Having started the day without the team’s leading pass catcher and second-leading rusher, Battlehawks coach Anthony Becht had to watch as offensive linemen started falling by the wayside Sunday.
Meanwhile, a comfortable lead was nearly wiped out by halftime. None of that derailed the Battlehawks in a stadium in which the home team never had lost.
Depth created in the offseason took over as the Battlehawks led from start to finish in a 45-12 destruction of the D.C. Defenders, a team they never had beaten in three previous tries.
It was a complete dismantling for the Battlehawks (4-1), winners of its past four games who are tied with San Antonio atop the United Football League’s XFL Conference at the season’s halfway point.
The Battlehawks forced four turnovers, including three interceptions of former ºüÀêÊÓƵ quarterback Jordan Ta’amu. They blocked two punts, and Andre Szmyt kicked four field goals. Four players scored touchdowns, with two coming from receiver Hakeem Butler.
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“If you’re a head coach watching all of that for four quarters, you sit back and take it in,†Becht said. “I love this team. They deserve to be 4-1.â€
There was a lot to take in, from game-opening kickoff return to the D.C. 25-yard line to an 80-yard TD catch by Butler.
The Battlehawks have progressively scored more points in each game this season. Against D.C., quarterback A.J. McCarron again was effective with two touchdown passes and no interceptions. He completed 14 of 24 passes.
But Butler had the biggest day with six catches for 147 yards in front of friends and family from the Baltimore area.
“Me being the catalyst is cool,†he said. “I always believe with the ball in my hands I’ll do great things but also my teammates. There are dudes that don’t get to play who could go to another team and start. Right now, just stacking up wins is telling about where our team is and where we’re headed.â€
The Battlehawks took a 17-0 lead before the Defenders made it 17-12 at halftime, taking advantage of a botched fourth-down attempt by ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
The fourth quarter was a lopsided stretch that saw the visitors outscore the home team 25-0. The Battlehawks forced and recovered a fumble, stopped D.C. on downs, made an interception and stopped the Defenders on downs on successive drives.
Linebacker Mike Rose led with 11 tackles and one interception that left him frustrated as he came up 9 yards short of the end zone on the return.
“The main thing is that as a linebacker core, we’re the part that stayed the same (from last season),†Rose said. “Being Year 2 in the defense is a huge advantage in getting people aligned, and it bleeds out from there. We also have a lot of new pieces doing it, too, coming in and doing what they were doing in previous places.â€
Szmyt, who won the Lou Groza Award his freshman year at Syracuse, made all four of his field-goal attempts, improving to 12 for 14 this season.
Blake Jackson stepped in for injured Darrius Shepherd on returns and opened the game with a 58-yard return to set the tone. Wayne Gallman II was given more carries in place of Mataeo Durant and had a scoring run.
Meanwhile, Ta’amu had all kind of problems. He threw for 101 yards and had three passes picked off and fumbled in the fourth quarter when Pita Taumoepenu stripped him of the ball. The D.C. running game that hurt ºüÀêÊÓƵ so badly in two games last season had only 84 yards.
“A couple of weeks ago, we had 53 (defensive) mental errors,†Becht said. “I challenged them and said if we’re going to get where we want to be, we can’t have that. I told the team at camp, ‘I’m sick of hearing about the offense. I want this to be the best defense in the league.’â€
The Battlehawks were rolling early but had to settle for field goals to reach a 17-0 lead. Becht opened the door for the Defenders when he opted to go for it on fourth down late in the second quarter from the D.C. 47 and the play failed. D.C. took the momentum with a scoring drive, but the touchdown was to be the Defenders’ final points.
“We thought we had a good play they didn’t expect, and they stopped us,†Becht said. “We felt good about something, and it didn’t work. It did give them a little momentum, but we didn’t fade.â€