St. Louis Battlehawks coach Anthony Becht met with his defensive unit a few weeks ago and made one simple request.
鈥淗e wanted violence,鈥 explained defensive end Travis Feeney.
Becht got his wish on Sunday afternoon.
Again.
The St. Louis defense shined for the second game in a row as the Battlehawks smashed their way to a 19-9 win over Memphis on the road at Liberty Stadium.
The Battlehawks (5-2), who never trailed for the second straight game, moved into a tie with the D.C. Defenders (5-2) for first place in the XFL Conference with three games remaining. The teams meet in the final regular-season game May 30 at Audi Field in Washington.
Feeney led the charge with seven tackles. Linebacker Isaiah Mack had a sack and also forced a fumble.
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鈥淲e鈥檝e been relentless with a 鈥榖end, don鈥檛 break鈥 mentality,鈥 Feeney said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, our defense has to beat the other team鈥檚 defense. We鈥檙e locked in, and we鈥檙e still hungry.鈥
The Battlehawks, who have won three in a row, stopped Michigan (1-6) on downs three times at crucial stages of the contest.
鈥淲e play off the defense, and we find ways to win,鈥 Becht said. 鈥淲hen you start getting these kind of games, winning these close ones, it says a lot about your players and their will to finish.鈥
Linebacker Carson Wells set the tone with a crunching fourth-down stop on running back Wes Hills in the first quarter that led to a 53-yard field goal by Rodrigo Blankenship. Defensive tackle Kyler Baugh also made a fourth-down stop in the second quarter to halt a Showboats drive at the 9-yard line.
鈥淲hen the pass rush and the secondary work together, nobody鈥檚 going to be able to stop us,鈥 said Feeney, who starred at the University of Washington in college.
The St. Louis offense did just enough to get the job done.
Blankenship and quarterback Max Duggan led the way.
Duggan engineered an eight-play, 78-yard drive in the closing two minutes of the opening half to allow the visitors to take a 16-6 lead into the break.
The former TCU standout did all of his damage on that march in the air, hitting on 5 of 6 passes including a 13-yard scoring toss to Jahcour Pearson that pumped the lead to 10 points. The drive, which took a minute and 10 seconds off the clock, served as an answer after the Showboats got to within 10-6 on a 5-yard pass from Dresser Winn to Jonathan Adams.
For the game, Duggan hit on 15 of 23 passes for 158 yards. He also ran eight times for 59 yards.
Blankenship connected from 53 and 44 yards to improve to 16 of 16 on the season. The former University of Georgia kicker has made five of field goals of 50 yards or more. His 44-yarder with 3:01 left in the contest sealed the triumph.
St. Louis bolted out to a 10-0 lead over the first 13:07.
Duggan ran up the middle on a 7-yard scoring jaunt on third-and-goal for a 7-0 lead.
Blankenship added a bomb on the following possession to push the advantage to 10-0.
Duggan鈥檚 dual-threat ability kept the Showboats defense on its heels all afternoon.
鈥淢ax is a competitor,鈥 St. Louis running back Jacob Saylors said. 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful to be able to play and line up beside someone that has that ability.鈥
Saylors ran 11 times for 36 yards. Running back Jarveon Howard rushed for 40 yards including a 14-yard gallop on the opening scoring drive.
Blankenship was not the only special teams player to shine. Punter Sterling Hofrichter punted five times for 246 yards. He pinned the Showboats inside the 20-yard line on all five kicks.
St. Louis, which has 193 games of NFL experience on its roster, is coming off a 12-6 win over Arlington and 32-27 triumph over Michigan, which is one of four teams in the league with a 5-2 record.
Becht is pleased with the resiliency that his group has shown during the three-game run.
鈥淲e were 2-2 with our backs against the wall,鈥 Becht said. 鈥淭hen we found a way to win three in a row. We love our spot.鈥
Memphis (1-6) was eliminated from postseason play with the loss.
The Battlehawks return home to the Dome at America鈥檚 Center for their next two games, playing host to the Birmingham Stallions (5-2) at noon Saturday and the San Antonio Brahmas (1-6) at 7 p.m. May 23.
