The single game sack record has been broken for the third time this season, all by Mark McKeon as Portland opponents have yet to get the memo not to throw long against them. The Storm were one of three teams to score 50+ this week, along with Memphis and New Jersey, but the Portland defense continues to be the story of the year. Today's opponent was the Oakland Invaders, and the only invading was done by Mark McKeon. The Invaders had 68 yards of offense if you don't count the 15 sacks for -137 yards, giving Oakland negative 69 for the game.
Portland, Memphis, Baltimore and New York are tied for the league's best record at 9-1, while Boston's victory over Pittsburgh means every team has at least one win and one loss. New Oklahoma owner pc2246 earned his first USFL win with a shutout of San Antonio.
Storm 58 Invaders 0
Come playoff time, Portland needs McKeon to continue being a disruptive force because QB Oscar Willis has been consistently inconsistent. Portland put up 58 points yet Willis only tossed 2 TD passes and failed to crack 300 yards. The Storm got 2 unconventional TDs, a Mark McKeon strip sack return and Fred Wink had the league's first punt return TD of 1989. WR Timothy Roquemore ran for 137 yards and 3 TDs.
Showboats 62 Force 3
Memphis flexed their muscles against the Force, racking up 635 yards with a balanced attack. Showboats QB David Allen has had his struggles in 1989 but today he was on point, tossing 4 TDs to just 1 INT for 383 yards. WR Willie Howland is making a push at Jake Peralta for the league receiving yards lead, but he's running out of time to close the 459 yard gap. Howland caught 7 for 172 yards and a TD, while RB Mark Lambert ran for 175 yards and 3 TD. Lambert now has a league best 1,111 rushing yards and his 7 rushing TDs are tied with Timothy Roquemore for most.
Panthers 25 Gold 22
While Michigan has struggled some in 1989, they are still fighting with Cleveland to represent the Midwest division in the playoffs. Denver has been neck and neck with Portland all season atop the West, with their split giving each team their lone loss before today. Denver spent too much time kicking the first three quarters, and their first five drives in particular. Three punts and 2 missed FG tries for the Gold had the game scoreless as the 2 minute warning approached, before 17 points were scored in a hurry. Michigan took the 7-0 lead on an Adam Scales TD pass to Trevor Wood, then the teams traded FGs for a 10-3 Panther lead at the break.
Two Denver FGs in the 3rd cut the lead to 10-9 before Panthers WR/RB Nicholas Dorey ran it in from 4 yards out. Dorey finished with 128 rushing yards on the day on 26 carries. Denver finally crossed the goal line very late in the 3rd on the first of two Andrew Brewer to Jake Peralta TD passes to make the score 17-16 Michigan. Nicholas Dorey's given position is WR, but with 26 carries and just 1 catch, he's more of a RB, at least today. That one catch went for all of 1 yard, but it was a TD in the 4th qtr, and Dorey also ran in the 2 point try for a 25-16 lead. The second Brewer to Peralta TD came with 4:24 left, but the Gold never got the ball back.
Gamblers 38 Sun 10
Tony Dean threw 5 first half TD passes as Houston jumped out 35-0 and never looked back. WR Gabriel Ahrens caught 2 TD passes, as did Jett Black. Ryan Dearing caught the other Dean TD as part of his 168 yard day (89 rushing, 79 receiving).Jett Black had 136 combined, 93 rushing, 43 receiving. Southern California had exactly 300 offensive yards, though most of the production came after the Gamblers were in firm control of the game.
Hawaiians 33 Express 19
Honolulu has flown under the radar thanks to the big stat producers McKeon and Peralta, but the Hawaiians might be the first team to clinch their division. A win by Los Angeles would have made the stretch run more interesting, but Honolulu's balanced attack was too much to overcome, giving them a 4 game lead on Los Angeles with 6 to play. The Express got on the board first with a FG, but Honolulu scored 24 unanswered points for a 24-3 lead. Los Angeles could get no closer than 11 points the rest of the game. Hawaiians QB Derek Henry threw for 317 yards and 2 TD, as Honolulu played turnover free football. The Express lost 2 fumbles and missed a FG.
Stars 26 VooDoo 14
This was a rematch of the 1988 National Conference Championship Game and the VooDoo were hoping for some revenge, or at least a win to take control of the South. New Orleans had their pass defense working, holding Jon Snow below 300 yards with a 2:3 TD:INT ratio, and the first INT was returned 22 yards for a TD by #22, Joseph Walton for the early VooDoo 6-0 lead. New Orleans would extend the lead to 14-3, but they were shutout the final 3 quarters. Baltimore kicked a couple of FGs to cut it to 14-9 before Jon Snow warmed up a bit, finding Timothy Harmon for a 74 yard TD. Harmon would finish with 110 receiving yards on 6 catches. The Stars had their ground game working well today, 203 yards as a team with 129 from Mark Numbers. Knob Creek added 56 more to go with 55 receiving for 111 combined.
