Thursday, August 31, 2017

Week 14: Three Teams, Two Weeks, One Spot

Players of the Week


National Conference


Offense: Doug Fluty, QB, New Jersey Generals. Fluty completed 26 of 40 passes for 338 yards and three TDs in the Generals' 43-0 win over the Charlotte Hornets that kept New Jersey in the hunt for the final wild-card playoff spot in the National Conference.

Doug Fluty, New Jersey Generals


Honorable Mention: Vincent Goode, QB, New Orleans VooDoo; Victor Gorman, QB, Baltimore Stars; Cliff Thomas, RB, Pittsburgh Maulers; Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals.

Defense: John Cintron, MLB, Shreveport Steamer. Cintron had 13 tackles, and interception and a fumble recovery during a 15-8 victory over the Birmingham Stallions that evened Shreveport's record at 7-7 and kept them in the race for a wild-card playoff spot.

Honorable Mention: Bernard Washington, WLB, Florida Blazers; George Simmons, LDE, New Orleans VooDoo; Wayne Bouchard, RDE, New Orleans VooDoo; Jesse Amos, MLB, Georgia Force.

American Conference


Offense: William Carter, QB Houston Gamblers. Carter completed 25 of 39 passes for 508 yards and did not throw an interception, but Houston fell to the Michigan Panthers, 59-27.

Honorable Mention: Brandon Robertson, QB, Michigan Panthers, Timothy Hanna, WR Detroit Wheels; Alan Scurry, RB, Denver Gold; Nolan Loos, QB, Southern California Sun.

Defense: John Hernandez, WLB, Cleveland Thunderbolts. Hernandez had 11 tackles, a sack and an interception during a 16-10 win over the Oklahoma Outlaws.

Honorable Mention: James Tolentino, DE, Honolulu Hawaiians; Ryan Welch, DT, Arizona Wranglers; Fred Falgout, WLB, Oakland Invaders; Joseph Carter, MLB, Michigan Panthers.

Notes


  • The American Conference playoff field is all set, but the National Conference will have two more weeks of intrigue. The New Jersey Generals, Baltimore Stars and Shreveport Steamer are all tied at 7-7 for the sixth and final playoff spot. All three have one game remaining in which they will be the favorite and one in which they will be the underdog. The only decision among them came in Week 4, when New Jersey edged Baltimore, 10-7. The Generals are currently 6-4 in their conference, Baltimore 6-5 and Shreveport 5-5.
  • There was a fantastic finish in Pittsburgh, where the Maulers faced the Boston Breakers in a battle of division leaders. Boston QB Jonathan Keefe hit WR Angel Howell with a 70-yard TD pass to pull the Breakers within 24-22 with 29 seconds to go. Boston went for the 2-point conversion in an attempt to tie, but Pittsburgh LDE Nathaniel Miles stuffed RB Matthew Brinkley for a short loss to preserve his team's victory.
  • The Tampa Bay Bandits are 2-0 under new coach Mcarovil after beating the Orlando Renegades, 14-6.
  • The Jacksonville Bulls extended their winning streak to five games by shutting down the San Antonio  Gunslingers, 22-6. San Antonio managed just 218 net yards.
  • Houston Gamblers QB William Carter hit RB hit RB Robert Carroll with a 99-yard TD pass during his team's 59-27 loss to the Michigan Panthers. I love that the game log description of this includes "You can tell that the offense is starting to figure out how to beat that defensive play." You think?
  • The three QBs who took part in the Oklahoma Outlaws vs. Cleveland Thunderbolts game combined to throw four interceptions and QB ratings of 40.63, 42.36, and 45.60. That is some serious secondary play. Thunderbolts CB Charles Stark intercepted a pass with 1:29 to play to preserve his team's 16-10 win.
  • Two of the better QBs in the American Conference, William Hill of the Portland Storm and Henry Prieto of the Detroit Wheels, both threw four TDs and four interceptions, but both were on the winning side. Hill threw a 70-yard TD to WR Michael Black early in the fourth quarter as the Storm edged the Oakland Invaders, 29-26.
  • Detroit WR Timothy Hanna caught only four passes, but three were for TDs (62, 70, 24 yards) in the Wheels' 28-16 victory over the Showboats at Memphis.
  • The New Orleans VooDoo sacked Georgia Force QB Phillip Anderson 14 times during a 52-0 VooDoo victory. RDE Wayne Bouchard, DT James Rodriquez and DT John Lawrence all had four sacks.
  • The San Jose SaberCats (12-2), battling Chicago and Detroit for home-field advantage in the playoffs, travel to Memphis to face the Showboats (8-6) this week on Monday Night Football. The Sunday Night Football game features a pair of South Division rivals when the Birmingham Stallions host the Georgia Force.


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