Despite everything the Birmingham Stallions have accomplished in 32 professional spring football games, the Houston Gamblers were the proverbial thorn in their side.
A head-scratching loss to the dice-rollers derailed what would’ve been a perfect season in the modern United States Football League’s debut, and last year the teams split their regular season clash.
Birmingham has suffered three defeats since starting play in April of 2022, and two of them have come against the club repping Texas’ largest city.
But now that the Gamblers have rebranded as the Roughnecks – and joined the Stallions in the United Football League – the thorn has been removed.
And so has another obstacle in Birmingham’s path to perfection.
Skip Holtz’s charges completed a season sweep of Houston (1-7) on Saturday at Protective Stadium, improving to 8-0 and notching their 15th consecutive “W” dating back to 2023 with a 35-28 victory.
“We talked about we weren’t going to take a week off, “Holtz said. “We’re not getting ready for somebody down the road, we’re trying to go 1-0 each week. That’s our approach. We treated this game like any other.”
Make no mistake about it, Curtis Johnson’s hard-luck team was a tough out. The ‘Necks played hard from wire-to-wire, looking a far sight better than they did in a 32-9 loss at Rice Stadium on April 27.
But after the Stallions turned a 15-14 lead into a 21-14 edge thanks to another patented, clock-beating drive to end the second quarter, they were able to keep Houston at arm’s length.
“This Birmingham team is a juggernaut,” Johnson said. “Before the season, we all knew they were the flagship team in this league. They’re good at every position … I don’t see a weakness. And Skip Holtz, I’m telling you, he’s the king of spring.”
The Roughnecks’ last real shot at an upset came with under five minutes to go in the game. Trailing 35-28, they started at their own 24 with a chance at a potential game-winning score.
But they ended up going backward, and were forced to punt the ball away with 2:50 to go.
At that point Job One for Birmingham was to run out the clock, and the UFL’s lone unbeaten team held the ball until there were only 14 ticks remaining.
However, a punt and penalty gave Houston the ball at its own 42, and the visitors passed their way to the Birmingham 24 with one second left.
A DeMarquis Gates sack of QB Reid Sinnett ended the threat – and the game.
And it didn’t come a moment too soon; Holtz’s team was plagued by turnovers and mental mistakes all night, making the coach as relieved as he was happy when the final horn sounded.
“Everybody wants to look at records, that they’re 1-7, but it doesn’t matter,” Holtz said. “You’ve still gotta put the ball on the tee … you’ve got to play the game. And if you have stupid penalties, you get a stop on third-and-one and you rip your helmet off – I don’t know why, but you rip your helmet off – and then get a 15-yard penalty at the end on a punt for grabbing somebody’s facemask … we certainly did not play a very clean game.”
Adrian Martinez overcame a shaky (well, shaky by his standards) start to finish 19-31-1 through the air for 173 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for two more scores and 44 yards.
He connected with 10 different receivers with Deon Cain, Amari Rodgers and Binjimin Victor all reaching the end zone.
Ricky Person Jr. led all rushers with 63 yards.
Although the defense gave up 311 yards, A.J. Thomas got a pick on the third play of the game – his second interception in as many weeks – Jordon Thomas forced a fumble, and Gates, Kyahva Tezino and Damon Lloyd were in on eight tackles each.
Sinnett and Nolan Henderson shared time behind center for Houston, with Sinnett going 6-13-1 for 99 yards and a touchdown and Henderson finishing 9-14-0 for 97 yards.
Keke Chism had 80 receiving yards on seven catches and Mark Thompson got two scores out of his 54 rushing yards.
“We won the first game (against Houston) and this game was much more entertaining than the first one,” Holtz said. “I thought they really did a nice job. They had a new plan, and it’s just nice to win against anybody because the teams are so evenly matched across the board, and that was through two drafts and free agency and everything that’s happened during the offseason.
“There’s a lot of talent that was dispersed to a lot of different teams, and everybody’s got talent. I want to applaud Coach Johnson and his team … they’ve just been snakebit this year.”
Scoring plays: Birmingham, Deon Cain, 9-yard reception from Adrian Martinez, 8:53 first quarter, 2-point conversion failed, Stallions 6, Roughnecks 0; Birmingham, Binjimin Victor, 12-yard reception from Martinez, 4:41 first quarter, 2-point conversion failed, Stallions 12, Roughnecks 0; Houston, Mark Thompson, 37-yard run, 2:58 first quarter, 2-point conversion pass from Nolan Henderson to Justin Hall, Stallions 12, Roughnecks 8; Birmingham, Ramiz Ahmed, 44-yard field goal, 14:15 second quarter, Stallions 15, Roughnecks 8; Houston, Thompson, 2-yard run, 1:56 second quarter, 2-point conversion failed, Stallions 15, Roughnecks 14; Birmingham, Martinez, 4-ard run, :07 second quarter, 2-point conversion failed, Stallions 21, Roughnecks 14; Birmingham, Amari Rodgers, 10-yard reception from Martinez, 9:58 third quarter, 1-point conversion pass from Martinez to Jordan Thomas, Stallions 28, Roughnecks 14; Houston, Henderson, 3-yard run, 4:22 third quarter, 2-point conversion failed, Stallions 28, Roughnecks 20; Birmingham, Martinez, 8-yard run, 1:24 third quarter, 1-point conversion run by Larry Roundtree III, Stallions 35, Roughnecks 20; Houston, Braedon Bowman, 2-yard pass from Reid Sinnett, 7:21 fourth quarter, 2-point conversion pass from Sinnett to Justin Hall, Stallions 35, Roughnecks 28.
Standout stat: 14. Number of points Birmingham scored off a pair of Houston turnovers. Ultimately, that proved to be the difference.
Chavis out of action: Birmingham defensive coordinator John Chavis is dealing with illness and didn’t make the trip from Arlington to Birmingham for Saturday’s game.
Secondary coach Corey Chamblin stepped in as DC for the night. The Birmingham native is in his second stint with the Stallions after previously serving on the 2022 staff.
Up next: Birmingham plays its final regular season road game of 2024 next Saturday, 2 p.m. CDT, when it faces the San Antonio Brahmas at the Alamodome.
The game will be televised on ABC.
OTD in 1984: The Birmingham Stallions of the original United States Football League routed the Chicago Blitz, 41-7, in front of 8,578 fans at Soldier Field.
Quarterback Cliff Stoudt threw for two touchdowns and 229 yards, and the winners also scored two defensive TDs. David Evans picked up a fumble and returned it five yards for a score in the first quarter, and later in the frame, Chuck Clanton tallied a pick-six on a 41-yard return of a Vince Evans pass.
The Stallions improved to 11-2 with the win.