The United Football League’s first season is approaching its end, and on either side of the UFL Championship Game are former Mountaineers ready to cement their names in league history.
Saturday and Sunday saw the playing of the UFL Conference Championship, where the top two teams from the XFL and USFL conferences fought for a spot in the UFL Championship Game. In the USFL, the Michigan Panthers took on the Birmingham Stallions, and in the XFL, the San Antonio Brahmas took on the St. Louis Battlehawks.
Both Conference Championship games saw the simultaneous victory and demise of former Mountaineers. With a Stallions win over Michigan, safety Kenny Robinson Jr. and wide receiver Gary Jennings will advance to represent WVU in the championship, while safety Sean Mahone and wide receiver Marcus Simms missed that opportunity
XFL Championship honors went to the San Antonio Brahmas, and with them, four-year WVU long snapper Rex Sunahara. On the losing side, for the Battlehawks, were head coach Anthony Becht and safety Dravon Askew-Henry, who both played their entire college careers with West Virginia.
The loss for Becht’s Battlehawks created strong similarities between their pre-merger season in the XFL and this first season in the UFL. In both years, St. Louis finished 7-3 in the regular season, with that meaning a third-place finish in 2023’s XFL North and now a second-place finish in the XFL Conference in 2024.
Statistically, the defensive players shined among former Mountaineers. Robinson Jr., the only one of WVU’s three former safeties to win his game, shined with four tackles, all of which were solo tackles.
Askew-Henry finished with four tackles, including two solo tackles and one for loss, for the Battlehawks in the loss. Mahone finished with three tackles, including two solo, for the Panthers.
Offensively, Marcus Simms secured all three targets for 32 yards with the Panthers in the loss. On the winning side of that game, Gary Jennings caught two receptions for 59 yards on three targets.
Jennings, Robinson Jr., and Sunahara will play on in the UFL Championship Game on Sunday, June 16 at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.
Photo from WVU Football
