We started the week with 9 undefeated teams and we end the week with 6 as Honolulu, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh all suffered their first defeat of the young season. Honolulu and Cleveland both lost to 0-2 teams, while Pittsburgh had to face our champs Houston. The Gamblers won handily to improve to 3-0, joining San Jose, Denver, division rival Memphis, New York, and New Jersey as the 6 teams 3-0. WR Albert Olson is still on track to break his own receiving yards record from last season, but he is already 174 yards behind Glen Hampton. While Hampton is still riding the 420 yards from Week 1, he has gone over 130 yards every game, with today's 131 his floor so far. His 735 through 3 games is on pace for 3,920 yards, nearly 1100 yards more than the current record. Our top 3 rushers are on pace for Top 20 all time rushing seasons, as we have had just 9 rushers reach 1,600 yards and 7 more had between 1,500 and 1,599. Denver's Erik Younker has 317 yards so far while Florida's Robert Romero has 299. Charlie Shanks of San Antonio is 3rd with 281 yards, on pace for 1,499. We have 3 kickers on pace to challenge John Bazile's record of 50 FGs in a season. Cleveland's Carlos Reed is 11/11 while Florida's Gerald Harmon has also made 11, but with 3 misses as well. Robert Rodriguez of San Jose has made 10/12, then we have several tied with 8 FGs. We have 3 players averaging 1 sack a game and 3 players averaging an INT per game, proving there is some defense being played.
Gamblers 40 Maulers 0
Pittsburgh traveled to Houston in a battle of undefeated teams. The Gamblers are the defending champs while the Maulers were thought to be in rebuilding mode so it's no surprise the Gamblers took care of business. The Houston defense made like for Paul Marcum, intercepting him 3 times and holding him to 98 yards through the air. Donald Turner and Lloyd Ellis combined to rush for 101 yards, with Turner gaining 54 and scoring twice. Turner also caught 5 passes for 62 yards and another TD, giving him 3 scores and 116 total yards. Tony Dean had a Tony Dean type game, 24/31, 344 yards and 2 TDs, and CJ might need to start using Tom Brady pics instead of Jim Kelly to rep Dean here.
Showboats 27 Outlaws 22
Erik McNamee and Paul Davis hooked up for a pair of 1st quarter TD passes as the Showboats took a 14-0 lead. Oklahoma fought back with 10 unanswered 2nd quarter points on a FG and a Carlos Williams TD pass to Craig Icenhour. Memphis got the only points of the 3rd quarter on the 3rd McNamee to Davis TD pass for a 21-10 lead. Early in the 4th, Williams threw his 2nd TD pass to Craig Icenhour but the 2 point try failed so the Showboats led 21-16. The ensuing kickoff went to the back of the end zone but Omar Jenkins ran it out anyway. He got nailed at the 10 yard line, losing the ball and watching as Anthony Powell scooped the ball up and took it into the end zone. Once again the 2 point try failed, but Oklahoma now led 22-21. From that point, the game saw several punts until the final minute. Memphis took over at their own 35 and Erik McNamee threw his 4th TD pass of the game, a 65 yard catch and run to Mark Glenn. The Showboats went for 2 and failed but they now held a 27-22 lead. Oklahoma had time to score, but their drive stalled near midfield and Memphis holds on for the win.
(NY) Stars 14 Breakers 7
The Southwest is not the only division with 2 undefeated teams as the East has New York and New Jersey tied at the top at 3-0. Albert Olson had been on a ridiculous pace with his receiving yards through 2 games, but Boston showed he is human after all, holding him to 70 scoreless yards on 5 receptions. Both offenses struggled today, as they each turned the ball over twice in the first half as the Stars led 6-0 on a pair of FGs. The 3rd quarter saw more offensive struggles and the scoreboard didn't change until early in the 4th. That's when Damien Oleary found Stanley Hart with a 21 yard TD pass for a 12-0 lead. Oleary passed for the 2 point conversion to increase the lead to 14. Boston avoided the shutout in the final 30 seconds with a Larry Henderson TD pass to Ralph Harris. Even if the onside kick was successful, the Breakers would have had precious little time to tie the game.
