning was announced.
Ryan Santoso attempted a 45-yard field goal and he was good to make the score 25-15 for San Antonio.
The Santoso kickoff was returned by Shepherd to the St. Louis 38-yard line. McCarron passed to Butler for an 8-yard gain, and then passed deep and was nearly picked off. On third and 2, McCarron completed a 2-yard pass to Butler for a first down. With 1:15 remaining, a pass to Butler was well defended and was not caught, and then McCarron passed to Pearson who fought for a 15-yard gain to the San Antonio 36.
A pass to Mitchell gained 8 yards, and then a pass to Gallman was good for another 3 yards and a first down. A pass to Mitchell in the end zone was too high to be caught, and then a short pass to Gallman gained 6 yards. On third and 3, with 0:25 remaining, McCarron passed to Shepherd who went out of bounds on the San Antonio 12. A pass to Ateman in the end zone was thrown over his head, and the then a pass to Shepherd was not caught.
With 0:12 remaining, a catch by Mitchell was bobbled and he was tackled for no gain. Another pass was attempted to Mitchell as time ran out.
The final score was San Antonio Brahmas 25, St. Louis Battlehawks 15.
Box Score
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
TEAM 1 2 3 4 T
SAN 7 6 9 3 25
STL 0 3 12 0 15
------ SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS ------
San Antonio Brahmas Passing
# PLAYER C-A YDS TD I C% RTG
14 Garbers, Chase 15-21 197 2 1 71 172.1
San Antonio Brahmas Rushing
# PLAYER ATT YDS TD LNG AVG
41 McFarland, Anthony 11 115 1 69 10.5
07 Lovett, John 18 83 0 30 4.6
05 Stevenson, Marquez 1 7 0 7 7
13 Kirklin, Jontre 1 4 0 4 4
27 Ellison, Morgan 2 2 0 5 1
14 Garbers, Chase 2 2 0 2 1
San Antonio Brahmas Receiving
# PLAYER NO YDS TD LNG TGT YAC
13 Kirklin, Jontre 5 61 0 22 5 32
05 Stevenson, Marquez 5 56 1 19 5 11
10 Smith, Justin 4 76 1 63 6 57
41 McFarland, Anthony 1 4 0 4 2 8
16 Cannon, K.D. 0 0 0 0 1 0
07 Lovett, John 0 0 0 0 1 0
88 Mack, Alize 0 0 0 0 1 0
San Antonio Brahmas Defense
# Player (Starter) TotTk Solo Sack TFL Int BrUp FF
21 Nelson, Scott (SAF) 7 2 0 0 0 1 0
01 Thompson, Bryce 6 5 0 1 0 0 0
22 Tabor, Teez (CB) 6 3 0 0 0 1 0
98 Emili, Prince (DT) 5 4 2 2 0 0 0
11 Beckett, Tavante (LB) 5 5 0 0 0 0 1
28 Mayfield Jr, Corey (CB) 5 4 0 0 0 0 0
06 Langford, Derrick 4 3 0 0 0 0 0
99 Patton, Caeveon (DT) 3 3 1 1 0 0 0
82 Akers, Landen 3 2 0 0 0 0 0
15 Williams, Jordan (MLB) 3 3 0 1 0 0 0
09 Ray, Wyatt (OLB) 3 2 1 2 0 0 0
91 Nelson, Garrett 2 2 0 1 0 0 0
23 Mosley, Jordan 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
93 Sykes, Jacob (DT) 2 2 0 1 0 0 0
13 Kirklin, Jontre 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
08 Ward, Tim 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
88 Mack, Alize 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
40 Barnes, Robert 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
45 Scott, Delontae (OLB) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
San Antonio Brahmas All Purpose Yards
Player Tot Rush Rec KOR PR IR-FR TDs
Stevenson, Marquez 151 7 56 44 44 0 1
McFarland, Anthony 119 115 4 0 0 0 1
Lovett, John 83 83 0 0 0 0 0
San Antonio Brahmas Punting
Punter NO YDS AVG LNG I20
Wing, Brad 4 159 39.75 46 3
San Antonio Brahmas Kick Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Stevenson, Marquez 2 44 22 24 0
