Thursday, Feb 23: St. Louis Battlehawks 20 Seattle Sea Dragons 18
In a textbook XFL Crazy Finish, we were reminded of that time-worn football cliché: 44-yard field goals giveth and 44-yard field goals taketh away. In this case, a 44-yard attempt from St. Louis’ Donny Hageman won the game and therein lies a tale.
You see, four years prior (also on a Thursday night at Lumen Field), the team formerly from St. Louis (the Rams) had a chance to break hearts in the Emerald City with a 44-yard field goal at the final gun. In that one, Greg Zuerlein missed his 44-yarder, preserving a one-point win for the home team. Strangely, 44-yard field goals have not been kind to Seattle fans ever since. When the Seahawks lost to Arizona in 2020, it was on a Zane Gonzalez 44-yarder in overtime. When Jason Myers had made his record 37 consecutive field goals for the Seahawks, when he finally missed it was from… yeah, 44.
Maybe fair is fair. A walk-off field goal is how the last pro football game at Lumen Field had ended as well, not even seven weeks prior. In that one, the home team won it, to keep its playoff dreams alive: Myers and the Seahawks indeed made the playoffs a few hours later when the Lions beat the Packers. This time, the walk-off field goal was a crusher, and it left the Sea Dragons 0-2 on back- to-back bummers at the buzzer.
As you may recall, the previous Sunday, QB Ben DiNucci fumbled in the final seconds at the one-yard-line. You’d have figured that was enough lemon juice in a paper cut for one week. But five nights later, 2900 miles west of D.C., the 44-yard field goal got banged in by Hageman (straight down the middle, no less) and suddenly the Sea Dragons were at the bottom of the division. A refresher: Seattle has had leads in the final seconds of both of its games, has allowed a grand total of 42 points, and is somehow still without a win. (Another refresher: Hageman, who kicked at San Diego State and did it well, has been earning his money these last several years mostly by working for his family’s carpet and flooring business.)
Meantime, St. Louis is the king of the last second road comeback, not a bad empire to rule. It’ll always be tough to top the Week 1 San Antonio shenanigans – down 12 with a couple minutes left and somehow Shawshanking out of the Alamodome with a win. In that one, quarterback A.J. McCarron had all of 50 yards passing at halftime. In this one, it would be only 60. The run game was of little first half help, with the Battlehawks averaging 3.3 yards per carry. That’s ten feet, folks. That’s from the asphalt to the rim on your neighborhood basketball court.
Seattle’s offense hadn’t done much through two quarters either, although it had one jackpot play to have taken the lead: Jahcour Pearson reeled in a 54-yard touchdown reception, but take away that one play, DiNucci had 51 yds passing through thirty minutes. Former NFL star Josh Gordon had been targeted just once by halftime and was without a catch.
However, other vital signs were strong: Morgan Ellison ran well (four carries, 27 yds) and the Dragons were draggin’ down McCarron for four first half sacks. (The Battlehawks have now allowed nine first half sacks through two games. Which is suboptimal.)
Eventually it was the ’Hawks (the Battle, not the Sea) who found enough offense at the end. They are the poster children for that time-worn meme of “how it started/how it’s going.” Once again, McCarron marched St. Louis down the field in the fourth, capping the drive with a 44-yard (there’s that number again) touchdown pass to Hakeem Butler. With that, St. Louis had its first lead of the night at 17-12.
Two drives later, DiNucci drove the Dragons 60 yards on seven plays, finishing with an 8-yard fourth down touchdown pass to Jordan Veasy for the go-ahead touchdown. Only 81 seconds remained – and when Seattle’s 3-point conversion attempt failed it stayed a one-point game whereby a field goal could win it. Sure enough, McCarron promptly moved the offense 50 yards in eight plays to set Hageman up to wear the hero hat.
McCarron emerged as dangerous both through the air and on the ground Thursday night. He ended up with 184 yards through the air, but also rushed for a team-high 41 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” he reminded the media after the game. “This team battles. It’s a never quit attitude. If time is on the clock, we think we can win.”
(You can hear more from McCarron on the official XFL weekly podcast: “XFL Week In Review.”)
Moving forward, the Battlehawks will keep their bags packed, as the team now gets ready for a third consecutive road game to begin the season: The home opener isn’t until Sunday, March 12 at the Dome at America’s Center, and by then the city may be ready to throw these guys a parade.
At least in this one, the battle of the Arch vs. the Space Needle went to the Arch. (And not for nothing, ‘Hawks media relations maven Brian Stull reports the Arch is 25 feet taller than the Needle. So even when it comes to “heights of famous landmarks,” St. Louis prevails in a tight one as well.)
Several members of the Battlehawks grew up in the Seattle area, played at a nearby university or spent time with the city’s NFL franchise, so the victory was especially sweet for players like DT Taniela Tupou (born in Marysville, WA, played at Washington collegiately and signed with the Seahawks in 2016.) LB Lakiem Williams is a Tacoma, WA, native who also signed with the Seahawks, spending time on their practice squad from 2021-22. LB Travis Feeney, meanwhile, attended Washington from 2012- 15, recording 125 tackles in 38 career games for the Huskies before being drafted by the Steelers. WR Gary Jennings was selected by the Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, while running backs coach Art Valero was an offensive line coach for Seattle in 2010. WR Austin Proehl played for Seattle during the 2020 XFL season and actually caught the first touchdown in XFL 2.0 history. (He made a clutch catch on the final drive Thursday night to help beat Seattle this time. (With three seconds left, might I add.)
Also of note, Battlehawks Head Coach Anthony Becht and Sea Dragons Head Coach Jim Haslett were both part of the 2008 St. Louis Rams. Becht played tight end while Haslett took over as the interim head coach four games into that disappointing season. When they met this time around, the final score was Student 20, Teacher 18. Believe it, St. Louis fans: Your team is a stunning 2-0 with forty percent of its road schedule already in the books. All hail the 44-yard-field goal.
