The road to World Bowl XXV began today with 6 Wildcard games. Last season's champions New Jersey earned the bye in the National Conference while last season's American Conference champion Portland also earned a bye. Will World Bowl XXV be a rematch of XXIV, or will one of the contenders step up? There are 6 games to write about instead of 4 so I'll dive right in.
Michigan Panthers 16 Los Angeles Express 9
This game had 6 turnovers, all but 1 were fumbles, and it was a generally ugly game. Los Angeles got the first break, recovering a Lawrence Schroeder fumble to take over in the red zone. The Express faced a 4th and goal from the 1 when they opted for a short FG and a 3-0 lead. Fred Russell was intercepted on the next drive (his only pass of the game) and the Express were driving for more points when the 1st quarter ended. The drive stalled early in the 2nd and another FG made the score 6-0 Los Angeles.
Michigan got on the scoreboard with a 2 yard TD run by Iceberg Lettuce late in the 2nd to take a 7-6 lead into halftime.
Early in the 3rd, Michigan punted and pinned Los Angeles deep. The Panthers almost got the ball as Gordon Auyeung fumbled but teammate Alfredo Stewart fell on the loose ball, keeping possession. Raymond Straight fumbled on 2nd down however, and Michigan took over in the red zone. Iceberg Lettuce returned the favor on 2nd down, losing a fumble and giving the ball back to Los Angeles. On 2nd down, again, Jeffrey Marker stopped the fumble train by sacking David Tavarez in the end zone for a safety and a 9-6 lead. Michigan took the free kick and drove 69 yards in 3 plays, with Iceberg Lettuce scoring his 2nd TD of the game on a 7 yard pass from Will Allison.
The score was 16-6 Michigan after 3 but Iceberg Lettuce fumbled again, leading to another FG for the Express to get them within a TD. Los Angeles had 2 more chances to tie or win with a 2 point conversion, but one drive ended with a fumble and the other on downs and Michigan holds on and advances.
San Jose SaberCats 30 Houston Gamblers 6
Is this Tony Dean's last game? We'll find out after the end of season spin, but if it is Dean's last game, the 6 time Champion went out with a thud. The Houston defense kept them in the game despite the offense being unable to sustain drives, going three and out their first 3 drives. San Jose was tiring the defense out with an 11 play and a 13 play drive, but the SaberCats only had FGs, leading 6-0 early in the 2nd. Dean finally had the gamblers driving when he was intercepted in San Jose territory. San Jose took over and got a 7 yard TD run by Gary Sappington and a 2 point run to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
Early in the 3rd San Jose went for it on 4th down on their own 30 and failed, giving Dean great field position. A TD here and maybe it's a different game but the SaberCats defense forced a FG and still led 14-3. San Jose followed that with a killer 19 play, 75 yard drive featuring a pair of 4th down conversions. David Hartwig capped the drive with a 3 yard TD run while Sappington ran in the 2 point try, increasing the lead to 22-3.
The 4th quarter saw a flurry of INTs as Dean threw his 2nd INT, 3 plays later Jake Plummer was intercepted, then Dean threw his 3rd INT to allow San Jose to take over with a 1st and goal from the 7. Plummer then found Milton Schwab for a 5 yard TD pass and another 2 point run made the score 30-3. Houston would add a FG but it was too little, too late as San Jose advances.
Oklahoma Outlaws 30 Memphis Showboats 7
The game began with 3 punts before Oklahoma scored first on a Raymond Settles 47 yard TD pass to Eric Doyle for a 7-0 lead. Memphis RB Clyde Belcher lost a fumble on the next drive and two plays later, Settles found Doyle for a 61 yard TD pass and a 14-0 lead. Memphis would cut the lead in half thanks to a 31 yard Eric McNamee TD pass to Wayne Ross midway through the 2nd quarter.
The 3rd quarter began with Oklahoma leading 14-7 and this half also began with 3 consecutive punts. On the 4th drive, McNamee had Memphis just outside the red zone before he threw an interception to kill the drive. A couple more punts followed before Raymond Settles found Patrick Clark for a 71 yard catch and run. Clark was caught from behind but Jim Voss finished off the last 4 yards with a TD run to extend the lead to 21-7. Oklahoma added a FG early in the 4th to make it 24-7, then another on the next drive to make it 27-7. The Outlaws added 3 more points inside the 2 minute warning to advance to the Divisional Round.
Raymond Settles finished 23/38, 386 yards and 2 TD passes. Eric Doyle caught both scores as part of his 4-116 game while Patrick Clark caught 5 for 108.
