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Battlehawks defeat Defenders in Rainy Slugfest

Originally posted on The Forkball | By Phillip Riggs | Last updated Jun 1, 2025 6:59 PM ET

The St. Louis Battlehawks won their sixth straight game by beating D.C. on Friday

St. Louis finished their regular season with a rainy game in D.C. on Friday. The Battlehawks beat the Defenders to win their sixth straight game and finish the season 8-2. The Battlehawks secured a home game against D.C. next week (though the game was going to be played in St. Louis no matter what) for the XFL Championship game and a chance to play at home again the following week against the USFL Champions in the UFL Championship Game in St. Louis.

Despite a 47-minute weather delay, and the postseason fate of both teams already decided, they played hard on Friday night. St. Louis’ starting quarterback Max Duggan and starting running back Jacob Saylors had the night off, resting them for the XFL Championship next week. That meant Brandon Silvers would start at quarterback and Jarveon Howard at running back.

.@jarveon_howard put him in the mud pic.twitter.com/GjXmlylcuv
— St. Louis Battlehawks (@XFLBattlehawks) May 31, 2025

Silvers was solid in the rainy conditions. He was six of eight for 105 yards and no interceptions. The only negative was when he was sacked in the St. Louis endzone for a safety. Howard was a star filling in for Saylors. He had 19 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown in what was expectedly a game where the ball was run a lot due to the weather.

Battlehawks win 13-8

The Battlehawks would strike first with Howard’s touchdown run and a successful conversion to lead 7-0 in less than three minutes of game time. Things slowed down from then on. Silvers would get sacked in his own endzone to make it a 7-2 game. Rodrigo Blankenship would hit two field goals late in the second quarter to give St. Louis a 13-2 lead at the break.

that's how we do it

: FOX | @Verizon pic.twitter.com/skf6gOWAm2
— St. Louis Battlehawks (@XFLBattlehawks) May 31, 2025

The second half was again slow, with neither team scoring until there were less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Then the Defenders would finally find the end zone. Their conversion would fail, and that would be all she wrote, as the Battlehawks would win 13-8.

XFL Conference Championship

Next up is the rubber match with the D.C. Defenders for all the marbles! St. Louis lost round one in week three at home 27-15, then won round two on Friday 13-8, and will play their third and decisive game on Sunday, June 8^th, at 6:00 PM EDT on Fox. The winner will play next week against either the Panthers or the Stallions of the USFL.