St. Louis Battlehawks quarterback, Manny Wilkins (5), hands the ball off to running back, Jacob Saylors (15), against San Antonio Brahmas in the Battlehawks home opener on April 6, 2025. Saylors led the Battlehawks with 3 rushing touchdowns and defeated the Brahmas, 26-9. (Source: West Newsmagazine/Lyle Whitworth photo)

The St. Louis Battlehawks avenged their loss in the XFL Conference Championship with an easy victory over the San Antonio Brahmas, 26-9, in their home opener in front of 32,115 fans at The Dome at America’s Center. While he may not be running back Saquan Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacob Saylors continues to set the league on fire by rushing 3 touchdowns while Manny Wilkins went 12 for 16 for 162 yards and rushed for 58 yards. The team controlled the ball in the first half behind a pair of rushing touchdowns by Saylors and a 20-yard rushing touchdown and rumbled five yards into the end zone for the ensuing two-point conversion to give St. Louis an 11-0 lead. Manny Wilkins completed the longest reception of the season when he hit Wide receiver Gary Jennings on a 58-yard completion pass midway through the second quarter, setting up another Jacob Saylors touchdown to give the Battlehawks a 17-0 lead. The Bramhas finally got on the board before half-time when kicker Donald De La Haye made the short field goal making it 17-3.

In the third quarter, Saylors scored his third rushing touchdown on a 5-yard run to give his team a 23-3. From then on it was the Battlehawks defense turn to dominate the second half as they recorded 4.0 sacks to tie the franchise’s single-game record. LB Travis Feeney and LB Pita Taumoepenu each had their first sack of the season, after leading the team with 5.0 sacks in 2024. Taumoepenu leads the Battlehawks with 3.0 sacks on the season. DE Austin Faoliu and FS Nate Meadors each notched the first sacks of their Battlehawks careers, as well. This was the Battlehawks fourth home opener victory which they haven’t lost since their existence in 2020. Battlehawks will play against DC Defenders for another home matchup at the Dome at America’s Center next Sunday, April 13. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT.