Battlehawks A.J. McCarron takes the snap in come-from-behind victory over the San Antonio Brahmas.
Sunday, February 19, 3 p.m. ET
Venue: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 24,245
Broadcaster: ABC, ESPN+
Announcers: Matt Barrie, Joey Galloway, Tiffany Blackmon, Eric Mac Lain
In this game, we are looking at a pair of first-time head coaches.
Former Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward leads the Brahmas. Ward is a two-time Super Bowl Champion, four-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, and has experience as an assistant coach at both the pro and college levels. On the St. Louis sideline is former NFL tight end Anthony Becht, who caught 188 passes in his 12-season career (2000-11). He was the tight ends coach for the San Diego Fleet of the AAF, and has much to prove as a head coach.
There was a loud crowd in the Alamodome, making plenty of noise… cheering for an introduction by The Rock.
After the kickoff, Battlehawks quarterback A.J. McCarron took over on their own 30. First pass to Brian Hill on the right sideline was for a first down. McCarron continued to march the ball into Brahmas territory, but progress was stunted by an offensive line holding call.
Battlehawks punted. Due to a penalty, the Brahmas quarterback Jack Coan took over at the Brahmas 5-yard line. A 15-yard rush by Kalen Ballage got the Brahmas out of the shadow of their own end. A pass to receiver Jalen Tolliver drew a pass interference call, which moved the ball out to the Brahmas 35. Next play, a Coan pass was intercepted by the Battlehawks’ Nate Meadors. The play was reviewed and the interception stood.
McCarron took over and began to move the ball. However, on a 4th and 1 pass to Jake Sutherland was incomplete. The Battlehawks turned over the ball on downs.
Coan took over on his own 43. He started his drive with a 17-yard pass to Travis Jonsen. Coan continued the drive against a stiff Battlehawks defense. The Brahmas had to settle for a 43-yard Parker Romo field goal, making the score 3-0 for the Brahmas.
The Battlehawks Brian hill returned the kickoff to the 30-yard line, but he was injured on the tackle. McCarron began a drive, hampered by crowd noise, and the Battlehawks went three and out. Brahmas returned the ball to their own 27.
Coan took over for the Brahmas.
At the end of the first quarter the Brahmas led the Battlehawks by 3-0.
Coan moved the ball slowly and methodically, spreading his passes out to six receivers. Again the Battlehawks proved to be stalwart defenders, getting strong pressure on Coan. Finally, a strip sack of Coan, and a fumble recovery and return by Feeney gave the Battlehawks the ball on the Brahmas 31. Travis Feeney was hurt on the play. Later it was announced he was out of the game with a concussion.
McCarron took over and immediately passed to Jake Sutherland for a 21-yard gain to inside the 10-yard line. Hampered by a penalty and strong Brahmas defense, the Battlehawks McCarron was sacked on 3rd down. The Battlehawks settled for a Donald Hageman 32-yard field goal, tying the game at 3 points apiece.
Jack Coan took over on the Brahmas 30, and again moved the ball slowly and methodically, spreading out his offense. Coan’s drive faltered due to penalties and a tough Battlehawks defense. With 2:34 remaining in the half, the Brahmas chose to punt on 4th down.
Battlehawks A.J. McCarron took over on his own 24-yard line and was able to run one play for a short gain before the two-minute warning. The Brahmas defense did not bend. The Battlehawks went three and out.
The Brahmas took to the ground game, handing the ball twice to Jacques Patrick. Coan went over the middle with a 24-yard pass to Jalen Tolliver that was ruled incomplete. Upon review the call on the field stood. In the next play, Coan immediately went back to Tolliver for another 24-yard pass that was completed on the St. Louis 26-yard line.
The Brahmas were moving the ball, making a first down on 4th and 1 with 11 seconds remaining in the half. With 6 seconds left the Brahmas chose to attempt a Parker Romo field goal, which was wide.
At the half, the score was tied 3-3.
Brahmas Fred Brown returned the kickoff to the 32-yard line. Coan handed the ball to Ballage for a 15-yard gain. Later, a 19-yard pass to Jalen Tolliver took the Brahmas to the Battlehawks 30. Jacques Patrick was injured in a 3 yard rush to the St. Louis 27. On the sidelines he appeared to be okay.
Coan threw a pass to Akers giving the Brahmas a first down on the St. Louis 19-yard line. Coan pulled down a high snap and salvaged the play by running wide right. On 4th down the Brahmas chose to take the points and Parker Romo kicked a 29-yard field goal, making the score 6-3 for San Antonio.
