The New Orleans VooDoo clinched their 4th straight South Division Championship today and the New York Stars clinched the East Division Championship for the 3rd time in 4 years. While there are several teams that seem like sure playoff teams, the VooDoo and Stars are the first to have officially claimed a spot. Houston defeated Memphis, giving the Gamblers the sweep and the upper hand on winning the Southwest. Washington defeated Baltimore, giving the Federals the season sweep and upper hand on winning the Atlantic.
Gamblers 25 Showboats 14
After a 10-7 halftime lead for Houston, Memphis took the second half kickoff and drove 75 yards for a TD and a 14-10 lead. The Showboats offense would only get 29 yards the rest of the game. Neither team turned the ball over but Houston's Tony Dean was way more efficient than David Allen. Dean finished 35/41, 352 yards and 2 TD while Allen was 12/25, 167 yards and 2 TDs. Houston scored the last 15 points of the game on 3 Daniel McCormack FGs and a Dean TD pass to Francisco Russell, who caught 10 for 106 today. Houston was 8/17 on 3rd down while holding the Showboats to just 2/10, and the Gamblers possessed the ball nearly 43 and a half minutes.
Federals 30 Stars 22
Baltimore had no trouble moving the ball against the Washington defense, amassing 492 total yards, but Jon Snow threw 4 INTs. Three of those interceptions came in the first half, one returned for a TD by Caleb Raley, as Washington built a 27-16 halftime lead. The second half saw little scoring, but the Stars found themselves down 8 with the ball inside the 2 minute warning. Baltimore got as far as the Washington 19 yard line before time ran out. Baltimore RB William Halford had 218 combined yards and Mark Numbers had 168 in the losing effort.
VooDoo 44 Stallions 13
New Orleans QB Bruno Wilson completed 38/57, 573 yards, 5 TD and 4 INT. Three of those TD passes came in the first half, all to Nicholas Dorey, and the VooDoo had successful 2 point runs after each to take a 24-13 lead into halftime. Dorey caught 8 for 279 yards for the day and New Orleans had 715 as a team. The VooDoo defense allowed just 169 yards and 1/14 on 3rd down.
(NY) Stars 23 Breakers 10
Not much offense to talk about in this game as both teams spread the ball around to several players and neither team topped 300 yards. Boston had a 7-6 halftime lead they extended to 10-6 early in the 3rd quarter. The Breakers were driving for more when Denver Siegel fumbled the ball and John Duncan returned it 62 yards to the Boston 2, and 1 play later William Hall ran in the TD as the Stars took the lead for good. Boston went 3 and out while New York drove for another TD for a 20-10 lead. The Breakers would fumble the ball away on the kickoff, leading to 3 more points for New York and not enough time for Boston to come back.
Storm 38 Wranglers 17
Arizona went with Stanley Snyder at QB and he played well against a tough defense, but the Wranglers could not stop Oscar Willis and Richard Robinson. The pair hooked up for 2 TDs and Robinson caught 5 for 164 today to lead Portland to victory.
Gold 38 Gunslingers 19
Andrew Brewer tossed 4 first half TD passes, 2 to Richard Huff as Denver built a 28-10 halftime lead and cruised to victory in the second half. Huff caught 4 for 145 in all and Brewer finished with 280 yards passing. The Gold were 7/13 on 3rd down and a perfect 3 for 3 in the red zone. San Antonio had 344 offensive yards themselves but could not score enough points to keep up with Denver.
Panthers 44 Hawaiians 10
Michigan QB William Mauriello and Honolulu QB Derek Henry both tossed 3 INTs today, but Mauriello also threw for 347 yards and 5 TDs in leading the Panthers to their 6th straight win. Walter Simmons ran for 101 yards while William Magallon caught 5 for 106 yards and 2 TDs.
SaberCats 37 Sun 10
San Jose got back on the winning side despite being out gained by Southern California today. The SaberCats reached the red zone 5 times, coming away with just 1 TD and 4 FGs but the defense added a pair of touchdowns to contribute to the blowout score. The Sun turned the ball over 7 times total, and Alberto Dean took 1 INT 50 yards for a score. San Jose iced the game thanks to a player with cruel parents, as Scott Scott sacked Wilmer Kimble, causing a fumble which Scott picked up and raced 70 yards for the TD. Mark Hsu caught 7 for 123 yards to lead the San Jose offense.
