The Birmingham Stallions stayed undefeated in the United Football League by sidestepping an upset attempt by the St. Louis Battlehawks on Saturday.

Adrian Martinez threw three touchdown passes and the Stallions survived two gaffes in the punt game to post a 30-26 victory in a showdown at Protective Stadium between the teams with the league’s best records.

Birmingham moved to 7-0. St. Louis dropped to 5-2.

Two third-down completions by quarterback AJ McCarron and a roughing-the-passer penalty got the Battlehawks in position for running back Jacob Saylors’ third touchdown of the game – a 7-yard run with 7:34 to play.

McCarron’s 2-point conversion pass to wide receiver Jahcour Pearson was nullified by a holding penalty, and St. Louis couldn’t connect the second time around, leaving the Battlehawks with a 26-23 lead.

Birmingham responded with a touchdown that included a 7-yard scramble by Martinez on third-and-2 followed by a 40-yard touchdown pass on a slant pattern to wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. with 5:23 remaining. Martinez threw a 1-point conversion pass to tight end Jace Sternberger to put the Stallions up by four points.

On St. Louis’ previous series, McCarron had walked off the field and told the coaches: “Hey, my ankle’s broken.” He had been manhandled by Carlos Davis after a low hit, which earned the Birmingham nose tackle a penalty. But the former Alabama All-American didn’t come out of the game.

McCarron had a 23-yard scramble in the first half, but defensive end Jordan Thompson’s sack of the now immobile St. Louis quarterback derailed the Battlehawks’ first chance to produce the game’s seventh lead change.

After the punt, Birmingham took possession with 3:10 to play. Despite two first downs, including one on a 12-yard scramble by Martinez on third-and-11, the Stallions couldn’t run out the clock – and they couldn’t get off their punt either. Birmingham hadn’t punted since its first possession, and on the second one of the game, outside linebacker Chris Garrett blocked the ball off Drue Chrisman’s foot.

St. Louis took possession at the Birmingham 47-yard line with 40 seconds to play. A 7-yard completion was followed by a 1-yard gain by McCarron in the face of a big rush and a spike to stop the clock. When linebacker Kyahva Tezino broke up the fourth-down pass, the Stallions had their 14th consecutive victory.

Birmingham led 17-14 when wide receiver Isaiah Zuber muffed a punt, and St. Louis recovered at the Stallions 11-yard line. Zuber was deep because regular punt-returner Amari Rodgers couldn’t play because of an injury.

Scrambling on third down, McCarron found Saylors for a 8-yard touchdown pass as St. Louis took a 20-17 lead with 6:17 left in the third quarter.

Birmingham responded with a 15-play, 73-yard touchdown drive. Before throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to former McGill-Toolen standout Marlon Williams with 12:20 to play, Martinez scrambled 17 yards on third-and-16 and 6 yards on third-and-4 and recovered a fumble by running back Ricky Person Jr. with the Stallions on the Battlehawks 1-yard line.

Martinez completed 21-of-33 passes for 230 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and ran seven times for 60 yards.

Martinez ran for five first downs, including four on third-down snaps.

The Stallions’ first touchdown – a 1-yard plunge by running back C.J. Marable with 6:32 left in the first quarter – was preceded by a 21-yard scramble by Martinez.

Martinez also threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Deon Cain as the Stallions took a 17-11 lead, with Williams’ 2-point conversion run added, with 16 seconds left in the first half.

Andre Szmyt’s 61-yard field goal on the final play of the first half got three of those points back for St. Louis.

Saylor’s first touchdown came on a 1-yard, fourth-down run with 2:06 left in the first half. A 43-yard completion from McCarron to wide receiver Hakeem Butler set up the score.

In addition to serving as Alabama’s starting quarterback for two BCS national-championship teams, McCarron was a prep star at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile. In his first game in his home state since 2013, McCarron completed 19-of-32 passes for 161 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran twice for 24 yards.

The Stallions return to the field at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday when the Houston Roughnecks visit Protective Stadium in Birmingham. ESPN2 will televise the game.

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.

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