Photo by the St. Louis Battlehawks and the UFL
The St. Louis Battlehawks’ fantastic season came to an abrupt end on Sunday night at home in the Battledome.
The St. Louis Battlehawks are Getting a Reputation
The Battlehawks were founded by the XFL in 2020, but their season was ended by COVID-19. They had a two-year hiatus before returning to the XFL in 2023. They became part of the UFL in 2024 and were in their second year there in 2025. During their very brief history, St. Louis is already developing a reputation as a franchise, and it is not entirely positive.
In 2023, St. Louis went 7-3 but missed the postseason. In 2024, the Battlehawks went 7-3 again but this time made the XFL Championship game with a chance to go to the UFL Championship. They lost at home to San Antonio (25-15) and missed the UFL Championship game that was still played in St. Louis. In 2025, the Hawks went 8-2, including closing the regular season on a six-game winning streak! They had another home game for the XFL Championship to go play the Panthers of the USFL. Again, it would have been for a UFL Championship, and once again, they tripped at the finish line. This time getting beaten by D.C. 36-18.
St. Louis is getting a reputation for having fantastic regular seasons but tripping at the end. This is despite having the best home-field advantage in the UFL. These were pretty lopsided losses that went against the Battlehawks, too. Head coach Anthony Becht will need to find a way in the offseason to buck this trend.
XFL Championship
St. Louis came into this game red hot and riding a huge wave of momentum. But the Battlehawks were down early in this one. D.C. jumped out to a 14-0 lead before St. Louis finally got on the scoreboard behind a two-yard touchdown run by Jacob Saylors with 3:13 before halftime. Every time St. Louis would get something going, the Defenders would answer. They answered Saylors’ touchdown with two field goals and led 20-6 at halftime.
The Defenders would start the second half with another touchdown, making the score 26-6. St. Louis would answer with a Hakeem Butler touchdown catch, but would still be down two touchdowns, 26-12. Again, when St. Louis would make positive plays, Washington would answer. They responded with another touchdown, followed by a field goal, making it a 36-12 game with 7:48 left to play in the game. St. Louis would get a garbage time touchdown from Max Duggan but would fall for the second time at home this year to D.C., this time by a final score of 36-18.
Despite the heartbreaking end to an amazing regular season and a developing reputation for stumbling at the finish line, there is no doubt that Battlehawks fans will be back in 2026 with vengeance. St. Louis is a great football town, and the Battledome being the best environment in the UFL isn’t about to change. They’ll have to figure out if Jacob Silvers, Manny Wilkins, or Max Duggan is the quarterback next year, but this team will be ready for another great season of UFL football in 2026.
