Quarterback Alex McGough threw four touchdown passes – three to wide receiver Deon Cain — as the Birmingham Stallions beat the Pittsburgh Maulers 28-12 to win the USFL Championship Game for the second consecutive season on Saturday night.

McGough completed 16-of-23 passes for 243 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 64 yards on nine carries.

Cain caught four passes for 70 yards and three touchdowns and returned five kickoffs for 101 yards at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, and won the award as the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Birmingham and the Stallions will celebrate the championship with a parade on Sunday.

The parade will begin at 2:30 p.m. CDT Sunday at Protective Stadium and conclude at Birmingham City Hall. The route from the stadium to city hall will follow Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard to Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard to 20th Street.

There’ll be a championship-trophy presentation, appearances by coach Skip Holtz and Stallions players and T-shirt giveaways.

Two players from Alabama high schools and colleges played in the 2023 USFL Championship Game:

· Maulers offensive lineman Xavier Dampeer (Auburn) was designated as a game-day inactive.

· Maulers linebacker Reuben Foster (Auburn High, Alabama) made seven tackles, recorded one sack, registered one tackle for loss and forced one fumble. One of Foster’s tackles came on Birmingham’s first possession, when he stopped a fourth-down run by McGough short of the line to gain.

· Maulers defensive back Sedevyn Gray (West Alabama) was designated as a game-day inactive.

· Stallions wide receiver Myron Mitchell (Jasper, UAB) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Stallions wide receiver Peyton Ramzy (Bessemer Academy, Tuskegee) was designated as a game-day inactive.

· Stallions running back Bo Scarbrough (Northridge, Alabama) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Stallions wide receiver Austin Watkins (UAB) did not record any stats.

· Stallions wide receiver Marlon Williams (McGill-Toolen) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Pittsburgh had the USFL’s best defense and worst offense during the regular season, and against the league’s No. 1 offense, the Maulers’ strategy was clear. Pittsburgh wanted to keep USFL MVP McGough and the Stallions offense off the field.

In the first half, the Pittsburgh offense had possession for 21:03 of the 30 minutes. But the Maulers still trailed 14-9 at halftime.

Birmingham dodged disaster in the second half when Foster chased McGough deep into the backfield on a third-and-goal snap from the Maulers 12 and caused him to fumble 26 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh defensive lineman Olive Sagapolu picked up the loose football, and after the 341-pounder had run 34 yards, he handed the ball to safety Eli Walker at the Birmingham 28-yard line to complete the distance to the end zone.

But the touchdown that would have cut the Stallions’ lead to 21-18 pending the extra point with 47 seconds to play in the third quarter was nullified because Sagapolu had handed the football forward to Walker.

The Maulers got possession at the Birmingham 33 instead, went nowhere and came away empty when Chris Blewitt missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt after making his first four kicks in the game.

On Pittsburgh’s next possession, the Maulers went for it on fourth-and-8 at their 40-yard line. An incompletion set up McGough’s third touchdown pass to Cain as the Stallions took a 28-12 lead with 6:28 to play.

That touchdown pass covered 40 yards. McGough also had touchdown passes of 42 yards to wide receiver Davion Davis with 10:39 left in the first half, 3 yards to Cain with 31 seconds left in the first half and 20 yards to Cain with 10:29 left in the third quarter.

Birmingham put away the game on Pittsburgh’s next possession. Stallions safety JoJo Tillery caused quarterback Troy Williams to fumble, and defensive lineman Willie Yarbary recovered the football with 2:30 to play.

Birmingham reached the championship contest from the South side of the bracket with a 47-22 semifinal victory over the New Orleans Breakers on Sunday night. McGough threw four TD passes and ran for another score against the Breakers.

The Maulers represented the North Division after a 31-27 overtime victory against the Michigan Panthers one week ago.

The Stallions defeated the Philadelphia Stars 33-30 in last year’s championship game.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.