St. Louis BattleHawks hit the road after stellar return of pro football to the Dome
After getting a lift from its 12th man during a triumphant return of professional football to the Dome at America’s Center, the St, Louis BattleHawks return to XFL reality.
Fresh off a pair of emotional wins in front of the largest home crowds in the league this season, the East Division leading BattleHawks (3-1) begin a crucial part of their season Sunday when they travel to Washington to take on the DC Defenders (2-2) at Audi Field.
The stretch of schedule puts the BattleHawks on the road three of the next four weeks. St. Louis plays at Tampa Bay on March 14, hosts Los Angeles on March 21 then travels to New York on March 28.
“It’s part of football. You have to be able to win on the road,’’ running back Matt Jones said following the BattleHawks’ 23-16 win over Seattle on Sunday. “The lift our home crowd gave us was a big factor the past two weeks and we’re going to take that with us on the road.’’
Led quarterback Jordan Ta’amu and getting key plays in the late going from safeties Will Hill and Dexter McCoil, the BattleHawks took sole possession of the East Division lead with its win over Seattle. The Defenders, who opened their season with a pair of home wins, fell for the second straight week on the road, losing 25-0 at Tampa Bay.
St. Louis coach Jonathan Hayes, taking advantage of the warmer weather, took his team outdoors for practice this week at its Earth City, Missouri facility to prepare for the Defenders.
“They are a good football team. They started the season with a couple of wins, but the last two weeks they’ve made a few mistakes and its cost them,’’ Hayes said. “They will give us a lot of different looks with different formations and they are big and physical up front. I will tell you that.
“But it’s like I tell this football team every week, we just have to execute in all areas of the game, limit our penalties and not turn the football over. We have to take care of what we can control.’’
Coached by Pep Hamliton., the Defenders are led by former Ohio State University standout Cardele Jones. The former Buckeyes quarterback has thrown for 674 yards and four touchdowns with six interceptions. Jones was intercepted three times a week ago in the loss at Tampa Bay.
Kickoff on Sunday is set for2 p.m. The game will be telecast on FS1.
Ta’ amu honored
St. Louis quarterback Jordan Ta’amu became the first player other than a Houston Roughneck in three weeks to be named as the XFL’s Star of the Week.
A former standout at the University of Mississippi, Ta’amu completed 20 of 27 for 264 yards and a touchdown in last week’s 23-16 win over Seattle. He also rushed for 63 yards in the win.
Ta’amu ranks second in the XFL in passing yards with 878 yards and is fifth in rushing with 188.
“The coaches want me to slide a little more when I’m running with the football, but that’s not me. I want to do whatever I can to help this football team win games,’’ Ta’amu said. “I was excited when the game plan called for me to throw the football a little bit more.
“But that’s the beauty of our offense. We can run and throw the football very well. We’ll take whatever the defense is giving us.’’
Houston quarterback PJ Walker was the offensive star of the week in week one, while Roughnecks wide receiver Cam Philips claimed the award the past two weeks.
A hot item
With nearly 58,000 pro football-starved fans attending the first two home games at the Dome at America’s Center, the BattleHawks have been the XFL’s No. 1 draw during the first four weeks of the season.
According to the TV ratings, the XFL has also been an early success. In numbers released by the league this week, all 10 network games have been ranked in the top 10 sports programming in their respective weeks with four of the six games shown on cable earning a top 10 ranking.
In the first four weeks, XFL Games have reached over 39 million people in broadcast coverage.
TV times
The BattleHawks-DC Defenders game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports 1. The rest of XFL Week 5 schedule is as follows: Seattle (1-3) at Houston (4-0), Saturday, 1 p.m. ABC; New York (2-2) at Dallas (2-2), Saturday, 4 p.m., Fox; and Tampa Bay (1-3) at Los Angeles, Sunday, 7 p.m., ESPN.
