ST. LOUIS—A roller coaster of a first half of the regular season has given way to a five game winning streak down the stretch for the St. Louis Battlehawks, who enter the last week of the season with their UFL playoff status assured. Regardless of what happens next Friday against the D.C. Defenders, St. Louis will still play the conference title game at home against the Defenders the following week, thanks to venue scheduling issues in the Beltway.

After defeating San Antonio 39-13 on Friday, the Battlehawks know that if DC stubs its toe against Houston Sunday and loses, their matchup next week would be for a regular season conference title.

Despite the fact that St. Louis was 2-2 after four games and lost its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury, the Battlehawks had their playoff status confirmed last week, which meant from a team perspective, Friday night’s game against San Antonio had little meaning.

“When you clinch a playoff or clinch a division, whatever those things are with a couple games remaining, you worry about the want to, the drive, the effort and all the strain you want to see when games aren’t necessarily on the line in general or if they matter because of what you’ve already done,” head coach Anthony Becht said afterward. “The players really came in determined.”

St. Louis quarterback Max Duggan threw for 133 yards and a touchdown in one half of work, while the Battlehawks defense turned San Antonio over on downs and returned a fumble 70 yards for a touchdown en route to a 21-7 lead at halftime. It was the most points the team scored in a single half all season.

In the second half, Duggan sat and backup Brandon Silvers, a spring football veteran, manned the controls. Starters yielded to backups elsewhere, including on the offensive line and in the backfield.

Running back Kevon Latulas, a Missouri State product who was drafted last year and resigned less than a month ago, scored his first touchdown in the second half.

“Every game is a championship game,” Latulas said Friday night. “He (Becht) wants to win all of them and so do we.”

“These guys have been straining, busting their tail, they never once come in my office and say when am I gonna play, when am I gonna get mine. It really is the culture and the brand of selflessness that we really do preach,” Becht said.

He wouldn’t tip his hand Friday as to who will play next week or for how long, but Becht said the goal was still the same.

“Whoever’s playing, there’s gonna be an expectation to win the football game so we’ll see how it goes this week,” he said.