Just doing a quick blog for this slate of games since we have more games coming in a matter of hours. Friday afternoon I was signing paperwork, selling my mother's house and Saturday before work I had 2 drafts. Before I get into the games, I have a public service announcement:
EVERY TEAM MUST HAVE A KICKER
This is my last ditch effort to get through to the Oklahoma owner, who apparently does not read the forums or check his PMs. I doubt he reads this either, but I have to try. If this is not corrected by the midweek spin before game 7, AI is taking over.
Gamblers 20 Bulls 7
Jacksonville held Houston to a season low 20 points, forcing 2 turnovers and "limiting" the Gamblers to 360 total yards, but the Bulls offense had troubles of their own. Derek Joyce threw 3 INTs vs 1 TD while Tony Dean threw 2 TDs and 1 INT. Jacksonville trailed just 10-7 in the final minute of the 3rd quarter, but eventually Dean got the Gamblers some breathing room as they improve to 5-0 on the season. Houston converted 10/21 3rd down conversions.
Panthers 26 Steamer 3
Larry Henderson's 1st qtr TD pass was the game's only offensive TD as the Michigan defense stymied Shreveport today. The Steamer scored first for an early 3-0 lead before Henderson's TD made it 7-3. Nobody scored again until SS Jesse Barnett recovered a fumble and returned it for a TD in the 3rd. Jonathan Ruch added 4 FGs after that and the Panthers defense forced 5 total turnovers, with 4 of those being George Marcil INTs.
Federals 24 Blazers 17
Two National Conference heavyweights battled it out in a tough, defensive game. Florida's Sidney Maggard and Washington's Scott Bieber each threw for 1 TD and 194 yards, but Maggard threw an INT late in the 4th qtr of a 17-17 game, allowing Bieber to drive the Federals 43 yards for the game winning TD, an 18 yard pass to Matthew Cuevas. Washington remains undefeated at 5-0, tied with Baltimore atop the Atlantic. Florida's 2nd straight loss has them at 3-2, tied with Tampa Bay atop the Southeast.
Stars 27 Hornets 3
Charlotte scored first for the early 3-0 lead but it was all Baltimore after that. Jon Snow wasn't great, he threw 2 INTs to go with his 316 yards and 3 TDs, but William Halford (99 yards) and Herman Hayes (73 yards) combined to rush for 172 yards as the Stars improve to 5-0. Baltimore's defense was stingy, allowing just 156 total yards and 6 first downs.
Storm 44 Invaders 3
Oakland had the unfortunate task of taking on the Storm following a loss, and as most predicted, it wasn't pretty for the Invaders. Portland held Oakland to 207 total yards and the Storm offense topped that with just the running game. Jeffrey Frost ran for 132 yards and Timothy Roquemore 80 to account for most of Portland's 237 rushing yards. Melvin Driggers threw for 387 yards and 3 TDs and no receiver had more than 90 yards.
Gold 13 Gunslingers 10
Points were at a premium in San Antonio as Denver keeps pace with Portland by winning a tight game with the Gunslingers. Denver scored on an Andrew Brewer TD pass in the 1st qtr but the XP was no good, leaving the score 6-0. Max Ellis punched it in from 1 yard in the final minute of the first half, and it appeared the Gold would go into the locker room up 13-0. San Antonio RB Charlie Shanks took a dump off pass from Robert Fanelli and took it 62 yards for a TD, cutting the lead to 13-7 and giving the Gunslingers the momentum heading into the half. The second half was mostly punts as Denver hangs on for the win.
Wheels 35 Outlaws 18
Detroit scored 3 consecutive TDs after punting on their initial drive, and the 21-3 halftime lead stood up, as Oklahoma could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Gabriel Flanagan threw 4 TD passes in all, for exactly 300 yards, and Thomas Barrera caught 10 for 103 yards and 2 TDs. The Wheels shut down the Outlaws running game, but they were vulnerable through the air, with WR/K Craig Icenhour almost eclipsing 100 yards while making both of his kicks. I don't care how successful a WR is at kicking (50% FG, 40% XP), it is not acceptable.
Thunderbolts 26 Sun 9
Cleveland's defense eclipsed the Sun today as the Midwest division has 3 teams 4-1 or better. The Thunderbolts defense recorded 2 safeties, 3 turnovers, 5 sacks, and held Southern California to 190 total yards. Offensively, they chewed the clock with their running game, converting 9/18 3rd downs and holding the ball for 37 minutes. Evan Hershey (81 yards) and Bobby Colley (78 yards) combined for 159 rushing yards, making life easy for QB Tony Romo.
