The Birmingham Stallions (5-2) erased a 19-point deficit on Sunday, May 11, to come-from-behind and beat the Houston Roughnecks (3-4) by a score of 33-25 in the biggest comeback in United Football League (UFL) history.

Birmingham came into the game starting their third quarterback of the season in Case Cookus but Cookus himself was injured late in the game, as Birmingham was making its comeback. Late in the fourth quarter, J’Mar Smith entered the game. Just a few weeks ago Smith was retired from football before being signed after a rash of injuries to the Birmingham quarterback group. 

In the first half, it looked as if Birmingham would face its largest loss in franchise history as it was all Roughnecks for much of the first half. Houston took an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run by Zaquandre White. Birmingham answered right back, however, as CJ Marable scored on a 9-yard run with 2:18 left in the first period to tie things up 6-6. 

Houston then began to take control. White added a 52-yard touchdown run with 1:35 left in the first period and then Keke Chism intercepted a Cookus pass and returned it 11-yards for another score. The Roughnecks led 26-6 going into the second quarter. 

Birmingham started its rally just before halftime. The Stallions capped off a 13-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Cookus to Jace Sternberger with eight seconds left in the second quarter. A 2-point conversion cut the lead to 25-12 at halftime. 

In the third quarter, Birmingham added field goals of 41 and 20 yards from Harrison Mevis to cut the lead to 25-18 going into the fourth quarter. With 7:46 left in the game, Birmingham added a 52-yard field goal from Mevis to cut the lead to 25-21. Cookus was injured on a hit he took on that scoring drive. 

After the Stallion defense forced a punt, Smith entered the game and led the Stallions on an 8-play drive that he capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run that put Birmingham up 27-25 with 1:55 left in the game. Houston then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and, just one play later, Ricky Person Jr. added a 2-yard touchdown run that put the Stallions ahead 33–25 for good. 

“Well, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there,” said Birmingham head coach Skip Holtz. “We told the players that everyone has a mother and that they make sacrifices everyday for us to be here. Looking at the game, it’s 60 minutes long. We have almost mastered the art of using every bit of those 60 minutes to find a way to win a football game. Our team will never quit. 

“Defensively, a bit of a rough first quarter and then on offense we had a receiver that fell down that led to a pick six. Now, all of a sudden it felt like we were down 18-6 before the game even started. Nobody on our sideline hung their head, we’ve got a motto about not flinching and keep playing. We made the plays that we needed to win and I am proud of how we ran the ball today. I thought that after that first quarter they really locked in and did a great job getting that huge stop at the end.

Birmingham compiled 397 yards of offense, while holding Houston to 229 yards, including just 134 yards passing. Both teams turned the ball over once. For Birmingham, Cookus completed 17-of-34 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception before leaving the game. Smith completed 3-of-5 passes for 63 yards and scored a rushing touchdown. 

Person rushed for 60 yards and a score on 13 carries, while Marable rushed for 44 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Deon Cain caught five passes for 63 yards and Sternberger caught four passes for 74 yards and a score. 

AJ Thomas led the Birmingham defense with six tackles and one tackle-for-loss, while Steven Gilmore tallied six tackles. Kenny Robinson Jr. earned three tackles, a tackle-for-loss and a sack. 

Birmingham remains in first place of the USFL Conference and will play the St. Louis Battlehawks on the road on May 17 at noon.