First half The game began with
Brandon Aubrey's opening
kickoff, which was returned by Philadelphia's
Maurice Alexander to the Stars' 31-yard-line, where they began their first drive. That drive saw the Stars punt on fourth down after three consecutive incomplete passes by quarterback
Case Cookus. The punt from Luis Aguilar was caught by
Victor Bolden Jr. at the Birmingham 21-yard-line. The Stallions gained a
first down on both of their first two offensive plays; the first was a 12-yard rush by
Bo Scarbrough, and the second was a 25-yard pass from
J'Mar Smith to Bobby Holly. Smith passed to Marlon Williams for a gain of seven yards several plays later, gaining another first down and putting the Stallions on the Philadelphia 27-yard-line. From there, the offense was only able to gain three additional yards, but scored the game's first points after Aubrey converted a 42-yard
field goal to give the Stallions a 3–0 lead. Aubrey's ensuing kickoff was returned by Alexander to the Stars' 34-yard-line, and Philadelphia earned a first down for the first time two plays later with a 9-yard
Dexter Williams rush. Immediately afterwards, Cookus passed for 18 and 15 yards to
Chris Rowland and
Devin Gray, respectively, putting his team in the
red zone at the Birmingham 19-yard-line. The Stars got down to the Stallions' 10-yard-line before losing four yards on 3rd & 1, forcing a field goal attempt. The kick was made by Luis Aguilar from a distance of 32 yards, tying the game at three points apiece. A
pass interference penalty on the first play of the second quarter gave the Stars a first down on the Birmingham 48-yard-line. They faced another third down several plays later, which was nullified by a
neutral zone infraction penalty which advanced the ball to the Stallions' 37-yard-line. A three-yard gain by Paul Terry followed, but a rush of no gain, an incomplete pass, and a
delay of game penalty forced a punt on 4th & 12 that was downed by the coverage team on the Birmingham 1-yard-line. This set the Stars defense up well, which held, forcing a
three-and-out just over a minute later after gains of two and six yards on the drive's first two plays. Philadelphia's first play saw Cookus scramble to the Birmingham 26-yard-line but it was called back for a
holding penalty to the Stallions' 46-yard-line. The Stars faced 3rd & 16 early in the drive, but converted with a 25-yard pass from Cookus to Jordan Suell. Two plays later, Cookus and Suell connected for another 25-yard pass, this one for a touchdown that narrowed the Stallions' lead to one point. Aguilar's extra point attempt hit the
upright, and was no good, keeping the score at 10–9. and saw him exit the game. The Stallions resumed possession at their own 36-yard-line and found themselves in Stars territory in two plays. Later, on first down at the Stars' 26-yard-line, McGough threw a pass to Williams in the end zone which drew a pass interference penalty, placing the ball on the 11-yard-line; the Stallions scored two plays later on a pass from McGough to Bolden. Aubrey missed the extra point wide left, leaving Birmingham's lead at three points. It increased shortly thereafter, though, as
Scooby Wright intercepted new Philadelphia quarterback
K. J. Costello and return the pass for a touchdown. The Stallions led by ten points following the extra point. Philadelphia got the ball back with just under three minutes to play, at their own 42-yard-line. They reached the Birmingham 22-yard-line before the
two-minute warning and scored a touchdown with 1:43 to play, narrowing the lead to three points. In lieu of a traditional
onside kick, the Stars opted to try a 4th & 12 from their own 33-yard-line, which would allow them to keep possession of the ball should they convert it. The play was unsuccessful, though, and the Stallions took over. Scarbrough rushed on three plays in a row, gaining a net total of one yard, and
Colby Wadman punted, which resulted in a
touchback. After a pass for a gain of seven yards, Costello's pass was intercepted by Birmingham's Christian McFarland at the Stars' 43-yard-line, sealing the victory and the championship for Birmingham. They lined up in
victory formation and closed out the game, winning 33–30.
Scoring summary ==Statistics==