In a must win game, the Birmingham Stallions scored quickly in the first quarter and held the lead until 1:37 left in the game. 22 seconds later, Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw a pick six. The Stallions would unsuccessfully try to drive down the field and would lose 36-29 to fall to 4-5 on the season and put their playoff hopes in danger.
From the jump this rematch between Birmingham and Columbus was active. Stallions quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw an interception on the first play of the game. However, the Aviators wouldn’t keep momentum as very quickly the defense would force a fumble which Alex Cook would take all the way back for a touchdown. Columbus would be able to block the extra point and run that back to get on the board themselves, leading to a 6-1 score.
Unlike last week’s bout, Columbus was a threat to be dealt with. Backup quarterback Jalen Morton got the start for the Aviators this week, and with it the Aviators offense opened up. Massive passing plays and huge runs were frequent. While the Stallions were able to stop some drives and plays like Bump Cooper’s interception helped keep pace, the Aviators were lurking and attempting to strike the entire game. Multiple penalties hurt, as well as a failure to tackle on the pick-six at the end of the game.
Offensively the Stallions seemed much improved from last week. Big plays from Deon Cain and Tyrion Davis-Price led to touchdowns and expanded that early lead. There were also three made field goals from kicker Anders Carlson that built up a cushion against stalled drives. However, while Birmingham started hot, they burnt out by the end. Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw two interceptions, one being the aforementioned pick six, but had many questionable and errant throws in the final minutes of the game.
Birmingham failed to score a touchdown in the second half of the game, putting up only six points. While Head Coach AJ McCarron has helped bring the team to three wins in a row before this week, his coaching down the stretch kept the Aviators in the game long enough to come back fully.
“The hard truth is coaches have off days,” McCarron stated in the postgame press conference. “I felt like we should have ran the ball a little bit more.”
As with the early season losses to the Houston Gamblers and St. Louis Battlehawks, the Stallions had multiple chances to put the game away deep into the fourth quarter. The failure to hold leads and execute properly may come back and haunt the team in regards to postseason hopes. Birmingham now sits behind Louisville as the first team out of the playoffs. Since Birmingham has the head-to-head tiebreaker, as long as the two teams end with the same record, Birmingham will make the playoffs. As such, Birmingham must win next week while Louisville must lose at least one of their next two games for the Stallions to reach the postseason.
Fans will be able to see their Birmingham Stallions suit up at least one more time when they return home for the last regular season game on May 30th. Birmingham will take on the Houston Gamblers once again in hopes of securing a win and continuing the late season playoff push.
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