We had 4 games in the divisional round, and all four were decided by double digit margins. In the American Conference, Portland and Memphis took care of business and the Storm are playing to reach and win their second consecutive league championship. Memphis will be playing for the chance to become the league's first 5 time champion. In the National Conference, New Orleans and Washington both avenged history as they finally defeated their playoff nemesis. Previously, New Jersey had eliminated New Orleans from the playoffs 5 times in 5 tries. Same with Baltimore and Washington, and to add insult to injury, Washington has to face Baltimore twice each season. Now the VooDoo and Federals face off, with the winner looking for their first World Bowl title.
Storm 28 Gamblers 12
Portland scored first following an exchange of punts as QB Oscar Willis led the Storm on an 11 play, 77 yard TD drive. Willis found Chris Goldberg for the first of his 3 TD passes today and Portland led 7-0 after the 1st quarter. The second qtr saw just a Daniel McCormack FG to extend the Storm lead to 10-0 at the half, holding the usually prolific Gamblers offense to 85 yards.
With 6:09 left in the 3rd qtr, Willis fired a 58 yard TD pass to Jose Moses to extend Portland's lead to 17-0. McCormack nailed another FG early in the 4th for a 20-0 lead before the Houston offense finally came to life. Through 3 quarters, the Gamblers had 137 offensive yards, but 2 plays after McCormack's FG, Tony Dean found Hugh Chance for a 68 yard TD pass, cutting the lead to 20-7. Then Portland's Peter Jessee was involved in 2 of the next 3 scoring plays. The WR caught a 33 yard TD pass from Oscar Willis, and Tony Abbott ran in the 2 point try for a 28-7 lead. On Portland's next offensive series, they had the 191 lb Jessee lined up at FB deep in their own end for some reason. Jessee was no match for the 300 lb William Russell, who bull rushed past the center and Jesse, sacking Oscar Willis in the end zone for a safety. That made the score 28-9, but time was running out on Houston's season, and the Gamblers could only get a FG following the free kick. That was the last scoring play of the game and Portland plays on.
For Houston, Tony Dean threw for 252 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT and Hugh Chance caught 5 passes for 91 yards and that TD from Dean. Portland was led by Oscar Willis , who threw for 323 yards and 3 TD with no interceptions. HIs favorite receiver today was Peter Jessee, at least until he gave up that sack. Jessee finished with 7 catches, 102 yards and a TD while Timothy Roquemore had 120 combined yards (91 rushing) in his return from injury.
Showboats 36 SaberCats 7
One week after hanging 69 on Honolulu, San Jose had trouble getting their offense in gear against Memphis. Jake Plummer threw the first of his 3 INTs on the opening drive. San Jose's defense forced a punt, but would allow TDs on the Showboats next 4 drives to give Memphis a 28-7 halftime lead. Memphis got their first TD on a Mark Lambert 4 yard run, and San Jose would answer with an 80 yard catch and run TD from Jake Plummer to Curt Boren. Memphis would answer with 2 David Allen TD passes, one to Willie Howland and one to Arthur Devore. The first half scoring was capped by Mark Lambert's second short TD run.
The second half went much better for the SaberCats defense, although the offense continued to struggle. Plummer started the half the same way he started the game, with an INT. The rest of the game went punt, punt, punt, safety, punt, INT, punt. The safety was recorded by DE Shawn Hicks early in the 4th qtr, extending the Memphis lead to 33-7 at the time.
David Allen threw for 2 TDs and 262 yards and Arthur Devore was the leading receiver, catching 6 for 108 yards and a TD. Memphis shut down San Jose's running game, allowing 5 yards on 14 carries.
Federals 23 Stars 10
The defenses shined in this game as the division rivals combined for only 415 yards. Baltimore had seven first half drives and all seven ended with punts. Washington QB Scott Bieber was sacked twice on the Federals opening drive and tossed an INT on the second before leading a 5 play, 84 yard TD drive on the third possession. Joseph Andrews caught the pass and ran to the end zone for a 54 yard score and a 7-0 Washington lead. A 50 yard FG by John Bazile as the first half clock expired extended the lead to 10-0.
Baltimore would punt on their first possession of the 3rd qtr, but Scott Bieber followed that with 2 straight interceptions, allowing Baltimore to tie the game at 10. The Stars scored on a 1 yard Jon Snow TD pass to Jose Gough following the first INT and Fred Boyce made a 22 yard FG after the second. As the 3rd qtr wound down, Scott Bieber found James Dunn for a 22 yard TD pass, breaking the tie. Jon Snow would throw 3 INTs in the 4th qtr, and Washington kicked FGs after the first 2, salting the game away for Washington.
VooDoo 27 Generals 9
I'm starting to see why Marvin Lewis never won a playoff game with the Cincinnati Bengals. Lewis said often that he wanted every offensive drive to end with a kick, and that's exactly what the Generals did today (except for the last drive when the clock expired) in playing turnover free football. The problem was 9 of those 12 kicks were punts and the other 3 field goals, and 9 points won't get it done when the defense allows 575 yards. New Jersey did hold Nicholas Dorey to a combined 115 yards and a single TD, but the VooDoo spread the ball around to take advantage of the extra attention New Jersey paid Dorey.
New Orleans QB Bruno Wilson was not exactly efficient, completing 32/62 with 2 TD and 2 INT but he did throw for 425 yards. The VooDoo also ran for 150 yards on 20 carries as New Orleans scored 21 unanswered points after the Generals took an early 3-0 lead. The VooDoo's first TD was a Nicholas Dorey 5 yard run and Dorey ran it in for 2, giving them an 8-3 lead. Wilson then found Leonard Robles with a 23 yard TD and a 14-3 VooDoo lead as Dorey's 2 point try failed.
14-3 was the halftime score and New Orleans didn't waste any time extending their lead in the 3rd qtr, as it only took 58 seconds for Wilson to connect with Billy Brink for a 24 yard TD. The teams would then exchange FGs on the next 4 drives, 2 apiece, and from that point, New Orleans just needed the clock to run.