McCarron took over for the Battlehawks on their own 30. The Brahmas defense was tight, and the Battlehawks were hampered by a false start penalty. On third down McCarron was sacked. They were forced to punt. Only two first downs for the Battlehawks so far in this game.
Coan took over on the Brahmas 35. He relied on Kalen Ballage’s running talent to make a first down. However, the Battlehawks defense stymied the Brahmas and they were forced to punt.
McCarron took over deep in his end, and a pass to Austin Proehl, and then a Brian Hill run, gave them some room advancing the ball to the 28-yard line. The tight Brahmas defense sacked McCarron on third down, leaving them to punt the ball.
At the end of the 3rd quarter the score remained 6-3 for the Brahmas.
In the next drive, Coan found a wide open Fred Brown on the St. Louis 31-yard line. Another pass to Brown gave the Brahmas a first down on the St. Louis 21. A pass to Deon Yelder led the Brahmas to the 4-yard line, then a pass to Fred Brown in the corner of the end zone made for the first touchdown of the game. The one point conversion failed, making the score 12-3 for the Brahmas.
McCarron put together a drive for the Battlehawks, handing to Brian Hill for a 40-yard run. The drive faltered and the Battlehawks were forced to attempt a 43-yard Donald Hageman field goal, which missed.
San Antonio fans smelled a win, and started the wave in the Alamodome.
Jack Coan engineered a clock killing drive, taking the ball down to the Battlehawks 30-yard line. A 48-yard field goal attempt by Parker Romo was good, making the score 15-3 for the Brahmas with 3:02 remaining.
On the kickoff, Battlehawks Darrius Shepherd returned the ball to the 29-yard line. McCarron passed to Durant and Walker for short gains, and then passed to Marcell Ateman for a first down at the St. Louis 46 just in time for the two-minute warning.
With the clock winding down, McCarron continued the drive with a short pass to Hakeem Butler and a 33-yard pass to Marcell Ateman on the sidelines. On the next play, McCarron was sacked on the San Antonio 23-yard line. On third down, McCarron passed to Hakeem Butler in the end zone for the touchdown. The three point conversion pass to Austin Proehl was good, making the score 15-12 for the Brahmas.
With 1:25 remaining, the Battlehawks chose to attempt the 4th and 15 play from their own 25 instead of the onside kick. Austin Proehl made the catch and the Battlehawks were in business. With 1:17 remaining McCarron had the ball on the St. Louis 47.
A late hit on McCarron gave the Brahmas a roughing the passer penalty. Then, a pass to Brian hill moved the ball to the Brahmas 17. A three yard pass to Hill moved them closer, then an end zone pass to Ateman was incomplete. A pass to Proehl in the end zone was signaled as a touchdown, but a flag was thrown. The touchdown stood, making the score 18-15 for the Battlehawks.
With 16 seconds remaining, the Brahmas received the kickoff , and took it out of bounds at their own 27-yard line. In the next play, Jack Coan was sacked. The clock ran out.
Final score was St. Louis 18, San Antonio 15.
Box scores – Statistics Summary
Scoring
1 2 3 4 F
STL 0 3 0 15 18
SA 3 0 3 9 15
------ ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
A. J. McCarron 18/27 190 7.0 2 0 33 5 - 23
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Kareem Walker 2 1 0.5 0 2
Brian Hill 6 55 9.2 0 40
A. J. McCarron 4 12 3.0 0 7
Mataeo Durant 3 0 0.0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 15 68 4.5 0 40
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Austin Proehl 4 49 12.3 1 22 4
Kareem Walker 1 4 4.0 0 4 1
Hakeem Butler 3 32 10.7 1 18 3
Brian Hill 3 26 8.7 0 12 3
Jovani Haskins 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Jake Sutherland 1 21 21.0 0 21 2
Darrius Shepherd 1 7 7.0 0 7 3
Mataeo Durant 3 6 2.0 0 4 3
Jordan Thomas 0 0 0.0 0 0 2
Marcell Ateman 2 45 22.5 0 33 4
Gary Jennings 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 18 190 10.6 2 33 27
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
A. J. McCarron 1 0 1
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Silas Kelly 3 0 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Chris Cooper 7 0 7.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Carson Wells 3 3 4.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Nate Meadors 2 1 2.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 1 0 0
