Whether you hold a championship game in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton or The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, you can bet the Birmingham Stallions are gonna be there.
Skip Holtz’s spring football kings, winners of back-to-back United States Football League titles, earned a shot at the United Football League crown on Saturday with a wild 31-18 victory over Michigan in front of 10,287 fans at Protective Stadium.
Birmingham beat the Philadelphia Stars, 33-30, in 2022 and the Pittsburgh Maulers, 28-12, in 2023, winning both USFL title games in Canton.
The UFL Championship will be in St. Louis on June 16, and the Stallions will face the winner of Sunday’s contest between the St. Louis Battlehawks and San Antonio Brahmas.
A pick-six by Daniel Isom in the third quarter allowed the Stallions to erase an 18-12 deficit against the Panthers in the USFL Conference Championship Game, while Matt Corral came on in relief of Adrian Martinez and threw a pair of fourth quarter TDs to seal the deal.
“We have a little saying that we always talk about … don’t flinch,” Holtz said. “No matter what happens, we’re gonna find a way to win this game. And even with the offense sputtering the way it was, the defense kept creating turnover after turnover, and then they said, ‘Hell, if you can’t score, we will.’”
All’s well that ends well but, good grief, did the eventual winners ever make it hard on themselves for much of the hot afternoon.
Birmingham (10-1) trailed 18-3 at one point, turned the ball over four times, was slapped with 11 penalties for 111 yards and committed enough mental mistakes to last a season.
Errors were not the sole domain of the hosts, though; the teams combined for eight turnovers, and six were committed in the third quarter alone.
But champions find a way, and the Stallions scored the final 28 points of the game – good enough to get another chance at another trophy – while Michigan’s season ends at 7-4. Three of those losses came against the Stallions.
Martinez exited the game with decent numbers (10-19-1 for 164 yards and a touchdown) but Corral finished 9-11-1 for 120 yards and two scores, giving Birmingham much-needed momentum down the stretch.
Amari Rodgers, Jordan Thomas and Ricky Person Jr. had receiving TDs for the Stallions.
“We needed a spark offensively,” Holtz said. “I’ve said all along. I feel like we have two starting quarterbacks. I feel like we have two players that are very capable of leading this football team to a championship, and I felt like we needed a spark. I think Matt is a very talented individual, but more than anything, I think today is an unbelievable lesson in resolve – not four quarters of resolve, but in two months of resolve – as he has had to stand on the sideline. Yet, he has taken reps every week in practice.”
Corral said he was fully prepared to step in and take charge.
“Like every other day, we practice the same scenarios, same place, each and every day, day in and day out, and we get a lot of reps at it,” Corral said. “And coach does a good job of putting us in place to get done what we’ve got to get done.”
The defense was “bend but don’t break” throughout the day, forcing the Panthers to settle for four field goals.
Ike Brown had a pair of key interceptions, Damon Lloyd recovered a fumble, and Armani Taylor-Prioleau blocked a field goal. The unit had five sacks and Kyahva Tezino led Stallions tacklers with seven takedowns.
And it was Isom’s defensive score that flipped the game in favor of Birmingham.
Panthers QB Danny Etling was intercepted three times, although he did rack up 182 yards and throw for a score.
Siaosi Mariner was on the money end of Etling’s touchdown pass.
“I thought that first half we played well, other than the fact that I wish we had turned a lot of field goals into six points,” Michigan coach Mike Nolan said. “Touchdowns would have made a difference for us.”
Scoring plays: Michigan, Siaosi Mariner, 35-yard reception from Danny Etling, 12:17 first quarter, 1-point conversion failed, Panthers 6, Stallions 0; Michigan, Jake Bates, 53-yard field goal, 8:43 first quarter, Panthers 9, Stallions 0; Michigan, Bates, 42-yard field goal, :40 first quarter, Panthers 12, Stallions 0; Birmingham, Chris Blewitt, 23-yard field goal, 10:30 second quarter, Panthers 12, Stallions 3; Michigan, Bates, 34-yard field goal, 7:10 second quarter, Panthers 15, Stallions 3; Michigan, Bates, 25-yard field goal, 3:59 second quarter, Panthers 18, Stallions 3; Birmingham, Jordan Thomas, 50-yard reception from Adrian Martinez, 3:53 second quarter, 2-point conversion failed, Panthers 18, Stallions 9; Birmingham, Blewitt, 43-yard field goal, :12 second quarter, Panthers 18, Stallions 12; Birmingham, Daniel Isom, 48-yard interception return, 2:37 third quarter, 1-point conversion failed, Stallions 18, Panthers 18; Birmingham, Amari Rodgers, 7-yard reception from Matt Corral, 13:42 fourth quarter, 1-point conversion failed, Stallions 24, Panthers 18; Birmingham, Ricky Person, 15-yard reception from Corral, 4:04 fourth quarter, 1-point conversion reception by Thomas from Corral, Stallions 31, Panthers 18.
Standout stat: 28. The number of unanswered points the Stallions scored in Saturday’s victory.
Next up: Birmingham plays Sunday’s winner between the San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks on June 16 in St. Louis in the UFL Championship Game. The contest is set for 4 p.m. CDT and can be seen on FOX and listened to on FOX Sports on SiriusXM.
OTD in 1974: Several hundred fans got their first look at the Birmingham Americans as the team in the fledgling World Football League held their first scrimmage at Robinson Memorial Stadium at Marion Institute.
George Mira, who would earn the starting job at QB, completed five passes for 45 yards including two to former Alabama receiver Dennis Homan for 16 and 14 yards, respectively.
OTD in 1985: The Birmingham Stallions of the original United States Football League defeated the Baltimore Stars, 14-7, in front of 24,300 fans at Byrd Stadium.
Cliff Stoudt hit Jim Smith on a pair of touchdown passes and helped the playoff-bound Stallions improve to 12-4 and win their fifth consecutive game.
The Stars – defending USFL champions – slipped to 8-7-1.