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| Thomas Canale, WR, New Orleans VooDoo (8) |
The New Orleans VooDoo, who finished dead last in the South Division in 1975, earned a spot opposite Detroit in the World Bowl by stunning Tampa Bay, 13-6, in the National Conference Championship Game. The Bandits had the league's best record during the regular season (15-1). New Orleans, 7-9 last season, finished 1976 with eight consecutive wins, then beat Pittsburgh in its playoff opener
Detroit earned its first World Bowl berth with a 27-7 romp past the Los Angeles Express.
The Bandits totally abandoned their running game against the VooDoo, Ralph Allen, who had run for 802 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry, only ran six times. Tampa Bay came out throwing and the New Orleans secondary was up to the task, intercepting Tyrone Harvell twice and coming out on top every time in third down situations (0-for-11), which is really hard to do in MFN.
The game's only TD came in the second quarter, when New Orleans QB Ty Fleming hit WR Thomas Canale for a 59-yard score. That came five plays after a Tampa Bay TD had been nullified by a holding penalty. The Bandits reached the VooDoo 38 and 32 on their final two drives, but were unable to finish the job.
Detroit Wheels 27, Los Angeles Express 7
Detroit broke open a close game with 17 unansweOred points in the third quarter. QB Mario Valencia threw TD passes of 87 and 15 yards to Rigoberto Gonzales and Robert Costello. Valencia passed for 387 yards and Wheels rookie RB Enrique Pacheco contributed 108 yards on the ground. The Detroit defense limited LAX to 4 yards rushing on 16 attempts.World Bowl III
The Wheels made it to the World Bowl after having lost to Portland in the 1974 Wild Card game and Oakland in the 1975 American Conference Championship Game. New Orleans also qualified for the playoffs in 1974, beating Jacksonville in the first round before falling to the Florida Blazers. Detroit won the only previous meeting of the teams, 17-10, during the 1974 season.MFN has made Detroit a 2-point favorite. The Wheels have done it with Valencia--and with defense. They were far and away the USFL/WFL leader in fewest points allowed (10.6 per game).
The Wheels allowed only 229.7 passing yards per game during the regular season, second in the USFL/WFL.The VooDoo don't pass the ball all that much anyway (255 ypg, 28th). New Orleans was fifth in rushing yards (125.4), but Detroit was seventh in rushing defense (64.9).
In the first two World Bowl games, the Blazers beat the Chicago Blitz, 42-17, and Oakland stomped Pittsburgh, 48-7.
