On April 30, 2026, the Louisville Kings lost to the St. Louis Battlehawks in a lopsided 16-3 contest. It was the Kings' worst offensive performance of the season and the team’s only loss in their last seven games. Throughout the season, Ricky Proehl’s 6-4 Battlehawks were one of the strongest teams, and St. Louis boasts a league-high 7 players who were just named as All-UFL honorees.
However, since that loss against St. Louis, the Kings have risen to the challenge, improving every week to earn four consecutive victories. Matching the Battlehawks’ 6-4 record, Louisville has put more points on the scoreboard than any other UFL team.
Here’s how the two teams stack up for the postseason.
Playoff Preview: Louisville Kings v. St. Louis Battlehawks
With both teams hitting their stride right before the playoffs, the intensity has kicked up another notch, and things are even more competitive.
Following last week’s Aviators victory, Louisville coach Chris Redman told the team in the post-game locker room, “Congratulations! Man, that’s a helluva win! That’s a helluva year. That is a helluva year!” Looking around the room, he continued, “But we ain’t done yet, right?”
Looking ahead to the franchise’s first-ever playoff, the Kings are eager to flip the scales on the Battlehawks and avenge the Week 6 loss. But it won’t be easy. After the loss to St. Louis, Redman referred to the Battlehawks as “The best team we’ve played all year. They played an outstanding football game.”
St. Louis Quarterback-The Spring King
Harrison Frost was the winning quarterback (22/40 for 242 yards and 2 TDs) the last time these two teams met. However, he’s since been benched in favor of former Renegades’ veteran Luis Perez.
Over the past three seasons, the “Spring King” has posted an outstanding UFL career record of 5,623 yards with 31 touchdowns. Leading the league with the most touchdowns in 2024 (18) and the most passing yards in 2025 with 2,298, Perez has been exceptional. While he isn’t a particularly mobile quarterback, Perez has an incredibly strong arm. His longest pass of 63 yards in 2025 was second only to Jordan Ta’amu that season. Perez also has a rushing touchdown to his credit this season.
Traded to St. Louis mid-way through the season, Perez has appeared in only four games. Nonetheless, he’s already recorded over 1,000 yards with four touchdowns. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s inherited one of the league’s top receivers in All-Pro wide receiver Hakeem Butler.
The Battlehawks Offense
Nominated to the All-UFL team for a third consecutive season, Butler leads St. Louis in receptions with 29 catches for 641 yards with three touchdowns. He leads the league in receptions, despite only playing nine games. Steven McBride has 31 catches for 412 yards with three touchdowns. Also named to the All-UFL Team, tight end Tyler Neville leads the team with four touchdowns on 13 catches for 125 yards. Jahcour Pearson has 32 receptions for 288 yards.
The Battlehawks' ground attack is led by Jarveon Howard with 109 carries this season for 463 yards. Kylin James has 43 carries for 191 yards with 4 touchdowns.
Louisville Kings Quarterback Chandler Rogers
As the Kings' QB1, Chandler Rogers has made an enormous difference in the success of this team. Since his mid-season debut, he's earned an impressive 90.8 EFF for 86 completions of 138 attempts for 1,115 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. Rogers has established himself as a highly-efficient game manager who poses a dual-threat on the ground with 24 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
However, in Week 6, the Battlehawks succeeded in shutting down Rogers, who completed only 15 of 32 passes for 199 yards and an interception. When coach Redman was asked how the Kings' offense improved upon the things that led to the Week 6 defeat, he pointed out that several things have changed since the last time these two teams met; it was only the second start for Rogers, and four of the five starters for the Kings' offensive line have changed.
“We’ve come a long way from that point. Nothing to take away from St. Louis. They outplayed us by far in that game. And we know what kind of talent they have. On defense, they’re amazing. On offense, they have some big-time players; an incredible receiver, an incredible running back, and the quarterback is an all-league legend.
Expect to see a different-looking Kings offense than the team that posted only three points in April.
The Louisville Offense
Displaying a calm, confident, and instinctive touch, Rogers does an outstanding job spreading the ball around to his receivers, finding the open man, and delivering the ball with pinpoint accuracy. Isaiah Winstead leads the team in receptions with 29 catches for 474 yards and three touchdowns. Lucky Jackson has 32 receptions for 392 yards with two scores, while Tarik Black is right behind with 27 catches for 388 yards with three touchdowns. TE Zach Davidson rounds out the top four with 19 receptions for 250 yards and two scores.
