LAST DRIVE OF FIRST HALF TURNS GAME FOR STALLIONS IN UFL SEASON OPENING WIN

Photo by Triple Threat Photography

MARCH 31, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

One of the biggest possessions during the Birmingham Stallions win over the Arlington Renegades on Saturday came late in the first half of the UFL opener in Arlington.

Up until that drive, it had been a frustrating day for the Stallions offense. At the time, with the clock quickly ticking down toward halftime, Arlington led 11-3. Birmingham, looking to put a positive ending to the first half, faced a 4th-and-almost 2 yards from the Arlington 42-yard line. With 13 seconds left in the half, Birmingham Stallions head coach Skip Holtz chose to go for the first down.

“They got everybody back playing the pass, if we can’t make two yards, I don’t know if we deserve to win,” Holtz said of the drive, which began with 1:20 on the clock at the Birmingham 17-yard line. “We were playing against a three-man front with eight guys back trying to play pass. You know what, I was right, we got 2 ½ yards (or) maybe two yards and a foot. I don’t know if it was that much over. But, we got the first down.”

Holtz quickly called a timeout after the play, leaving nine seconds on the clock. The thought was that the Stallions hit a quick pass to the boundary, or perhaps two, before bringing Chris Blewitt in for a field goal attempt. The Renegades’ defense dictated something else and the Stallions took advantage with Matt Corral connecting with Deon Cain on a 39-yard touchdown pass.

“Really, my thought was, we were trying to run stop routes, down the field on the sideline, step out of bounds and kick the field goal,” Holtz said. “But, they were sitting on everything and if they sit you got to run a go. I thought Deon and Matt were on the same page and they did a great job of letting it go.”

The Stallions followed with a two-point conversion pass from Corral to Ricky Person Jr.

“I just felt like we had a chance to get points,” Holtz said. “We were down and I didn’t want to give up on the half. I’m one of those believers if there is time on the clock, you got an opportunity to score. I know a lot of people are thinking, ‘Just get out of the half, don’t do something stupid.’ If there is time on the clock, you have a chance to score. This is a great example of that, the players on our team believed and executed and we put points up.”

There is a history of that with Holtz and the Stallions. Last season, the Stallions scored touchdowns on the team’s final full possession of the first half in the first six games and nine times overall in 12 games. The final two came in the USFL playoff semifinal win over Memphis and the championship game victory over Pittsburgh.

Often, those final first half drive scores changed the complexion of the game, much as it did on Saturday in Arlington. Four times it marked the lone first half touchdown for the Stallions. Now, some of the names have changed in the Stallions’ offense, most notably at quarterback, but the approach will stay the same.