by Ever since the USFL restart from 2022, the best team has been the Birmingham Stallions. Last season the Stallions defeated the Philadelphia Stars 33-30 to become champions. This season, the Stallions finished the regular season 8-2 which was the best record of any of the 8 USFL teams.
After a convincing 47-22 victory over the New Orleans Breakers in the first round of the playoffs, all the Stallions had to do was beat the Pittsburgh Maulers to repeat as USFL Champions.
Mission accomplished.
After hearing all week how good the Maulers defense was, which was the league’s best, Birmingham proved they have a good defense too, holding the Pittsburgh offense to 202 total yards & no touchdowns en route to a 28-12 victory as the Stallions defeated the Maulers to repeat as USFL Champions on Saturday Night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
It was the Maulers that took the early lead. Pittsburgh quarterback Troy Williams led the Maulers offense down the field on a long 13 play drive with a mix of tough running by Garrett Groshek & a series of short passes. On third & goal from the Birmingham 4, Williams tried to find wide receiver Tre Walker but the pass was incomplete. After the play Walker was called for a personal foul, which backed up the Maulers 15 yards to the Stallions 19. But that wasn’t a problem for Maulers placekicker Chris Blewitt who came on to attempt a 37 yard field goal.
The kick as good as Pittsburgh took an early 3-0 lead with 5:27 left in the first quarter.
Birmingham, led by USFL MVP Alex McGough, moved the ball with ease until they were face with a 4th & 2 from the Maulers 40 when Stallions head coach Skip Holtz decided to go for the first down. McGough kept the ball on a draw, but was stopped for a 1 yard loss back to the 41, turning the ball over on downs. The Maulers were unable to move the ball, forcing a punt.
On the Stallions next drive they took the lead early in the second quarter. McGough scrambled for a first down on a third & 10 to the Birmingham 43, then 15 yards were added at the end of the play thanks to a personal foul, moving the ball to the Maulers 42. On the next play, McGough went deep to the end zone where Davion Davis was there on the receiving end as he beat 2 Maulers defenders for a touchdown. Brandon Aubrey’s kick made the score 7-3 Stallions with 10:39 left in the second quarter.
After another Chris Blewit field goal made the score 7-6 Stallions, with just over 3 minutes remaining in the first half, the Stallions went on a 7 play, 68 yard drive to extend the lead. McGough found his tight end Jace Sternberger for a first down as well as CJ Marable out of the backfield on a screen pass. The drive was called off as McGough found Deon Cain for a 3 yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds left in the first half after Aubrey’s PAT made the score 14-6 Stallions.
Pittsburgh quickly went downfield to give Blewitt another chance to put up more points on the scoreboard. Blewitt converted on a 55 yard field goal on the final play of the first half as the Birmingham lead was cut to 14-9 at halftime.
The Stallions got the ball first in the second half & went to the running game. Ricky Person, who did not touch the ball at all in the first half, found big holes behind his offensive line for gains of 12 & 15 yards. CJ Marable also picked up first downs of 7 & 8 yards. This led to another touchdown drive as McGough found Cain again in the end zone, this time from 20 yards for another score. Aubrey’s PAT made the score 21-9 Birmingham with 10:29 left in the third quarter.
After Blewitt made his fourth field goal of the night with 7:45 left in the third to make the score 21-12 Birmingham, the Stallions offense was on the move again. But this time, the Maulers came up with a stop. On a third & goal from the 12, McGough was forced to scramble 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage under a heavy rush. McGough lose the ball as he as hit as it was scooped up by Pittsburgh lineman Olive Sagapolu.
Sagapolu then handed the ball to teammate Eli Walker at the Birmingham 28, then Walker took it for an apparent touchdown. But rules analyst Mike Pereira on the NBC telecast ruled that the ball was illegally handed off forward, resulting in no touchdown & a 5 yard penalty, forcing the Maulers to take over on offense at the Stallions 33. After failing to pick up a first down, Blewitt came up to attempt a 48 yard field goal. But this time, Blewitt’s kick was wide left with 13:01 remaining in regulation as the score remained 21-12 in favor of Birmingham.’
Later in the fourth with the score still 21-12 Stallions, the Maulers were faced with a fourth & 8 from their own 40 with 8 minutes left. The Maulers went for it as Troy Williams tried to find Bailey Gaither deep over the middle but the pass was incomplete, turning the ball over on downs. Two plays later, McGough went deep & found Deon Cain once again for a 40 yard touchdown pass. Aubrey’s PAT made the score 28-12 Birmingham with 6:28 left in regulation as this turned out to be the final score in the USFL Championship game.
After the game Maulers Head Coach Ray Horton was proud of his team despite the loss. ” We’re not the laughingstocks of the league anymore.” (The Maulers were a league worst 1-9 last season.) “This is a team that’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. On defense, it already is. And on offense, we’ll fix it, & get better.”
Kyahva Tenzio led the Maulers with 13 tackles while placekicker Chris Blewitt went 4 for 5 on field goal attempts. Blewitt was successful on attempts of 37, 36, 55 & 51 yards.
Meanwhile, Stallions head coach Skip Holtz was elated with his team ” I’m so proud of these players. We had an open team meeting & we talked about how last year is over & this is a new football team…. our goal was not to win the championship…. the goal of this football team was to go 1-0 every week…. let’s just keep getting better every week.” When asked by reporters how they went 20-3 over the last 2 years, Holtz said ” We weren’t trying to go 20-3. We’re trying to win 1 game at a time. And that’s how we’re going to win this game.”
And now, the Birmingham Stallions are 21-3 over the last 2 seasons & are now 2 time USFL Champions.
For the Birmingham Stallions, wide receiver Deon Cain was named the MVP of the USFL Championship game as he had 4 receptions for 70 yards & 3 touchdowns. Cain also had 101 yards on special teams for 171 total yards. Quarterback Alex McGough went 18 for 25 for 243 yards with 4 touchdowns & no interceptions.
