*Courtesy of the United States Football League
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — C.J. Marable accounted for 138 of Birmingham’s 261 yards to lead the Stallions to a 24-20 win over New Orleans on Saturday afternoon at Protective Stadium.
Alex McGough added 16-for-23 for 176 yards through the air and ran for a touchdown while Quentin Poling led the defense with 10 tackles, including three tackles for loss for the Stallions (5-2).
“That was a great football game.” Stallions Head Coach Skip Holtz added, “This one had its ups and downs, and twists and turns where you thought it was going one way and then you thought it was going another. That’s what happens when two great football teams line up and compete. Everybody wants to fight to the very end.”
New Orleans (4-3) was led by McLeod Bethel-Thompson with 279 yards passing and one touchdown while Johnnie Dixon had six catches for 97 yards. Matt Coghlin was 4-for-4 on field goal attempts, including a 55-yarder.
“It was a hard-fought game.” Breakers Head Coach John Defilippo said, “You get 21 first downs and rush for over 100 yards and get 370 yards total. The two things that killed us were turnovers and lack of red zone efficiency.”
The Breakers found success on the ground during the opening drive, moving the ball all the way down to the two-yard line before settling for a field goal. Johnny Newsome came up with a big tackle for loss on first and goal to back the Breakers up and force the field goal attempt.
Birmingham responded with a scoring drive of its own, punctuated by a five-yard touchdown rush by Alex McGough to put the Stallions ahead, 7-3. McGough and CJ Marable connected for passes of 16 and 21 yards to help Birmingham move down the field.
A pair of turnovers including a fumble and a muffed punt gave Birmingham a short field, taking over on the New Orleans 24 with 11:45 to go in the second quarter. They were able to turn in to three points after Brandon Aubrey converted the 22-yard field goal.
Trailing 10-3, the Breakers answered with a 10-play, 58-yard field goal drive over 5:18 late in the second quarter. Jonathan Adams sparked the scoring drive with a 41-yard catch and run to get New Orleans in the red zone.
The first half concluded with the Stallions holding a 10-6 advantage.
The Stallions opened the second half with a quick strike scoring drive. CJ Marable accounted for 46 of Birmingham’s 55 yards before Ricky Person punched it into the end zone from two yards out to make it 17-6 with 10:36 to go in the third quarter.
After a defensive stop, Birmingham took over on their own 15-yard line with 7:35 on the clock in the third. Michael Stevens forced a fumble on the first play of the drive and Jarey Elder recovered, giving the Breakers’ offense the ball at the Birmingham 19-yard line. New Orleans was unable to get their first touchdown of the game, settling for a third Matt Coghlin field goal to make it 17-9.
Alex McGough found some success through the air on the ensuing Stallions’ drive, capping it off with a 20-yard touchdown strike to Jace Sternberger with 1:12 to go in the third.
Trailing 24-9 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Breakers were able to put together their first touchdown drive of the day. McLeod Bethel-Thompson found Lee Morris in the middle of the end zone from 10 yards out before connecting with Sage Surratt on the two-point conversion attempt to make it 24-17. Bethel-Thompson was 5-for-5 for 63 yards on the drive.
The Breakers inched closer after a Matt Coghlin drilled a 55-yard field goal with 5:54 remaining in the fourth quarter to make it 24-20.
New Orleans had possession with 1:05 on the clock and no timeouts remaining on their own 20-yard line looking to win the game. On second down, Bethel-Thompson completed a pass to Jonathan Adams deep down the left sideline near midfield, but it was overturned by replay with 17 seconds remaining on the clock. The Breakers were still able to move down the field quickly, after Bethel-Thompson hit Johnnie Dixon deep down the middle to the Birmingham 38. Jojo Tillery sealed the 24-20 win for the Stallions with an interception in the end zone on the final play of the game.
Next week, Birmingham hosts the Philadelphia Stars (3-3) at Protective Stadium on June 3, while New Orleans will face Michigan (2-4) at Protective Stadium on June 4.