BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — San Antonio coach Mike Riley spent many Saturdays of his college career at Legion Field as a reserve defensive back for legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

He returned to the Old Gray Lady for the third time as coach of a San Antonio professional football team — he was 0-2 in Birmingham with the San Antonio Riders of the WLAF — and finally left the confines of his old stomping grounds with a smile Sunday.

The San Antonio Commanders (2-2) got a record-setting performance from Kenneth Farrow II and took advantage of two second-half turnovers, but had to hold off a late rally in their 12-11 victory over the Birmingham Iron at Legion Field.

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“The Iron have a good solid football team,” Riley said. “They are very, very sound and physical, they are really hard to score against when you get down in the red zone and both teams had to fight to the end, and I was real proud that we won the game.”

Farrow, who was a standout at the University of Houston, set an AAF single-game rushing record with 142 yards while backfield mate Trey Williams scored the Commanders’ only touchdown with a 12-yard run that capped a seven-play, 77-yard drive to put San Antonio up 9-3 with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.

“Ken is a good, solid player,” Riley said. “We have good running backs and Ken is a good example of that group who had a special night. He ran hard, worked hard and all of it was hard. The game was hard, it was a physical good football game.”

Starting quarterback Logan Woodside was 11-of-25 for 106 yards but did not turn the ball over while allowing Farrow and Williams to eat up chunks of yardage on their way to a combined 161-yard performance.

“The O-line, that’s where it all starts,” Farrow said. “They were getting on their man and giving me holes all day, so we just stuck to the tracks, stayed patient and hats off to the O-line because they played an awesome game today.”

San Antonio scored on its opening drive with a 39-yard field goal from Nick Rose, but gained only 55 yards the rest of the first half while allowing the Iron to tie the game on longtime NFL veteran Nick Novak’s 33-yard field goal with 4:09 left in the half.

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The Commanders opened the second half with back-to-back punts, but scored on their third possession on Williams’ 12-yard run. The drive came after Zack Sanchez intercepted former Texas A&M-Commerce and Birmingham quarterback Luis Perez (19-for-39, 202 yards).

Rose added a 20-yard field goal after the Commanders were stopped by Birmingham six consecutive times from the 1-yard line. The Commanders then held off a furious Iron rally with running back Trent Richardson scoring his league-leading seventh touchdown to cut the lead to a single point with less than two minutes left.

Free safety Orion Stewart intercepted Perez on the ensuing onside conversion to seal San Antonio’s second victory. The Commanders allowed 283 total yards but forced three turnovers while holding the Iron to 3-of-10 on third-down conversions.

Riley was impressed with his team’s effort but also with the Iron as he reminisced of his time at Legion Field during his playing career at Alabama — his father and relatives were raised in the small town of Guin two hours from Birmingham.

“The one thing about it for me personally,” Riley said. “At this part of my career to get to coach in this league, and then get to be able to return here, for Birmingham to have a team that we get to come in and play. There are so many family, friends, teammates, classmates and all of that is a very, very special part of my life. My wife is from Birmingham, so it worked out well that way, so proud to be back here.”

The Commanders continue their road stretch at 7 p.m. Sunday when they face off against the Arizona Hotshots.