Generals 38 Steamer 16
New Jersey was without their #1 RB David Koresh as he is nursing a knee injury. Koresh is one of the most talented RBs in the league when he is on the field, but so far in his young career he has had trouble staying on the field, averaging 11 games a season. Good thing for the Generals they had Kurt Cobain and Dr. Sam Beckett to pick up the slack for the Waco Warrior. Cobain ran for 111 yards and led the team in receiving yards with 74 while Beckett scored 3 TDs. Shreveport did a good job defensively against the Generals WR group as 23 of Don Ferguson's 34 completions went to RBs or TEs. Ferguson threw 3 early TD passes to give New Jersey a 21-6 lead in the 2nd quarter, but the Steamer cut the lead to 21-13 by halftime. RB Herbert Young got that score for Shreveport on a 7 yard pass from George Marcil, and Young had a combined 143 yards to lead the Steamer in rushing and receiving yards today. The 3rd quarter plus the first play of the 4th saw an exchange of FGs and a 24-16 Generals lead but the Steamer could get no closer. New Jersey put the game away with a pair of Beckett TDs in the final 2:33, one receiving, one rushing.
SaberCats 16 Bandits 13 (OT)
San Jose tried hard to lose their first game of the season as they turned the ball over twice and missed 2 FGs but the SaberCats were able to escape with the OT win. Tampa Bay has a young team that's playing hard and are just a play here or there from being 3-0. Their second consecutive OT loss though makes the Bandits a tough luck 1-2. San Jose scored first on a Frank Huber TD run and Nicholas Irvine tied it for Tampa Bay with a short scoring toss to James Morse. San Jose added a FG for a 10-7 halftime lead and a FG in the 3rd to extend the lead to 13-7. The Bandits came back with 2 FGs of their own to tie the game at 13 with less than 6 minutes to play. San Jose had a chance to win the game in the final minute, but Robert Rodriguez was wide right on a 42 yard FG try and we were headed for extra football. San Jose got the ball first in OT but went 3 and out. Tampa Bay did the same and the SaberCats had good field position. One 34 yard pass later and Robert Rodriguez trotted on the field, and his 37 yard kick split the uprights for the San Jose win.
Gold 13 Invaders 6
Denver's passing game isn't producing like it used to but the defense and running game have been very strong so far in their 3-0 start. Denver has the league's #1 rushing attack, led by Erik Younker, who had 98 yards on the ground and caught a TD pass as well. The box score was pretty even, and Oakland actually led time of possession with a better 3rd down conversion rate, but it's hard to cross the end zone against the Gold. Denver has allowed just 19 points through 3 games, and only 1 TD as Oakland suffer their 2nd straight one score loss.
Express 27 Hawaiians 6
Los Angeles is the team that scored the lone TD against Denver this season, but that matters little when you're 0-2 and traveling to Hawaii to play the 2-0 Hawaiians. It's hard to say a game is a must win in Week 3, but this fits the bill as a loss would put Los Angeles 3 games behind two teams and make the road to the playoffs very difficult. The box score had some similarities, some differences, and even some differences in the similarities. Los Angeles led the yardage 350-301, rushing yards 85-82, both teams made 2 red zone trips and had success converting 3rd downs, 7/16 for Honolulu, 6/14 for L.A. The differences were turnovers and time of possession as Derek Henry threw 3 INTs to the Express defense and L.A. kept the ball 35 minutes. While the rushing yards were nearly even, it only took the Hawaiians 13 carries to get their 82 yards while the Express got their 85 yards on a whopping 41 carries. Red zone results were different too, as Honolulu kicked FGs on both of their trips, the Express cashed in TDs on their 2 trips. Add it all up and it equals a Los Angeles victory.
