A serious player sustains ankle injury in return to Alabama

With 40 seconds remaining on Saturday, St. Louis outside linebacker Chris Garrett stopped Drue Chrisman of Birmingham from punting, giving the Battlehawks, who were behind by four points, the ball at the Stallions’ 47-yard line.

That prepared the groundwork for the type of thrilling comeback victory that quarterback AJ McCarron of St. Louis, who joined the Battlehawks last season, is used to producing.

The United Football League game was played at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium, which gave the plot more oomph. McCarron, a former quarterback for Alabama who was named an All-American and national champion, excelled in high school at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile. His first action in his home state since the 2013 Kick Six Iron Bowl, occurred on Saturday in the United Football League.

However, McCarron had informed the St. Louis coaches, “Hey, my ankle’s broken,” when quarterback headed to the sideline approximately seven minutes before the blocked punt.

McCarron declared himself injured, but he didn’t miss a snap. Nevertheless, he was unable to produce the thrilling game-winning drive, and Birmingham won 30-26 to maintain their perfect record.

As is customary, McCarron remained silent during the St. Louis postgame press conference since the Battlehawks said he was undergoing treatment. During his postgame statements, coach Anthony Becht did not provide any updates regarding the quarterback.

Becht remarked, “I know he wanted to deliver today, but we just didn’t have enough time.

“He’s been doing it his whole life. He’s played in front of 100-plus thousand fans. He can deal with 10 or 12 (thousand), and most of them were cheering for him. That’s good, you know? I know he wanted this one. I know he wanted to bring this one home.”

Following the conversion attempt, McCarron declared his ankle and entered the sideline medical tent.

After a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Adrian Martinez to wide receiver Kelvin Austin Jr. allowed Birmingham to take a 4-point lead with 5:23 remaining, an 8-yard loss on a sack, an 8-yard run by Saylors and an incompletion on a long pass gave the Battlehawks their first three-and-out since the opening possession. St. Louis punted with 3:10 remaining.

But Garrett’s blocked punt gave the Battlehawks an opportunity to pin the first loss of the season on Birmingham. A 7-yard completion to Saylors was followed by a run for 1 gain by McCarron as the quarterback somehow eluded a sack. But with St. Louis out of timeouts, the next snap had to be a spike to stop the clock.

A fourth-down throw to wide receiver Jahcour Person was broken up by linebacker Kyahva Tezino with 11 seconds left to seal the Stallions’ victory.

McCarron finished the game 19-of-32 passing for 161 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He ran for 24 yards on two carries, and his scrambling allowed him to throw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Saylors as the Battlehawks took a 20-17 lead with 6:17 left in the third quarter.

The Battlehawks face the D.C. Defenders at 11 a.m. May 19 at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. ABC will televise the game.