St. Louis BattleHawks defense geared up for high-powered Houston Roughnecks
Signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent out of the University of West Virginia, Terence Garvin had some solid performances while playing for five NFL teams from 2013-18.
But the 29-year-old Garvin would be hard-pressed to come up with a more impressive or satisfying one than in the XFL debut of the St. Louis BattleHawks last Sunday.
A 6-3 235-pound linebacker, Garvin spearheaded a strong BattleHawks defense which kept the Dallas Renegades out of the end zone in a 15-9 road victory. Garvin and safety Dexter McCoil had eight tackles to go along with a team-best nine stops from cornerback Darius Hillary to highlight the St. Louis’ franchise debut.
Dallas quarterback Phillip Nelson was 33-of-49 for 209 yards. But Nelson failed to beat the BattleHawks deep as the St. Louis secondary refused to yield to the big play.
“”We did a lot of good things on defense and the offense and special teams also did a lot of great things. I was excited. Coming out in a new league, you want to put your best foot forward and continue to climb. I think we did that this first week,’’ Garvin said.
“I felt good about how we came together as a (defensive) unit, but it’s really been like that since we came back in December just working on fundamentals. We’ve got a lot guys that just know how to do their jobs and guys that are team players. When things got a little rough we just went back to the fundamentals and it worked out for us.”
The BattleHawks will face another tough test on the road this week when they take on the Houston Roughnecks at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on FS1.
Coached by former NFL quarterback and University of Hawaii head coach June Jones, the Roughnecks put up five touchdowns in a 37-17 win over the Los Angeles Wildcats last week.
Chosen as the XFL’S first Star of the Week, Roughnecks quarterback Phillip (PJ) Walker threw for 272 yards and four touchdowns. to lead a strong opening week offensive effort by Houston Walker is a Temple University graduate.
“They (Houston) have a good quarterback. He can really move and he has a strong arm. Plus they have some really good receivers,’’ Hillary said. “We just have to follow the game plan like we did last week.
“We got a chance to fly around, make plays last week and it worked out for us. We don’t want to pat ourselves on the back too much for keeping the opposition out of the end zone because that’s our job. We just need to keep working hard and get ready to play each week.
BattleHawks coach Jonathan Hayes is also aware of the threat, the Roughnecks will present this week. While Walker is a threat with his arm, he also is a threat with his legs. Walker also has plenty of options as four different wide receivers caught scoring passes.
“I think their quarterback is just an explosive football player. He is a dual threat in that while he has a strong arm and had some really nice throws downfield, he can also run the football very well,’’ Hayes said. “We’re going to have to do a good job of keeping in the pocket and making him throw from there as well.
“We also need to make him have a hard time making vision to the field.’’