Maulers 24 Bulls 13
Pittsburgh just keeps finding ways to win as the Maulers get their 6th straight victory and are putting together an impressive playoff push. QB Will Allison threw for 306 yards and a TD, but also tossed 3 INTs. Jacksonville had trouble moving the ball all day but they had a halftime lead of 13-10. That lead would hold up until Pittsburgh scored the first of 2 rushing TDs in the final 10 minutes for a come from behind win.
Renegades 18 Bell 10
Philadelphia got out to a 10-0 1st qtr lead, getting 116 yards from those first 2 drives. The problem was the Bell only had 130 more the rest of the game. Orlando would get a TD and a FG but the XP was no good and Philadelphia held a 10-9 lead with 5 minutes to play. That's when Lucas Irwin ran in a TD from 2 yards out, giving the Renegades the lead for good. Philadelphia would turn it over on downs, leading to another Renegades FG to give us our final score of 18-10.
Blazers 20 Thunderbolts 10
Sidney Maggard tossed 2 TD passes as Florida scored 10 4th qtr points for a 20-10 win over Cleveland. The Blazers spread the ball around as Maggard was 27/35, 247 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT, leading the offense to TDs on both red zone possessions and 8/14 on 3rd down. The Blazers defense held Cleveland to 209 total yards and 22 minutes of possession. Florida finds themselves one half game behind Orlando in the Southeast and 1 game ahead of Pittsburgh for the #6 seed.
Blitz 24 Express 24 (OT)
Tristan Arnold threw 2 TD passes and Marvin Barber returned a Ronald Brown INT for a TD as Los Angeles built a 24-13 lead midway through the 4th qtr. Blitz QB Ronald Brown threw 57 passes today, much more than normal, completing 38 for 301 yards. Brown threw 2 INTs, the aforementioned one returned for a TD and one in the OT period, but he also tossed 2 TD passes. His 2nd went to Barry Dawson with just under 3 minutes to play and Jay Kinder (22 rushes 121 yards) ran in the 2 point conversion. The Blitz defense forced a 3 and out, allowing Brown to lead Chicago to a game tying FG by Leon Rupe. The overtime saw 7 scoreless possessions and the game ends in a tie.\
Bandits 20 Wheels 6
Melvin Driggers completed 31/46 for 275 yards and 2 TDs and led Tampa Bay to a 17-0 halftime lead. The Bandits scored TDs on 2 of 3 red zone trips, getting a FG on the other while the defense allowed Detroit just FGs on their 2 red zone trips. RB Paul Meade didn't have much running success (12-37) but he caught 12 passes for 71 yards, giving him 108 combined. Tampa Bay keeps their playoff hopes alive with the win, but they are still 2 games behind Florida and 2 and a half out of first.
Generals 40 Outlaws 0
New Jersey kept their very slim playoff chances alive with a lopsided win over winless Oklahoma. James Wright tossed 3 TDs on 20/30 passing for 311 yards in his second start after replacing Ric Flair. Cody Schiavo caught 4 passes for 128 yards and 2 TDs and the Generals had a pair of 100 yard rushers. Sam Beckett had 166 yards and a TD on 15 carries while rookie Kurt Cobain ran 12 times for 103 and a TD.
Hornets 16 Invaders 13
This game between teams playing out the string saw zero TD passes but Charlotte RB Henry Young ran for a TD and contributed 58 yards each rushing and receiving to lead the Hornets to victory. With the game tied at 13 very late, Oakland faced a 4th and 2 from the Charlotte 45. The Invaders went for it and failed and Charlotte took over and got a 20 yard gain on 2nd down. That was just enough yards to allow a 54 yard FG try at the gun and Lawrence Linville knocked it through for Charlotte.
Steamer 23 Force 20 (OT)
Georgia played their 3rd OT game of the season and have now experienced all 3 possible outcomes: win, tie and now a loss. The Force had no trouble moving the ball but QB Thomas Jacobi tossed 5 INTs, one returned for a TD by veteran Bruce Dickinson, as Georgia faced a 20-7 deficit through 3 qtrs. Jacobi threw for 341 yards and 2 TDs, so it wasn't all bad and he led Georgia to 13 4th qtr points, sending the game to OT. Shreveport got the ball first and kicked a FG, then held Georgia to 4 plays and out to win the game. John Hyunh (9-122) and Ruben Brannon (5-113) had 100 yard receiving games in the losing effort.