Sun 20 Thunderbolts 16
Cleveland came into the game 2-0, and they got off to a fast start against 0-2 Southern California. Tony Romo threw a 53 yard TD pass to Andre King, then added a FG following an interception by Sun QB Harold Angulo for a quick 10-0 lead. Cleveland would extend that to 13-0 before Southern California mounted a rally. Angulo threw a short TD pass to Mark Littlejohn in the final 2 minutes of the half to trail 13-7, then continued the momentum in the 3rd with a 4 yard Littlejohn TD run and a FG for a 17-13 Sun lead. Cleveland would kick a FG to get within 1, but the Sun answered with their own FG and Cleveland's last drive ended in the Sun red zone after a turnover on downs. That was the 5th red zone trip for the Thunderbolts, and a little more success on one of the previous 4 could have resulted in a game winning FG opportunity instead of having to go for it on 4th down. Cleveland had 3 FGs and a lost fumble their other red zone trips, leading to the loss.
Blitz 27 Wranglers 20
Ronald Brown completed 26/39 for 276 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT to lead Chicago to the win over Arizona. Brown spread the ball around to 9 different receivers and John Gates led the Blitz rushing attack with 73 yards and a TD. Arizona hung with Chicago early before the Blitz pulled away to take a 27-13 lead halfway through the 4th. Brian Carmichael completed 28/43 for 204 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT. Both of Carmichael's TD passes went to Michael Jones, with the last one coming inside the 2 minute warning to get the Wranglers within 7 points. The onside kick failed and Chicago ran out the clock for the win.
Panthers 23 Wheels 13
Detroit took a 13-7 lead into halftime thanks to a Gabriel Flanagan TD pass to Larry Rickard and a pair of Kent Olden FGs. Overall, Flanagan completed 32/49, 323 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, with most of the damage coming the first 15 minutes. Michigan converted just 2/13 3rd downs, relying on the big play. Through 3 quarters, the only big play for the Panthers was a 40 yard TD pass from Will Allison, and that came on the first play of the 2nd quarter. Doing this blog, I see every box score, and perhaps it's just selective memory, but it seems to me we have an abnormally high number of scores happening with 15:00 left in the quarter. Lightning struck twice for Michigan, as the first play of the 4th saw Allison find Harvey Williams for a 59 yard TD to give the Panthers their first lead of the game. Allison found Williams again later in the 4th for a 71 yard score to essentially put the game away. Allison finished 21/33, 332 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs, with Williams leading the receivers with 5 catches, 158 yards and those 2 4th qtr TDs.
Bulls 20 VooDoo 19
Jacksonville and New Orleans played a pretty even game with similar box scores and a spread the wealth offensive approach. Each team used 3 RBs in their RBBC and the VooDoo had 8 different players catch passes, Jacksonville ten. The most remarkable thing I saw in the box score was New Orleans has 2 RBs named Donald Brown. The VooDoo took the lead first at 3-0 before Derek Joyce's TD pass to Leon Gutierrez gave the Bulls a 7-3 lead. New Orleans bounced back with a pair of FGs and an Ellis Soza TD pass to David Barfield for a 16-7 halftime lead. Derek Joyce's 2nd TD pass cut the lead to 16-14, then the VooDoo extended the lead to 19-14 entering the 4th. Jacksonville responded with a pair of FGs in the 4th, the last one coming with 1:04 left to give Jacksonville a 20-19 lead and the VooDoo couldn't quite get into FG range before time ran out.
Blazers 27 Stars 6
Robert Romero ran for 121 yards, Stephen Hannah ran for 69 and 2 scores and the Blazers defense forced 3 turnovers to lead Florida to the win. Baltimore actually ran for a much better average but the turnovers and early deficit didn't allow the Stars to stick with it. Stephen Ponder tried to lead a comeback but he threw 2 INTs and went 1/11 on 3rd down. Florida wasn't much better on 3rd down, 3/13, but they were still able to control the clock with their running game, holding the ball nearly 36 minutes.