Bell 24 Bandits 21 (OT)
What a wild and crazy final 1:16 of the 4th quarter! More on that later but Antonio Martinez threw 2 first half TD passes to Richard Miller as Tampa Bay took a 14-7 lead into halftime. The score remained the same through the 3rd quarter and most of the 4th, but a little earlier, Martinez had the Bandits driving at the cusp of the red zone, looking to go up two scores. DT Leonard Perry pulled the trifecta, sacking Martinez, stripping the ball and recovering it for Philadelphia. Joseph Serio drove the Bell to the tying TD with 1:16 to play, a 7 yard pass to Jose Maranto. Martinez then drove the Bandits 75 yards in 7 plays, capping it with a 1 yard TD pass to Michael Dickenson. That drive only took 35 seconds off the clock, leaving Serio just enough time to drive Philadelphia 75 yards to tie the game with a last second, 55 yard TD pass to Faustino Dixon.
OT was not as exciting, with several punts, a Martinez INT and a last second 56 yard FG by Robert Albertson to win the game for Philadelphia.
Generals 48 (NY) Stars 6
New Jersey QB Don Ferguson threw for 368 yards and 5 TD passes and the Generals defense forced 4 turnovers to improve to 4-1. WR Duncan Meyer might not be able to beat Jerry Seinfeld in a race, but he beat New York DBs to the tune of 8 receptions, 171 yards and 2 TDs today. Speaking of old TV shows, the New Jersey training room looks like a M.A.S.H. unit with all the wounded, I mean injured players.
Showboats 40 SaberCats 3
Memphis bounced back from 2 consecutive losses to throttle San Jose with a stifling defense, while also scoring in a variety of ways. The Showboats allowed 10 rushing yards on 15 carries and made life rough on QB Jake Plummer, sacking him 4 times and intercepting him twice. One of the sacks resulted in a safety when Mike Tyson sacked Plummer in the end zone. Memphis also got the league's 1st punt return TD of the year when Jason Laughlin went 78 yards for a score today. Norman Maldonado threw for 278 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT, RB Erik McNamee ran for 142 yards and a TD while WR Thomas Ballard caught 5 for 110 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Memphis offense.
Hawaiians 30 Blitz 10
Honolulu QB Derek Henry threw for 288 yards, 4 TD and 0 INT as the Hawaiians broke open a close game in the 3rd quarter. RB Anthony Davis had 129 combined yards with 2 TD receptions and WR Michael Argueta caught 5 for 109 and a TD to lead the Hawaiians offense. Honolulu scored TDs on 4 of 5 red zone possessions and kept the ball over 37 and a half minutes.
Stallions 24 VooDoo 17
Birmingham QB Marvin Benford threw 3 TD passes, the last of which went to Justin Gilbert inside the final 2 minutes to break a 17-17 tie and give the Stallions the win. Birmingham only ran 5 more times than New Orleans (29-24) but they doubled their yardage (106-48), leading to converting 10/16 3rd downs. VooDoo K Jordan Fuller must have been cursed today as he made just 1 of 3 FG tries and missed his only XP attempt.
Renegades 21 Breakers 7
Orlando RB Ben Dehaven led the Renegades RBBC with 104 yards on 16 carries, and the entire RB corp gained 222 yards on 45 carries. Boston did score the game's only TD with a George Cade 2 yard TD run, but the Breakers only had 194 total yards and were 1/11 on 3rd downs. Orlando could not crack the end zone despite 359 offensive yards, but K Scott Mueller made all 7 FG attempts to give the Renegades the win.
Force 21 Maulers 3
Georgia SLB Lawrence Kee helped get the scoring underway by sacking Ernest Simmon in the end zone, causing a fumble recovered by DE troy Hill for a 7-0 Force lead. They sacked Simmon 4 times in all, limiting him to 151 yards passing with an INT. Georgia QB Milton People didn't fare much better, throwing 2 INTs and 132 yards, but he wasn't sacked and he threw 2 TD passes, both to Willard Brekke. That was enough for Georgia to win their second straight game.
Express 12 Wranglers 6
Arizona scored first and last in this kicking contest, but Los Angeles scored 4 FGs in between to win the game 12-6 over the Wranglers. Arizona converted 7/16 3rd downs and held the Express to 1/11 but 2 late INTs did not help the cause. Los Angeles QB David Tavarez completed 23/26 for 237 yards with 0 TD and 0 INT.
