Battlehawks Rush to 32-17 Victory Over Showboats

The St. Louis Battlehawks produced their most prolific rushing performance of the season Saturday to beat the Memphis Showboats, 32-17, in front of 31,757 fans at The Dome at America’s Center.

The Battlehawks (3-1) collectively rushed for a season-high 133 yards, their most since they had 173 rushing yards in the final game of the 2020 season at the D.C. Defenders. RB Jacob Saylors led the way against Memphis (1-3) with a career-high 103 rushing yards, which were the second-most in team history behind RB Mataeo Durant’s 104 rushing yards in the home opener April 6 vs. the Arlington Renegades.

Saylors also set a franchise record for the longest running play in team history on a 57-yard burst with 6 minutes, 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The record run set up the Battlehawks for their season-high fourth touchdown of the game when QB A.J. McCarron found WR Jahcour Pearson for an 8-yard pass with 5:06 left to play, which gave the Battlehawks their 15-point winning margin.

As the Battlehawks defense held Memphis scoreless throughout the second half with 55 yards allowed, the offense extended the 20-17 halftime lead with a 10-play, 71-yard drive. McCarron finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to TE Jake Sutherland with 14:20 left in the fourth quarter. McCarron then rushed 1 yard for a one-point conversion to extend St Louis’ lead to 26-17.

St. Louis opened the game with its most explosive quarter of the season, scoring 17 points in the first 15 minutes of play. RB Wayne Gallman II capped the scoring on a 2-yard rush with 1:56 left in the quarter, followed by a two-point conversion catch by WR Marcell Ateman that put St. Louis up, 17-6.

Memphis rallied to tie the game at 17 points apiece with 1:16 left in the second quarter. However, the Battlehawks still managed to retake the lead before halftime when K Andre Szmyt hit a 47-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining to put St. Louis up, 20-17.

Szmyt also gave the Battlehawks their first lead of the game, 3-0, when he hit a 54-yard field goal with 10:43 left in the first quarter to tie his longest field goal of the season, which he set a week earlier in a 31-24 win at San Antonio. Memphis responded with a touchdown four plays later to take a 6-3 lead. WR Darrius Shepherd then set up the St. Louis offense with a season-high, 61-yard kick return to start the following drive. McCarron then found Saylors for an 11-yard touchdown pass to give the Battlehawks a 9-6 lead with 7:25 to play in the first quarter.

The Battlehawks will next travel to face the D.C. Defenders in a Week 5 XFL Conference showdown at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday, April 28 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. The game will be televised on ESPN and simulcast on ESPN Xtra on SiriusXM Radio.

Postgame Notes - Week 4

• K Andre Szmyt matched a season-high with a 54-yard field goal (Also: Week 3 at San Antonio) to finish the Battlehawks’ first drive of the game with 10:43 left in the first quarter.
• RB Jacob Saylors set a record for the longest rush in franchise history on a 57-yard run with 6:28 left in the fourth quarter. Saylors also had 103 net rushing yards, which is one shy of the team single-game record set by RB Mataeo Durant (104) in Week 2 vs. Arlington. Saylors had 122 total yards, including an 11-yard touchdown reception.
• QB A.J. McCarron completed 35 passes, his single-game high during his Battlehawks career. He also tossed a season-high three touchdown passes and has multiple touchdown passes in 10 of his 13 career games with St. Louis. McCarron has an 8-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio for the season and 32-7 for his Battlehawks career.
• WR Jahcour Pearson caught a game-high 10 passes in his Battlehawks debut.
• WR Darrius Shepherd produced his longest kick return of the season with a 61-yard return to begin the Battlehawks’ second drive of the game. 
• CB Lavert Hill made his first interception of the season with 7:11 left in the first quarter. He had two interceptions for the Battlehawks in 2023.