Ben DeLuca 5 3 6.5 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Lukas Denis 2 4 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Taniela Tupou 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
LaCale London 3 1 3.5 1.0 - 9.0 1.0 0 0 0
Willie Harvey 5 3 6.5 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Elijah Hamilton 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 2.0 0 0 0
Freedom Akinmoladun 1 1 1.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Rose 3 3 4.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lakiem Williams 3 3 4.5 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Brandon Sebastian 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Gelen Robinson 2 2 3.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Hampton 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kevin Atkins 1 3 2.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Travis Feeney 2 0 2.0 1.0 - 7.0 1.0 0 1 1
Tre Watson 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Elorm Lumor 0 1 0.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 51 28 65.0 2.0 - 16.0 8.0 1 1 1
Interceptions
PLAYER INT YDS TD
Nate Meadors 1 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Austin Proehl 1 10 10.0 10 0
1 10 10.0 10 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Darrius Shepherd 4 88 22.0 29 0
Brian Hill 1 23 23.0 23 0
TEAM TOTAL 5 111 22.2 29 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Sterling Hofrichter 5 240 48.0 0 1 53
------ SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS ------
Passing
PLAYER C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT LONG SCK-YDS
Jack Coan 25/36 207 5.8 1 1 24 2 - 16
Rushing
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Kalen Ballage 24 84 3.5 0 15
Jacques Patrick 10 38 3.8 0 8
Jack Coan 4 10 2.5 0 6
Landen Akers 1 1 1.0 0 1
TEAM TOTAL 39 133 3.4 0 15
Receiving
PLAYER REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Jalen Tolliver 3 49 16.3 0 24 5
Fred Brown 4 36 9.0 1 18 4
Landen Akers 7 35 5.0 0 9 7
Deon Yelder 2 29 14.5 0 17 2
Travis Jonsen 1 17 17.0 0 17 3
Kalen Ballage 3 13 4.3 0 9 4
T.J. Vasher 1 10 10.0 0 10 2
Alize Mack 3 9 3.0 0 4 5
Jacques Patrick 1 9 9.0 0 9 1
TEAM TOTAL 25 207 8.3 1 24 33
Fumbles
PLAYER FUM LOST REC
Jack Coan 1 1 0
Defensive
PLAYER SOLO AST TOT SACKS-YDS TFL INT FF FR
Drew Lewis 3 2 4.0 1.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Ryan Lewis 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Jordan Williams 4 0 4.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tenny Adewusi 3 1 3.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Luq Barcoo 3 1 3.5 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Ranthony Texada 3 1 3.5 1.0 - 7.0 1.0 0 1 0
Jack Koerner 2 1 2.5 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Mike Scott 2 0 2.0 2.0 - 8.0 2.0 0 0 0
Matthew Gotel 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 2.0 0 0 0
Kemah Siverand 2 0 2.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Mike Tverdov 1 1 1.5 0.5 - 4.0 0.5 0 0 0
Riko Jeffers 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Ben Davis 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 1.0 0 0 0
Terrell Bonds 1 0 1.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kobe Smith 0 1 0.5 0.5 - 4.0 0.5 0 0 0
TEAM TOTAL 32 8 36.0 5.0 - 23.0 9.0 0 1 0
Interceptions
INT YDS TD
0 0 0
Punt Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Landen Akers 4 31 7.8 12 0
Darece Roberson 1 7 7.0 7 0
TEAM TOTAL 5 38 7.6 12 0
Kick Returns
PLAYER NO YDS AVG LONG TD
Fred Brown 3 67 22.3 27 0
Punting
PLAYER NO YDS AVG TB IN-20 LONG
Brad Wing 2 78 39.0 0 1 43
------ Team Stats ------
STAT STL SA
TOTAL PLAYS 46 77
TOTAL YARDS 235 324
YARDS PER PLAY 5.1 4.2
FIRST DOWNS 11 24
FIRST DOWNS PASSING 8 12
FIRST DOWNS RUSHING 2 11
FIRST DOWNS PENALTY 1 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 30.0% 56.3%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 50.0% 100.0%
PASS COMPLETIONS 18 25
PASS ATTEMPTS 26 36
PASSES INTERCEPTED 0 1
YARDS PER PASS 9.3 7.6
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 2 1
SACK YARDS LOST 23 16
RUSH ATTEMPTS 15 39
YARDS PER RUSH 4.5 3.4
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
PENALTIES 6 4
TURNOVERS 0 2
FUMBLES 1 1
INTERCEPTIONS 0 1
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS 0 0
SPECIAL TEAMS TDS 0 0
POSSESSION 21:43 38:17