San Antonio Brahmas Punt Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Stevenson, Marquez 5 44 09 17 0
San Antonio Brahmas Field Goals
Kicker Time Dist Result
Santoso, Ryan 3rd-1:18 31 GOOD
Santoso, Ryan 4th-1:56 45 GOOD
TOTAL 2-2 LONG OF 45
------ ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS ------
St. Louis Battlehawks Passing
# PLAYER C-A YDS TD I C% RTG
10 McCarron, AJ 19-29 179 1 0 66 128.7
St. Louis Battlehawks Rushing
# PLAYER ATT YDS TD LNG AVG
15 Saylors, Jacob 14 79 0 23 5.6
30 Gallman II, Wayne 5 12 0 11 2.4
10 McCarron, AJ 2 5 0 5 2.5
11 Shepherd, Darrius 1 -10 0 -10 -10
St. Louis Battlehawks Receiving
# PLAYER NO YDS TD LNG TGT YAC
88 Butler, Hakeem 6 59 0 28 10 17
11 Shepherd, Darrius 3 51 0 38 4 26
22 Mitchell Jr., Steve 3 29 0 21 6 16
01 Pearson, Jahcour 2 12 0 15 2 13
30 Gallman II, Wayne 2 10 0 7 2 8
84 Sutherland, Jake 2 6 1 5 2 2
15 Saylors, Jacob 1 12 0 12 2 11
03 Ateman, Marcell 0 0 0 0 1 0
St. Louis Battlehawks Defense
# Player (Starter) TotTk Solo Sack TFL Int BrUp FF
33 Lee, Elijah 12 8 1 1 0 0 0
51 Harvey, Willie (LB) 7 3 0 0 0 0 0
32 Cole, Qwynnterrio (FS) 7 5 0 0 0 0 0
26 Wells, Carson 6 5 0 0 0 0 0
04 Harris, Tim (CB) 6 5 0 1 0 0 1
56 Feeney, Travis (DE) 5 4 0 0 0 0 0
29 Askew-Henry, Dravon 4 2 0 1 0 0 0
52 Jackson, Antwuan (DT) 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
25 Latulas, Kevon 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
23 Kelly, Kameron (DB) 3 1 0 0 1 1 0
09 Payton-Jones, Chris(CB) 3 2 0 0 0 0 0
84 Sutherland, Jake 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
31 Hampton, Mike 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
98 Akinmoladun, Freedo 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
27 Rose, Mike (MLB) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
07 Taumoepenu, Pita (DE) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 McCarron, AJ 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
93 Pesefea Jr., T.J. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
99 Faoliu, Austin (DT) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
St. Louis Battlehawks All Purpose Yards
Player Tot Rush Rec KOR PR IR-FR TDs
Shepherd, Darrius 223 -10 51 153 29 0 0
Saylors, Jacob 91 79 12 0 0 0 0
Butler, Hakeem 59 0 59 0 0 0 0
St. Louis Battlehawks Punting
Punter NO YDS AVG LNG I20
Hofrichter, Sterling 5 230 46.0 52 1
St. Louis Battlehawks Kick Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Shepherd, Darrius 6 153 26 30 0
St. Louis Battlehawks Punt Returns
Returner NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Shepherd, Darrius 3 29 10 14 0
St. Louis Battlehawks Field Goals
Kicker Time Dist Result
Szmyt, Andre 2nd-11:36 46 GOOD
Szmyt, Andre 4th-6:06 50 MISS
TOTAL 1-2 LONG OF 46
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS SAN STL
Total Yds 410 239
Pass Yds 197 153
Rush Yds 213 86
Penalties 4-25 3-25
1st Downs 17 16
3rd Downs 4-12 2-11
4th Downs 0-0 1-2
Total Plays 57 55
Avg Yds/Play 7.2 4.3
Avg Yds/Completion 13.1 8.1
Avg Yds/Rush 6.1 3.9
Sack-Adj Rush Yd(Avg) 213 (6.3) 112 (6.2)
Red Zone 1-3 1-2
Time of Poss 31:40 28:20
Turnovers (Def Pts Off) 2 (0) 1 (8)
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Sacks (Def Yds) 4.0 (26.0) 1.0 (0.0)
TFL (Def Yds) 9 (37.0) 3 (9.0)
Alt. Kickoffs 0-0 0-0
