When the St. Louis Battlehawks fly over to Birmingham for their Week 7 United Football League contest against the Stallions this Saturday, it will be a homecoming a decade in the making for quarterbacks AJ McCarron and Brandon Silvers.

The former St. Paul’s Saint and Gulf Shores Dolphin have joined forces in the professional spring football league that merged the XFL and USFL.

Each athlete has not played in his home state since their college days when they played for Alabama and Troy, respectively. McCarron’s last start for the Crimson Tide came in Auburn on Nov. 30, 2013, during the “Kick-Six Game,” and Silvers’ final home game as a Trojan was on Nov. 24, 2017, in a 30-22 win over Texas State.

Their most recent games in the Birmingham area were a little longer ago, however. McCarron and St. Paul’s went to Bessemer for a second-round playoff game against Jess Lainer on Nov. 16, 2007, and earned a 44-15 win en route to the Class 5A state title.

Silvers’ first collegiate start came as a redshirt freshman on Aug. 30, 2014, when Troy traveled to play the UAB Blazers at their old home stadium, Legion Field. He threw for 162 yards on 17 completions in a Trojan defeat.

While he acknowledged the length of time between his starts in the state of Alabama, McCarron was hoping to keep a level head through the whole situation.

“It’s great to be going back home, it’s going to be a fun atmosphere and a fun game with two great teams playing against each other,” McCarron said in a Friday interview. “It’s why I came back to St. Louis because it reminded me a lot of Alabama and being in Tuscaloosa. I love both fanbases with all my heart, they mean a ton to me, I’m really just wanting it to be treated like a normal week and keep that mindset for myself and the rest of the team.”

Week 7 preview

Now, the Blazers and Stallions play their home games at Protective Stadium which will also host this weekend’s reunion as well as a matchup of division frontrunners led by a potential MVP.

Through six weeks, St. Louis sits 5-1 and is first in the XFL Division where Birmingham sits atop the USFL Division with a 6-0 record. Each team’s starting quarterback has also been leading the MVP discussions according to FOX Sports’ RJ Young’s power rankings.

McCarron leads the UFL in completions (135) and touchdowns (13) and enters the weekend right behind the leader in passing yards (Arlington’s Luis Perez with 1,330) with 1,306. He’s thrown multiple touchdown passes in five games this season as well as 11 out of his 14 career contests with the Battlehawks.

One of his scoring throws from last week set a professional career-best at 80 yards to Hakeem Butler. It was also his longest-recorded passing touchdown since a 99-yarder to Amari Cooper during the 2013 Iron Bowl.

Nebraska alum Adrian Martinez from the Stallions just became the first player in the league to register multiple 300-yard games through the air. On top of that, he’s also second in rushing yards (327) with an average of 10.5 yards per carry to lead Young’s power rankings through six weeks.

Follow @GCMSportsAL for immediate updates on the game and stay tuned to gulfcoastmedia.com/sports for full coverage.