After spending the previous three weeks on the road, the Houston Roughnecks were returning home to take on the visiting St. Louis Battlehawks. This would be the second meeting between the two teams, since they met in week two which resulted in a 28-24 Roughnecks victory.
Going into this week, the Battlehawks were tied for 2nd in the XFL North Division. They needed to win this game to keep pace with the streaking Seattle Sea Dragons who won their matchup against Arlington. The Battlehawks had a league-high three road victories on the season and would join San Antonio as the only XFL team to have already played all five of their scheduled regular-season road games. St. Louis will complete its regular-season schedule with three straight home games.
Vegas was giving this game to Houston by 3-points. It should be a close one.
The start of this game was delayed almost 25-minutes while ESPN played the end of a pickleball tournament.
The kickoff went to Battlehawks returner Brian Hill who fumbled the ball on the St. Louis 28-yard line. Daka recovered for Houston.
Houston quarterback Cole McDonald took over on the St. Louis 27, and passed to Bandy for 6-yards, and then rushed for 8-yards to move the sticks. On 3rd and 6 McDonald was intercepted and St. Louis got the ball back on their own 4-yard line.
Battlehawks quarterback A.J. McCarron drove the ball from his own 4-yard line. After 13-plays McCarron had driven the entire field ending with a pass to Jennings for a 14-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion was no good, and the Battlehawks opened the scoring at 6-0.
Cole McDonald started the Roughnecks drive on the Houston 31-yard line. A pass to Cedric Byrd was good for a 17 yard gain, and then a handoff to Alleyne turned into a 27-yard scamper. At 1st down on the Houston 13, McDonald handed to Max Borghi for a 3 yard gain.
At the end of the 1st quarter the score was 6-0 for St. Louis.
McCarron passed incomplete into the end zone but a defensive pass interference call put the ball on the St. Louis 1-yard line. On 1st down Borghi was stuffed for a 1-yard loss. On 2nd down, Borghi made up the yard. On 3rd down Cole McDonald passed to Deontay Burnett for the touchdown. The 1-point conversion attempt was fumbled and the score was tied 6-6.
The Roughnecks kickoff was short of the 20 so the Battlehawks got the ball on the Houston 45-yard line. A screen play allowed Brian Hill to catch a pass and extend the gain to 11 yards and a 1st down. Austin Proehl caught a 7-yard pass and Mitchell took a short pass to get the 1st down on the Houston 22. A pass to Ateman in the end zone drew a pass interference call that put the ball on the Houston 5-yard line. On 3rd down McCarron passed to Hakeem Butler 5-yards for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass to Butler was good to make the score 14-6 for St. Louis.
Houston’s Cole McDonald started his drive on his own 30-yard line. A 12-yard pass to Burnett, and then a 14-yard pass to Byrd both moved the markers. Max Borghi rushed 23-yards to the St. Louis 21. Lee rushed for 12-yards, and then a holding penalty pushed the Roughnecks back 10 yards. The Roughnecks could not convert on 3rd down and settled for a 25-yard Duplessis field goal making the score 14-9 for St. Louis.
McCarron took the ball on the Battlehawks 28. He handed to Hill for an 8-yard run and then back to Hill for a 9-yard gain. On 1st and 10 McCarron was sacked by Harris for a 3-yard loss. On 2nd down McCarron was sacked again by Harris. On 3rd and 17 McCarron passed to Jack Sutherland for a 15-yard gain, and then on 4th and 2 McCarron passed incomplete to Hakeem Butler downfield on the sideline. St. Louis head coach Becht challenged the play for pass interference, but the challenge failed.
With 28 seconds remaining in the half the Roughnecks took the ball on the Houston 47. They could not get a 1st down, and with 6 secs remaining the Roughnecks turned the ball over back to the Battlehawks. McCarron completed an 8-yard pass to Hakeem Butler, which allowed Hageman to attempt a 59-yard field goal. Hageman’s kick was just long enough and the field goal was good.