Force 23 Storm 22
Portland traveled to Georgia to face the Force and USFL leading receiver Glen Hampton. Portland out gained Georgia by over 100 yards and converted 8/16 3rd downs but scored just 1 TD in 4 red zone trips. The Storm ran for 161 as a team led by Jose Moses' 85 but the Force defense shut down WR Richard Robinson to the tune of 1 catch for 16 yards.Thomas Jacobi threw for 243 yards and 2 TDs, with Glen Hampton catching one of the scores among his 6 for 131 yards to lead the Georgia offense. The first half saw alternating scores: Portland FG, Georgia TD, Portland TD, Georgia TD, Portland FG, and the Force led 14-13 at halftime. That lead was extended right away in the 3rd as Daniel Franks took the kickoff 107 yards for a TD. The XP was no good, making the new score 20-13. The rest of the half was all FGs, and the last score was a Storm FG with 4:09 left to make the score 23-22 Georgia. The Force ran out the remaining clock and kneeled down twice at the Portland 1 yard line rather than run up the score at the end of the game.
Federals 17 Gunslingers 13
Washington had trouble running the ball while San Antonio had trouble passing and the teams alternated scores throughout the game. The Gunslingers ran for 206 yards as a team, led by Charlie Shanks with 144 yards and a TD. Federals QB Scott Bieber completed 21/23 for 239 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT with WR Andrew Favela leading the receivers with 127 yards and a TD. San Antonio scored first for a 3-0 lead, Washington tied it, San Antonio then went up 3 again before Bieber's 1st TD pass made the score 10-6 Washington. That was our halftime score and Shanks got his rushing TD in the 3rd for a Gunslingers 13-10 lead. Scott Bieber's TD pass to Favela came early in the 4th, giving the Federals a 17-13 lead that the defense was able to hold onto for victory.
Bell 43 Stallions 35
Philadelphia had been in a 2 game offensive slump but they broke out of it in a big way today, and needed every bit of it as the Bell defense showed cracks as well. Philadelphia had 518 yards, Birmingham 512, and they combined for 10 TDs, 5 each. There wasn't much defense played today, but the Bell got out to a 2-0 lead after Norman Maldonado was sacked in the end zone by Richard Donofrio. Sidney Maggard followed that up with a pair of TD passes for a 16-0 lead. Birmingham got a TD of their own before the 1st was over to trail 16-7. The Bell won the 2nd quarter 10-7 to take a 26-14 lead into halftime. Norman Maldonado threw a pair of 3rd qtr TD passes with the 2nd making the score 29-27 Philadelphia, so they went for 2. That failed, but Maldonado led another TD drive while also converting the 2 point try for a 35-29 lead with just under 10 minutes to play. Sidney Maggard took the lead back right away with a 75 yard TD pass to Craig Hines and the pair followed that with another TD to take an 8 point lead. Maldonado drove the Stallions inside the red zone but couldn't convert on 4th and goal from the 6 and Philadelphia hangs on for the win.
For Birmingham, Norman Maldonado completed 30/48, 407 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT. Joseph Oliver was the leading receiver with 6 catches, 160 yards and 3 TDs while RB Francis Schultz was a dual threat, rushing for 73 yards and a TD, adding 5 catches for 98 yards and another TD. Speaking of dual threats, Philadelphia RB Jamie Epperson had 200 combined yards, rushing for 73 and a TD with 6 catches, 127 yards and another TD. Sidney Maggard was 28/39, 439 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT and Craig Hines was his favorite receiver. Hines caught 9 balls for 195 yards and 3 TDs.
Renegades 13 Hornets 9
Orlando continues to be plagued by turnovers, losing 3 more today for a season total of -10 turnover margin. The Renegades were +18 a year ago while winning the division. Today they were able to overcome the mistakes thanks to a stifling defense and RB Anthony Milan. The defense held Charlotte to 188 total yards and keeping the Hornets out of the end zone all day. Anthony Milan led the Renegades in rushing and receiving, combining for 145 yards and a 1st qtr Trey Lyons TD pass to Roger Radke was the difference on the scoreboard as that was the only TD of the game. Orlando gets the win to improve to 1-2.