(NY) Stars 28 Bell 3
New York is another under the radar team, as they quietly lead the league in scoring defense, giving up 87 points in 10 games. The Stars are the only team in the league to be below 100 and their offensive scoring is 10th best. Despite a record of 1-8-1, Philadelphia is improving with 4 of those losses being by one score or less, but the Bell made too many mistakes today to hang with the Stars. RB Cam Dalton ran for 105 yards, and had 90 more receiving with a TD. QB Willie Bust threw 4 TD for the game, 2 to Kenny Heasley.
Generals 52 Federals 20
These two teams are each chasing one of the 9-1 Stars teams while also chasing a playoff berth. In recent seasons, the Generals seem to shrink when facing solid teams so it was surprising to see the final margin of victory. It certainly helps to score 14 points in the first minute of the game. RB Greg Ayala ran it in from 59 yards then Washington QB Scott Bieber threw his first of 3 INTs, which was returned 21 yards for a TD by John Diehl. Washington had little trouble moving the ball against New Jersey, racking up 386 yards, but those 3 INTs plus a lost fumble allowed the Generals to win the turnover battle 4-0. New Jersey had 459 total yards, 209 rushing, 250 passing. New Jersey got 4 rushing TDs today, 2 by Greg Ayala and one each from Sam Beckett and Richard Hansen.
Bandits 24 Bulls 6
After a rough start to the season, Tampa Bay is quietly the hottest team in the league, having won 6 straight coming in. Jacksonville was also coming in hot, winners of three in a row and 4 of 5, so something had to give. Tampa Bay held Jacksonville out of the end zone all game and QB Melvin Driggers had 3 TD passes. Two of those went to Thomas Whitley as part of his 6-118 receiving line. Calvin Sipe had 116 combined yards for Jacksonville.
Thunderbolts 19 Wheels 6
Cleveland's rookie QB Michael McGowan threw the game's only TD pass to Bobby Colley and the Thunderbolts also won the FG kicking contest 4-2. Detroit had the lead at halftime 6-3, but only gained 62 yards after halftime. The victory enables Cleveland to keep pace with Michigan for the Midwest division lead.
Hornets 10 Steamer 6
A Shreveport win would have given them the South division lead, but 3 turnovers, 202 offensive yards and zero TDs kept that from happening. Charlotte's offense wasn't great either, but QB Robert Ament did fire a 63 yard TD pass to Randall Liles for the game's only TD. This win evens Charlotte's record at 5-5, the first time since 1984 the Hornets are .500 or better this late in a season.
Breakers 15 Maulers 13
Boston finally gets off the schneid with a victory in a game where they failed to crack 100 offensive yards. Breakers RB Rudi Johnson (still feels strange typing that after so long with New Jersey) was out with an injury and the running game suffered. 34 rushes netted 4 yards and they had 90 net passing yards for a total of 94. Pittsburgh had no trouble moving the ball against the Breakers defense as Allen Garcia ran 14 times for 110 yards, William Cox caught 7 for 118 and a TD, and QB Will Allison had 2 TD passes. Allison also threw 5 INTs, which led to a bunch of FGs after the Breakers offense stalled. In the end, Boston's 5/6 FGs were better than 2 TDs, 1/2 on XP and 0/1 on FG tries.
Outlaws 6 Gunslingers 0
Not much stat wise to talk about in this game as neither team topped 200 yards or crossed the goal line. Oklahoma got 2 Curtis Zuniga FGs and withstood a late San Antonio drive that stalled on the Outlaws 13 yard line to give pc2246 his first USFL/WFL victory.
Wranglers 20 Blazers 14
Arizona missed 2 FGs and had 2 turnovers, but the Wranglers defense held Florida's offense in check until the final 5 minutes. Despite the mistakes, Arizona built a 17-0 lead before having to hold on for dear life at the end of the game. Florida cut it to 17-8 before Arizona extended the lead to 20-8. Sidney Maggard then threw his 2nd TD pass for Florida, but a missed XP made the score 20-14. The Blazers recovered the onside kick, but Maggard threw an INT to thwart the Blazers comeback bid.
Blitz 26 SaberCats 16
Both teams moved the ball well with balanced attacks but they had trouble with turnovers and too many FG attempts. San Jose made 4 red zone trips but came away with just 1 TD, and the SaberCats committed 3 turnovers, the last of which was an INT return for a TD. Chicago had 2 turnovers of their own, but they got 4 Leon Rupe FGs and that previously mentioned INT return, by Herbert Brigham, was the game sealer for the Blitz.
Renegades 19 Stallions 9
Pumph up the volume, Orlando announced new ownership after the game. The Renegades sent the AI packing with a victory despite just 154 offensive yards. Orlando intercepted Birmingham QB Marvin Benford 5 times and K Jason Barger made 4 FGs as a result of the short fields. RB Jose Rush scored the game's lone TD and Ben Dehaven had 93 combined yards.
