Last week Portland lost All Pro RB/WR Timothy Roquemore to injury, and this week they lost a football game for the first time since Week 7 last season. Somewhere, the members of the 1976-77 Detroit Wheels are popping champagne as their record 27 game winning streak remains intact. The loss to New Jersey isn't too costly for Portland, as the Storm can still gain home field advantage with a win over Memphis Week 15, provided they get right back to their winning ways.
That win did make New Jersey the first team to clinch a division, according to MFN. We currently have 3 division leaders with a lead of 1 game or less, 1 division that has two teams tied for the lead and two more divisions with a 2 game separation. It looks like the wildcard races will be tight as well, so we should have plenty of enticing games these last 4 weeks. Good luck everyone.
Generals 14 Storm 10
New Jersey got 2 TD passes from Ric Flair as the Generals become the first team to defeat Portland since the Denver Gold beat them last season. The Champs were without Timothy Roquemore, and while the Storm did get exactly 100 combined yards from his replacement Jeffrey Frost (55 rushing, 45 receiving), the offense struggled today. Portland's defense did their job, limiting the Generals to 229 offensive yards, but New Jersey was able to put together 2 long TD drives in the first half, taking a 14-3 lead into the locker room.
Portland came out and had a long TD drive of their own to start the second half, pulling within 14-10. The Storm committed two 4th qtr turnovers to derail their comeback bid, as Frost lost a fumble and Oscar Willis tossed his first INT in 4 games.
Showboats 34 Bulls 13
Memphis won a turnover filled game and is now the lone undefeated team left in 1990. Memphis put up 514 offensive yards, but they lost a fumble and David Allen threw 2 INTs. Jacksonville couldn't take advantage, as they also committed 3 turnovers, despite putting 374 offensive yards on the usually stingy Showboats defense. David Allen did manage to toss 3 TD passes, 2 to David Austin, and Omar Jenkins had a second straight big stat day, catching 5 for 101 and a TD. Mark Lambert ran for 73 yards and a TD, adding 84 receiving.
Steamer 19 VooDoo 16
Shreveport needed to win this game if they had any hopes of winning the South. This was a classic offense vs defense battle as New Orleans has one of the league's best offenses while Shreveport has one of the best defenses. The Steamer shut down All Pro WR/RB Nicholas Dorey, holding him out of the end zone all day and limiting him to a season low 37 combined yards. VooDoo QB Bruno Wilson had interception problems in 1989 that he seemed to mostly be over, but they reared their ugly head today. Wilson was just 16/40, 162 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs. Shreveport played keep away, holding the ball for nearly 42 minutes, led by Orville Barker and his 20-101-1 rushing line. QB Edgar Jones had the dink and dunk working, completing 29/38 for 163 yards.
Despite all of that, this game was not decided until the final gun, as Shreveport K William Neal booted a 49 yard FG to break a 16-16 tie to send the Steamer fans home happy. The rematch in New Orleans is Week 16.
Panthers 40 Blitz 20
Michigan just tightened the whole Midwest with the victory today. The Panthers are still in last and the Blitz still in first, but by only 1.5 games over Michigan. Detroit and Cleveland are still in the middle of them as well, so the division is up for grabs. Michigan QB Adam Scales threw for 437 yards and 5 TD passes, 3 to James Hillis. Hillis caught 7 in all for 228 yards and the other 2 TD passes went to Walter Simmons, who had 203 combined yards of his own (122 rushing, 81 receiving).
SaberCats 29 Thunderbolts 10
A Cleveland win would have meant first place in the Midwest, but instead it was San Jose winning to maintain their 1 game lead in the Pacific. Cleveland held San Jose to 319 offensive yards and limited rookie WR Mark Hsu to 62 scoreless yards but the Thunderbolts offense wasn't able to hold up their end of the deal, turning the ball over twice. The last turnover was an INT return for a TD to seal the win for the SaberCats by Ronald Norris. RB Graham Peterson led San Jose with 103 rushing yards and a TD.
Wheels 23 Wranglers 6
Detroit held Arizona to 217 offensive yards as the Wheels even their record at 6-6, just one-half game behind Chicago for the division lead. Detroit QB Gabriel Flanagan was 20/27, 242 yards and a TD while Thomas Mazzeo contributed 50 rushing and 85 receiving yards.
