Anthony Becht, St. Louis BattleHawks Deliver Back-to-Back Last-Second Victories
The XFL is back and former Mountaineer Anthony Becht's team, the St. Louis BattleHawks, are the talk of the league through the first two weeks of the season.
In Week 1, Becht earned his first career win as a head coach in thrilling fashion. The BattleHawks trailed 15-3 with 1:42 remaining in the game with the ball at midfield. A.J. McCarron completed a deep ball to Marcell Ateman along the sideline to move the offense to the San Antonio 15. A few plays later, McCarron hit Hakeem Butler in the end zone for a touchdown to make it 15-9.
The XFL has a few different rules from the NFL and St. Louis took advantage of it by successfully converting a three-point conversion to make it a field goal game. And if tied or trailing in the 4th quarter, teams have the option of doing an onside kick or converting a 4th & 15 from its own 25 to maintain possession of the ball. They went for the 4th down conversion and got it on a completion to Austin Proehl. With just 16 seconds left on the clock, McCarron hit Proehl again for what would be the game-winning touchdown.
This week, Becht's squad trailed 18-17 with 1:16 remaining. They had one timeout left and began the final possession at their own 24. McCarron picked up consecutive first downs with his legs and then hit former WVU wide receiver George Campbell over the middle, moving the ball to the Seattle 35. A quick slant to Proehl set up a 44-yard field goal from Donny Hageman for the win.
Becht played for the Mountaineers from 1996-99 and hauled in 83 receptions for 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns. Following his career in Morgantown, Becht was selected 27th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. There, he spent five years with the organization before playing three seasons in Tampa Bay and one season each in St. Louis, Arizona, and Kansas City. Becht retired from the NFL at the conclusion of the 2011 season and finished his career with 188 receptions for 1,537 yards, and 30 touchdowns.
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