Birmingham Stallions Make History After Winning 2022 USFL Championship

07/04/2022 07:53 pm EDT

The Birmingham Stallions are the last time standing. On Sunday night the USFL Championship took place at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio and the Stallions defeated the Philadelphia Stars 33-30 to win the title. According to BirminghamProSports.com, the victory is the first football championship for Birmingham since 1974 when the Birmingham Americans won the World Football League's World Bowl. 

And with this being the inaugural season of the USFL, the Stallions are the inaugural champions. On Sunday night, the Stallions were led by former Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough who rushed for 135 yards on 13 carries. "Bo brings a heavy presence," Stallions head coach Skip Holtz said after the game. "And this was the type of game, with safeties coming downhill and the way they were trying to take away Victor over the top, and they started to try and take away Marlon. And that left a huge hole in the middle of the field. All he had to do is make one man miss, and there was green grass in front of him. And Bo did that tonight."   

Backup quarterback Alex McGough took over for J'Mar Smith in the third quarter due to an injury and finished the game with 77 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Stallions. He was also seen getting into a verbal argument with Holtz. "Things got a little dicey," McGough said afterward. "He just kind of brought me over, took me through the play and what he was thinking. I was telling him what I was thinking. And then he just said we're going to win this game. And that kind of put it into perspective of, 'Hey, next play.'"  

The Stars were leading 23-20 midway through the fourth quarter. But things changed when quarterback Case Cookus broke his leg and the Stars' lead slipped away due to two interceptions by backup K.J. Costello. "He was really disappointed," Stars head coach Bart Andrus said when asked about Cookus. "He would have liked to have finished the game. He's one of those guys who it wasn't about him; it's about him being able to help his team. That was the biggest concern for him because it held him back from being able to perform for his team in their time of need. That was the biggest thing on his mind."

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