The Dome at America’s Center was rocking Saturday afternoon as the St. Louis Battlehawks kicked off the 2026 UFL season the only way they know how: with a hard-nosed, blue-collar win.
In new head coach Ricky Proehl’s debut, the Battlehawks (1-0) turned back the defending champion DC Defenders (0-1) 16-10 in a low-scoring, defense-dominated scrap that felt more like a playoff game than a Week 1 opener. St. Louis held the visitors scoreless over the final three quarters, forcing three punts, an interception and a missed field goal while wearing down an offense that entered the day among the league’s most explosive.
“It’s the kind of game we talked about all week,” Proehl said afterward. “This is Battlehawks football — tough, physical and relentless on the defensive side.”
The scoring opened with a bang — and a bit of league history. DC kicker Matt McCrane drilled a 60-yard field goal on the game’s first possession, the first four-point kick in UFL history, putting the visitors up 4-0. The Battlehawks answered immediately when placekicker T. McCann split the uprights from 58 yards to make it 4-3.
DC pushed the lead to 10-3 later in the first quarter on a 10-play, 66-yard touchdown drive capped by a goal-line plunge. But that would be the last time the Defenders found the end zone.
The second quarter turned into a punting duel interrupted by turnovers and missed opportunities. With time winding down, McCann knocked through a short field goal to send the teams to halftime trailing 10-6.
Whatever Proehl and defensive coordinator AJ Smith told their players at the break worked. The Battlehawks’ defense — led by outside linebacker Pita Taumoepenu’s six tackles and 2.5 sacks — completely took over. Jordan Ta’amu, the Defenders’ veteran quarterback, finished just 9-of-16 for 123 yards and never found a rhythm after the opening quarter. St. Louis limited DC to 153 total yards for the game.
Offensively, quarterback Brandon Silvers (16-of-28, 198 yards, one touchdown) kept the chains moving without forcing the issue. A late-third-quarter touchdown — followed by McCann’s extra point — gave the Battlehawks their first lead at 13-10. Early in the fourth, McCann added a 25-yard field goal to push the advantage to 16-10.
From there it was all about the clock and the ground game. Running backs Howard and Latulas pounded out tough yards in the fourth quarter, with Howard ripping off 43 of his 69 rushing yards in the final period alone. The Battlehawks chewed up the final 4:36 on a 12-play drive that ended with a first down that essentially sealed the result.
Defensive standouts weren’t limited to Taumoepenu. Sean Fresch and Demone Harris each added 1.5 sacks in their season debuts, while the secondary limited big plays and forced the interception that swung momentum for good.
For a Battlehawks team that has built its identity on physicality and home-field swagger, the win felt like validation. The Dome crowd — loud and loyal as ever — never stopped believing, even when the scoreboard showed a one-score game deep into the fourth.
Proehl, the former NFL receiver and longtime coach, soaked it in on the sideline as the final seconds ticked away.
“This is why you come to St. Louis,” he said. “The fans, the city, the expectation to play the right way. We got the ‘W’ the Battlehawks way.”
The Battlehawks will look to build on the momentum next week on the road. But for one electric afternoon in the Dome, they reminded the rest of the UFL exactly who they are: a team that plays with heart, hits with purpose and wins the games that matter most.
