������Ƶ

Anthony Becht did not sugarcoat it.

The St. Louis coach wouldn’t shirk responsibility following the Battlehawks’ disappointing 36-18 loss to the D.C. Defenders in the XFL Conference championship game Sunday night in the Dome at America’s Center.

“It was an a — kicking from top to bottom,” Becht said. “Ultimately, it falls on me that I couldn’t bring it home for this city.

“I apologize.”

For the second successive season, the Battlehawks fell at home in the United Football League final four contest.

Again, they sailed through the regular season and were on a big-time roll entering the contest with a franchise-record six wins in a row and an 8-2 record.

And again, they laid a big-time egg.

“It’s plain and simple: We didn’t execute,” linebacker Willie Harvey said. “It’s definitely one of those things where you sit back and think, ‘What went wrong?’”

Harvey and the defensive unit turned in a sluggish performance after several dominating efforts during a regular season where they allowed nine points or fewer in five of eight wins.

St. Louis beat D.C. 13-8 in the regular-season finale May 30, although most of the regulars were held out of that contest on both sides.

But the second successive sluggish home-field performance in the XFL Conference title game was extremely painful especially for a jazzed-up crowd of 27,589. San Antonio beat St. Louis 25-15 in last year’s XFL Conference title game.

The UFL announced last month that the league championship would be played in St. Louis at 7 p.m. Saturday. St. Louis is considered the crown jewel of the eight-team league due to its average attendance of almost 29,000 a game, more than double any other team.

Becht’s mantra all year long was to get his team to that title game as a reward to the fans for their support.

“We just didn’t show up when we needed to show up,” Becht said. “D.C really put it on us in all phases.”

Becht wasn’t the only one to take responsibility for the setback.

Quarterback Max Duggan, who entered the contest with a 5-0 record as a starter, hit on just 3 of 7 passes for 29 yards in nightmarish first half that the Defenders dominated on the way to taking a 20-6 lead into the break.

“I did not do my job tonight,” Duggan said. “I was hurting us. I was the main factor in us not playing well.”

Actually, it was a total team effort.

“It’s very frustrating; I hate losing more than I like winning,” said wide receiver Hakeem Butler.

Duggan was pulled at half in favor of backup Brandon Silvers, who provided one of the few bright spots on the night.

Silver connected with Butler on a 12-yard scoring strike late in the third period that pulled the Battlehawks to within 26-12.

But D.C. answered with a seven-play, 65-yard drive to regain control.

The St. Louis defense began the season surrendering just 15 points in the first two games of the campaign.

But the vaunted stop-unit was powerless to slow down the high-octane Defenders, led by former Battlehawks quarterback Jordan Ta’amu, who hit on 18 of 26 for 204 yards and a touchdown.

D.C. amassed 388 total yards.

Ta’amu was the original Battlehawks quarterback in 2020 and still has supporters in St. Louis.

“I’ve played here a bunch,” Ta’amu said. “I always like feeding off the crowd.”

D.C. bolted out to a 14-0 lead by scoring touchdowns on two of its first three possessions.

St. Louis running back Jacob Saylors put the Battlehawks on the board with a 2-yard TD run with 3:10 left in the first half. Defensive back Myles Jones set up the score with an interception and 25-yard return to the 21-yard line.

D.C. kicker Matt McCrane connected on a pair of field goals over the final 1:10 of the half, including a 41-yarder with four seconds left thanks to a Duggan fumble.

The Defenders scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half to regain control 33-12.

The two teams split a pair of games during the regular season, each winning on the road.

“It definitely hurts,” Harvey said. “We’re competitors; we all want to win.”

Becht appeared almost stunned after the contest.

“This will definitely haunt you,” he said.

D.C. (7-4) will take on Michigan (7-4) in the title game Saturday in St. Louis. Michigan knocked off defending champion Birmingham 44-29 in the USFL Conference final earlier on Sunday.