At half time the score was St. Louis 17, Houston 9.
The Houston Roughnecks took the ball in the second half. McDonald drove the ball and was successful in getting two 1st downs before the Roughnecks were forced to punt.
McCarron and the Battlehawks could do no better and went three and out. They punted back to the Roughnecks.
Cole McDonald took the ball on the Houston 32. McDonald rushed for 10-yards to get a 1st down. On 3rd and 10 McDonald was sacked by Akinmoladun for a 7-yard loss. The Roughnecks were forced to punt.
McCarron started a drive on the St. Louis 30. He rushed the ball for 8-yards but was tackled hard and had to leave the field of play. Tiano came in to lead the Battlehawks for 3 plays before McCarron came back in. McCarron could not convert on 3rd down and the Battlehawks were forced to punt.
Cole McDonald started the Roughnecks drive on the Houston 27. He handed to Alleyne twice, and then passed to Burnett for a 1st down. McDonald’s drive stalled and Houston punted.
With no scoring in the 3rd quarter, the score remained St. Louis 17, Houston 9.
At the beginning of the 4th quarter, the Battlehawks suffered a familiar fate, going three and out and punting.
On 1st down, McDonald was sacked by Feeney for a 7-yard loss. McDonald launched one down field to Burnett on 2nd down but the pass went incomplete. Again, the Roughnecks were forced to punt.
The punt was received by Hill, but fumbled and recovered by Houston’s William Likely who scooped and scored a touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass failed, making the score 17-15 for St. Louis.
After the kickoff, McCarron took possession on the St. Louis 26-yard line. The Roughnecks Heflin sacked McCarron for a 5-yard loss. On 3rd and 14 McCarron connected to Hill for a 16 yard pass and a fresh set of downs. Brian Hill was good for another gain with a 15-yard run just past midfield. McCarron continued the drive with 1st down passes to Ateman and Shepherd which moved the ball to the Houston 19-yard line. On 3rd and 1, McCarron passed to Shepherd in the end zone for a Battlehawks touchdown. The 1-point conversion failed, but a penalty gave St. Louis another crack at it. On the second try Hill ran it in for the point, making the score 24-15 for St. Louis.
With less than 4 minutes remaining, McDonald took the ball on the Houston 30. He rushed the ball 7-yards and then a short pass to Cedric Byrd moved the chains. A 13-yard Max Borghi run put the ball on the St. Louis 43.
After the two minute warning, the Roughnecks were 3rd and 9 on the St Louis 42. A pass to Deontay Burnett was incomplete, and then a pass to Alleyne on 4th down was also incomplete.
The Battlehawks took over at their own 42-yard line. With Houston having three time outs remaining, the Battlehawks could not go into victory formation. On 3rd down McCarron connected to Shepherd for a 12-yard gain and a 1st down. With a minute remaining on the clock the Battlehawks were able to run out the remainder of time.
