The final week of the UFL regular season opened with the most-heated rivalry in all of spring football, as the St. Louis Battlehawks took a visit to the District to take on the DC Defenders at Audi Field for a claim at the #1 seed in the XFL conference. Due to scheduling conflicts in DC, the XFL Championship is already set to be played in St. Louis at The Dome.

With that said, the Defenders will be starting backup quarterback Mike DiLiello this week,  moving UFL MVP favorite Jordan Ta’amu to the bench for much-earned rest before the playoffs.

Brandon Silvers was reported to be the Battlehawks starter just hours prior to the game, per James Larsen. 

This is the second game this season between DC and St. Louis, as the Defenders took down the Battlehawks on the road, 27-15 in Week 3.

St. Louis was able to find early success against a majority backup Defenders defense, as Silvers found WR Hakeem Butler on the game’s first play from scrimmage for a 39-yard gain along the sideline. Battlehawks RB Jarveon Howard was able to find his rhythm shortly after, as he punched in the game’s first score from two-yards out and converted the one-point attempt to capture the early lead, 7-0.

Shortly after DC was forced to punt, weather struck the Buzzard Point area of DC as the game was ruled under delay due to thunderstorms…

As the game was resumed about 30 minutes later, DC was able to capture some momentum as Jahcour Pearson nearly gave up possession on a muffed punt, which caused the St. Louis offense to be backed up and eventually safetied by Andre Mintze.

Second Quarter

With the Defenders unable to string together any offensive success in the second quarter, the Battlehawks were able to extend their lead as Rodrigo Blankenship hit not one, but two field goals to make it a 13-2 lead heading into halftime. 

Third Quarter

With the conditions lessening throughout the game, the Audi Field terrain remained waterlogged and overall sloppy. Players were losing their footing throughout, and it even resulted in a major injury as starting offensive guard for DC, Mason Brooks, left the game with a lower body injury and did not return.

The third quarter was much of the same for the DC offense, as Mike DiLiello was unsuccessful in creating long, sustained drives. The Defenders were able to put Matthew McCrane in field goal range, but the kick was blocked by LB Chris Garrett, and they were held scoreless in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

With less than five minutes remaining in the final quarter of action, DiLiello led his best drive of the game and found Seth Williams from four-yards out to make it a one possession game, 13-8.

Following the DC scoring drive, QB Chevan Cordeiro saw his first career UFL action for St. Louis as he replaced Silvers. Cordeiro was able to hand off a pair of first downs to ice the game and give St. Louis their sixth straight win to finish the 2025 regular season.

Final Thoughts

This game will go down as potentially the most forgettable matchup between these two teams, as the Defenders and Battlehawks will now shift focus to certainly the most important matchup in the history of this rivalry with the XFL Championship next Sunday at The Dome in St. Louis.

Jordan Ta’amu and Max Duggan will be back under center next week, as both earned rest this week.

Only three more games remain in the 2025 UFL regular season, so stay tuned all weekend long for more spring football action!What are your thoughts on this game between the St. Louis Battlehawks and DC Defenders? Which UFL players impressed you? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!