The Kings' offense comes to life behind the highly productive ground game. Incredibly, a team that began this season without a visible ground attack through the first few games finished the season with the 4th best rushing record in the league. As a team, the Kings have 1,028 yards rushing with 13 touchdowns.
Led by the dynamic duo of Ian Wheeler and James Robinson, the Kings' rushing attack has transformed the once-struggling team into a league-leading powerhouse. Last week, with Robinson a healthy scratch, Jaden Shirden had his best game of the season, scoring twice on 12 carries for 53 yards. Altogether, the Kings' ground game accounted for 205 yards on 32 rushes with four touchdowns against the Aviators.
St. Louis Battlehawks’ Smothering Defense
Led by St. Louis veteran OLB Pita Taumoepenu, the Battlehawks have arguably the most talented veteran defense in the league. The team's ferocious pass rush was on full display the last time these two teams met. Rogers was sacked 6.0 times, and the defense walked away with four PBUs and an interception. If the Kings hope to triumph, that can’t happen again.
Former San Antonio Brahmas standout Jordan Mosely leads the team with 48 tackles (32 solo), 2 interceptions, 1.0 sack, four PBUs, and two forced fumbles. Another former Brahma, Jordan Williams, is second on the team with 45 tackles (26 solo), three PBUs, half a sack, one interception with a pick-six to his credit, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. All-UFL Team DT Carlos Davis leads the team with 5.0 sacks. He recorded 24 tackles with 12 solo. Demone Harris is next with 4.5 sacks, 12 tackles (7 solo), and one PBU.
The Outstanding Louisville Defense
With two members of the Louisville defense honored as All-UFL Team league leaders, Jamie Sharper’s unit has been recognized as one of the UFL's premier defenses. Leading the league with 10.0 sacks to his credit, Cam Gill has been unstoppable. His two-sack performance against the Aviators could have been a "hat-trick" if one sack hadn't been negated by a penalty. Gill was just announced as one of the four semi-finalists for the UFL League MVP Award.
All-UFL Team cornerback Corey Mayfield Jr. leads the league with four interceptions. Mayfield has been incredible this season; in addition to the interceptions, he's racked up 22 tackles (16 solo), six PBU's, one forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
Other standout Kings defenders include Jaheim Thomas, who leads the team with 64 tackles (42 solo) and two pass defenses. Thomas also has half a sack. Safety Keaton Ellis is next with 46 tackles (31 solo), one interception, and two PBU’s. Nick Kubitz has 46 tackles (24 solo), 1.5 sacks, and 2 PBUs. Eric Garror has been a force to be reckoned with in recent weeks, coming up with two interceptions, seven PBUs, and one forced fumble.
Elite Special Teams Play
Between the two teams, they feature a total of four special teams players named to the All-UFL Team. Louisville kicker Tanner Brown has been outstanding for the Kings this season. A three-time honoree as the Special Teams Player of the Week, Brown finished the regular season atop the UFL kickers' leader board with 76 points, including a 4-point 60-yard field goal.
The Battlehawks' Ryan Sanborn was named the All-UL Team punter with 31 punts for 1,356 yards with an average of 43.7.
Mac Brown has also been highly effective for the Kings this season with 23 punts for 1,127 yards with an average of 46.8.
In addition, several other special teamer players deserve recognition this season. St. Louis cornerback Sean Fresch was recognized as the All-UFL Team punt return specialist with 32 returns for 333 yards. In addition, on defense, he contributed 29 tackles (23 solo), 2.0 sacks, and four PBUs. Battlehawks kick return specialist Gary Jennings, Jr. was named to the All-UFL Team with 19 returns in nine games for 439 yards.
The Kings also had their share of explosive special teams highlights this season. Tyler Hudson had a 92-yard kickoff that he returned for a touchdown against the D.C. Defenders. He finished the season with 11 returns for 415 yards. The workhorse returners for the Kings are Jaden Shirden and Wheeler, who combined for 739 return yards on 28 returns.
Where to Watch and When
With the wealth of superior talent on both these teams, this game is positioned to be an exceptionally close battle. As Coach Redman predicted, it may very well come down to the last series.
The 6-4 Louisville Kings will play their first postseason game on Sunday, June 7th, against the 6-4 Battlehawks at The Dome at America's Center, St. Louis, MO. The action gets underway at 6:00 pm EDT, and the game will be televised on FOX.
The over/under is set at 46.5 with the Battlehawks favored by 1.5 points.