Gamblers 37 Gunslingers 9
Houston QB Tony Dean threw for 387 yards and 4 TDs and Ryan Dearing rushed for 90 yards and caught 4 passes for 79 more and one of the Dean TD passes. Dean's TD passes went to 4 different receivers and the 532 yards the Gamblers posted was more than double the 251 they allowed San Antonio. Houston has been in second place since losing to Memphis in Week 6, but they get them again in Week 16, one week after the Showboats have to play the defending champion Portland Storm, so a chance at a first round bye is still there for the Gamblers.
Stars 19 Hornets 13
Baltimore bounced back from their first loss of the season to defeat Charlotte in a hard fought game. The Hornets are sick of the Atlantic always being a 2 team race, and they gave Baltimore all they had, but 2 of their last 3 drives ended with interceptions, derailing any comeback hopes. Baltimore QB Jon Snow was 29/38, 317 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT and K Fred Boyce booted 4 FGs for the Stars.
Federals 36 Renegades 12
The Washington win enables them to remain 2 games behind Baltimore in the Atlantic, with the fall back of a 2 game lead for the top wildcard, while the loss means Orlando is now tied with Tampa Bay for the Southeast lead. Washington's defense forced Elwood Savage into 4 INTs, while Scott Bieber threw for 346 yards and 3 TDs. WR Ronald Matthews caught 3 passes for 131 and a TD while Robert Sullivan had a combined 144 yards with a TD reception.
Bandits 24 Blazers 6
Tampa Bay improves to 7-5 and a share of the Southeast Division lead with their win over Florida today. Melvin Driggers tossed 2 early INTs, but also threw 2 TDs and an 82 yard TD run by Craig Maddox late in the 3rd qtr sealed the win for the Bandits. The Tampa Bay defense held the Blazers to 228 yards while forcing 3 Sidney Maggard INTs.
Hawaiians 38 Express 14
Honolulu got 3 TD passes from Derek Henry and a combined 162 yards and a rushing TD from Robert Schuler to lead the Hawaiians offense to victory. The Honolulu defense did allow 324 yards but forced 6 turnovers, including 5 INTs by Joe Richardson, as the Express are eliminated from the post season. Honolulu remains 1 game behind San Jose in the Pacific and tied with Oakland for the last wildcard spot.
Gold 41 Invaders 13
An Oakland win would have made it very difficult for Denver to get a wildcard spot, but the Gold road win has them breathing down their necks now. The Gold defense forced 4 turnovers, 2 INTs and 2 fumbles while the offense was led by William Ruiz and his 204 rushing yards with 2 TDs.
(NY) Stars 14 Bell 3
New York got 106 combined yards and a TD from Cam Dalton and Willie Bust fired a TD pass to lead the Stars offense. The New York defense did not allow Philadelphia to even enter the red zone, let alone the end zone in holding them to 3 points for the game.
Outlaws 24 Sun 19
Southern California put up more yards than Oklahoma, but 2 INTs and an ill advised 4th down try spelled doom for the Sun. One of Kimble's interceptions was returned 36 yards for a TD by Oklahoma CB William Jones in the 3rd qtr to give the Outlaws a 17-0 lead. Southern California pulled within 17-13, but facing a 4th and 6 at their own 12 with 2:30 to go, rather than punt, they went for it and got sacked. Oklahoma took over at the Sun 4 yard line and one play later, Randy Morrison plowed into the end zone for the game clinching TD.
Breakers 16 Maulers 3
This was a pretty even statistical game, but Pittsburgh only had 1 FG for 3 red zone trips in only scoring 3 points all day. Boston got the scoring started in the 2nd qtr with an Edward Swafford 10 yard TD pass to Thomas Ballard for a 7-0 lead. Pittsburgh RB Daniel Hartwig ran for 116 yards but the Breakers defense only allowed the Maulers 2 third down conversions in 12 tries.
Force 20 Stallions 9
It has been a rough season for both teams, but the Georgia win makes it a Force sweep of Birmingham as the Stallions fumbled away a chance at their first win of 1990. The yards were pretty even and both teams threw an INT, but the Stallions lost 3 fumbles. Georgia had been plagued by abysmal QB play, but for today at least, Thomas Jacobi looked good, completing 24 of 33 for 196 yards and 2 TDs, one to Richard Donofrio and 1 to William Knowles, who had a combined 103 yards (73 rushing, 30 receiving).
