The Birmingham Stallions got their championship rings – the final championship rings ANYBODY will get from the USFL – on Friday.
And then they won big on Saturday.
The Stallions got a 33-14 win in front of the home crowd Saturday night, dealing the Memphis Showboats a second straight loss, and quarterback Adrian Martinez had a good night.
Martinez completed 18-of-28 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 44 yards and a score on five carries.
Tight end Jace Sternberger had a touchdown catch, albeit indirectly; Sternberger caught a tipped ball in the end zone for the score.
Marlon Williams had a 41-yard touchdown catch, as well, both of those early in the game.
Chris Blewitt had two first-half field goals of 22 and 46 yards.
Ricky Person Jr. had a second-half touchdown run, contributing to Birmingham’s 424 total yards.
Birmingham’s defense also came up huge in the game: Memphis quarterback Case Cookus, who has played well this season, couldn’t do much of anything, because his line couldn’t protect him. He was sacked three times in the first four offensive plays – and eight times in the game. Six different players had sacks for the Stallions, now 3-0 on the season.
Memphis drops to 1-2, after having the late collapse last week at home against San Antonio, and now this.
The Stallions are home next week, hosting D.C., a 29-28 winner at Arlington on Saturday after utilizing the UFL’s fourth-down-and-12 alternative possession rule to help them come back from a 10-point deficit to win (It happens again: D.C., down big late, stuns Arlington | The Football Beat). That game is Saturday night at 7 p.m. Eastern / 6 Central at Protective Stadium on FOX.
Memphis has to go on the road to the league’s toughest home-field advantage: they visit St. Louis on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern / 6 Central on ABC.
Michigan Panthers 34, Houston Roughnecks 20 (Sunday): Houston dropped to 0-3 on the season and Michigan benefitted from having a third straight home game to start the year, as the Panthers came back from an early 8-0 deficit.
Backup quarterback Reid Sinnett, filling in for injured starter Jarrett Guarantano, scored on a 1-yard run for the Roughnecks, then they got the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
But the Panthers added a 46-yard field goal by Jake Bates, got the ball back with a defensive stop, and scored on a touchdown run by quarterback E.J. Perry to take a 9-8 lead
Michigan safety Kai Nacua, the brother of L.A. Rams receiver Puka Nacua, picked off Sinnett and the Panthers went into the half with a 12-11 lead – each team had a second-quarter field goal.
Perry connected with receiver Marcus Simms for a 66-yard touchdown to extend the Panthers’ lead to 20-11, combined with the two-point conversion, in the third quarter, and after Houston kicker J.J. Molson added a field goal to get the ‘Necks within six (20-14), Michigan scored again, twice: rushing touchdowns from Perry and from Matthew Colburn Jr.
The Roughnecks would score once more, but couldn’t catch Michigan (2-1) to complete the comeback.
In week four, Michigan visits San Antonio this Saturday at 7 p.m. at The Alamodome on FOX. And Houston has a home game, the only UFL game on Sunday. They’ll host the Arlington Renegades at 2 p.m. Eastern / 1 p.m. Central at Rice Stadium, on Fox Sports 1.
St. Louis Battlehawks 31, San Antonio 24 (Sunday): The Battlehawks were greeted by almost 12,000 fans in The Alamodome, but they were still able to get out with the win.
The Brahmas made it tough on ‘em, though. San Antonio scored late, but rather than try the fourth-and-12 from their own 28-yard-line in an attempt to maintain possession of the ball with just over two minutes left, Brahmas coach Wade Phillips elected to kick off back to St. Louis.
The gamble paid off. San Antonio got the ball back with 1:54 left.
The Brahmas’ offense, led by quarterback Chase Garbers, managed to get the ball into Battlehawks territory (to the St. Louis 44) with 21 seconds left in the game, but a fourth-down pass was incomplete, and St. Louis took over to end the contest.
For St. Louis, quarterback A.J. McCarron put the Battlehawks up early with a 10-yard touchdown run and a 20-yard TD pass to Hakeem Butler. Andre Szmyt had a 44-yard first-half field goal for the Battlehawks, then a 54-yarder and a 46-yarder, both in the third quarter.
McCarron wound up completing 19-of-27 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown, and then ran for the score. Butler had six catches for 87 yards and the touchdown, and Jacob Saylors had a 19-yard touchdown run and finished with 62 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Garbers went 27-of-40 for 143 yards and a touchdown pass. The trio of Brycen Alleyne, John Lovett and Anthony McFarland Jr. totaled 93 yards rushing, and Lovett and McFarland each had a touchdown run. Jontre Kirklin had eight catches for 52 yards.
Defensively for San Antonio, Jordan Williams had nine tackles. Tavante Beckett and Jordan Mosley each had seven tackles. Jalen Dalton and Jacob Sykes each had a sack.
San Antonio (2-1) plays at Michigan, as mentioned, on Saturday on FOX, and St. Louis (2-1), also as mentioned, will host Memphis on Saturday afternoon.
