By Brian Gertler
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (April 9, 2024) – The Battlehawks secured their first win of the 2024 season at home versus the Renegades this past weekend. It was a back and forth game with four lead changes and capped off with a game winning field goal by St. Louis kicker Andre Szmyt.
A big roster move that had a clear impact on the game’s outcome was the move to put RB Jacob Saylors on the inactive roster and replace him with RB Mateo Durant. Durant made the most out of his playing time by leading the entire league in week two in rushing yards with 105. He was also able to snag a touchdown and two-point conversation on the day.
The defense had zero takeaways and seemed to struggle with Luis Perez’s game management approach, but ultimately made big plays when they needed to. Edge rusher Pita Taumoepenu had two huge sacks, both on third and longs for Arlington, to kill a couple of developing drives for the Renegades in the first half:
Probably the biggest defensive stop came on the final Renegade drive where CB Chris Payton-Jones broke a potential game-winning TD pass to force the Renegades to attempt a field goal unsuccessfully:
AJ McCarron and Marcel Ateman continued their offensive onslaught tacking on another two TDs on the day for Ateman and 248 passing yards for McCarron. McCarron currently leads the league in passing yards (464) while Ateman leads the league in receiving yards (174) and touchdowns (3). Some Battlehawk loyals are probably wondering about the lack of production from Hakeem Butler. Per Cody Main on X, Butler has only averaged a 15.6% target share in games that Marcell Ateman has played while averaging 27.2% in the four games Ateman missed last season. With Jahcour Pearson returning in the coming weeks, it would be interesting how target shares play out. It would be safe to assume that Darrius Shepherd would be the odd-man out in terms of target opportunities, but he has already solidified a spot on the roster as a WR 3 at minimum and a special teams extraordinaire. With many mouths to feed, McCarron and the Battlehawks have a great problem on their hands.