Final score was St. Louis Battlehawks 24, Houston Roughnecks 15.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
STL 6 11 0 7 24
HOU 0 9 0 6 15
------ ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
A. J. McCarron 26/34 222 6.5 3 0 16 3 - 12
Nick Tiano 1/2 5 2.5 0 0 5 0 - 0
TEAM TOTAL 27/36 227 0.0 3 0 16 3 - 12
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Brian Hill 11 53 4.8 0 15
Mataeo Durant 4 8 2.0 0 6
A. J. McCarron 4 5 1.3 0 8
TEAM TOTAL 19 66 0.0 0 15
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Darrius Shepherd 7 70 10.0 1 14 8
Brian Hill 3 28 9.3 0 16 3
Hakeem Butler 4 27 6.8 1 10 6
Gary Jennings 2 26 13.0 1 14 2
Jake Sutherland 4 26 6.5 0 15 4
Marcell Ateman 2 18 9.0 0 9 5
Austin Proehl 2 17 8.5 0 10 4
Steven Mitchell 2 10 5.0 0 6 3
Jovani Haskins 1 5 5.0 0 5 1
TEAM TOTAL 27 227 0.0 3 16 36
Fumbles
TEAM TOTAL
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Brian Hill 2 2 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Nate Meadors 7 4 11.0 0.0 - 0.0 2.0 0 0 0
Freedom Akinmoladun 4 0 4.0 1.0 - 7.0 1.0 0 0 0
Travis Feeney 3 1 4.0 1.0 - 7.0 2.0 0 0 0
Carson Wells 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Willie Harvey 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lukas Denis 1 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Brandon Sebastian 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Chris Cooper 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lakiem Williams 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Rose 0 2 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 1
Elijah Hamilton 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tim Harris 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
LaCale London 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Mike Hampton 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Silas Kelly 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kevin Atkins 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tre Watson 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lavert Hill 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 32 18 50.0 2.0 - 14.0 9.0 1 0 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Brandon Sebastian 1 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Austin Proehl 3 26 8.7 10 0
Darrius Shepherd 1 8 8.0 8 0
TEAM TOTAL 4 34 0.0 10 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Darrius Shepherd 3 45 15.0 19 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Donald Hageman 1 1 100.0% 59
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Sterling Hofrichter 3 123 41.0 0 0 48
------ HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Cole McDonald 15/32 106 3.3 1 1 17 2 - 14
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Max Borghi 9 46 5.1 0 23
Cole McDonald 8 40 5.0 0 10
Brycen Alleyne 6 39 6.5 0 27
Dejoun Lee 2 11 5.5 0 12
TEAM TOTAL 25 136 0.0 0 27
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Cedric Byrd 7 50 7.1 0 17 9
Deontay Burnett 3 21 7.0 1 12 9
Travell Harris 2 17 8.5 0 11 5
Michael Bandy 1 6 6.0 0 6 3
Justin Smith 1 6 6.0 0 6 3
Brycen Alleyne 1 6 6.0 0 17 2
Ben Putman 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 15 106 0.0 1 17 32
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Cole McDonald 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Tavante Beckett 5 3 8.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Ajene Harris 5 3 8.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Emmanuel Ellerbee 2 3 5.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Sean Davis 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
A.J. Hendy 1 3 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jordan Mosley 2 2 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Trevon Mason 2 1 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Raleigh Texada 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Trent Harris 2 1 3.0 1.0 - 4.0 1.0 0 0 0
John Daka 2 0 2.0 1.0 - 3.0 1.0 0 1 0
Jack Heflin 1 1 2.0 1.0 - 5.0 1.0 0 0 0
Scean Mustin 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 1 0
William Likely 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 1
C. J. Brewer 1 1 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 1
Caliph Brice 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Deandre Johnson 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Glen Logan 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
John Brannon 0 1 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 34 22 56.0 3.0 - 12.0 4.0 0 2 2
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
William Likely 2 14 7.0 12 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Dejoun Lee 4 98 24.5 28 0
Kicking
PLAYER FGM FGA FG% LNG
Hunter Duplessis 1 1 100.0% 25
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Race Porter 4 147 36.8 0 1 45
------ TEAM STATS ------
TEAM STATS STL HOU
TOTAL PLAYS 58 59
TOTAL YARDS 281 228
YARDS PER PLAY 4.8 3.9
FIRST DOWNS 19 16
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 15 8
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 3 7
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 1 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 61.5% 38.5%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0.0% 0.0%
TOTAL PASSING YARDS 215 92
PASS COMPLETIONS 27 15
PASS ATTEMPTS 36 32
INTERCEPTIONS THROWN 0 1
YARDS PER PASS 6.0 2.9
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 3 1
SACKS ALLOWED 3 2
SACK YARDS LOST 12 14
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS 66 136
RUSH ATTEMPTS 19 25
YARDS PER RUSH 3.5 5.4
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
PENALTIES 2 6
TURNOVERS 2 2
FUMBLES 2 1
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 1
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 46:39 43:21
