Wranglers 22 Gold 3
Arizona went to Denver and gave the Gold their first loss of 1985. The Wrangler defense held Denver to 275 yards of offense and held the ball for almost 35 minutes. Ronald Hensley kicked 5 FG's and this early TD pass to Eric Duncan from Jerry Montalvo set the tone.
Express 29 Hawaiians 27
This Pacific Division showdown had a lot of points and came down to the wire, but it wasn't all good. Los Angeles and Hawaii seemed to be playing hot potato at times, combining for 8 turnovers, 5 by the losing Hawaiians. Despite the ball security issues, the Hawaiians had a slim 1 point lead late into the 4th qtr until Roger Ruzich hit a 53 yd FG with 2:38 left for the final score. Hawaii had 1 last chance, but decided to punt the ball away with 1:28 left. LA had an excellent opportunity to run out the clock but this happened. Given new life in LA territory, one first down would put them in range for a game winning FG try, but INT. The Express ran out the clock and gave themselves a 2 game lead over Hawaii.
Bell 12 Generals 6
Nevermind the Conference Championship streak for New Jersey, are they even going to win the division? The last time a team other than New Jersey won the East was 1977 when the NY Stars, led by former USFL commish tribewriter won the division with a 12-4 record. This game featured zero TD's and for the second game in a row, the Generals finish with <100 passing yards. The only highlight was USFL career sack leader James Lockette adding to his total. The East Division is now the tightest in the league top to bottom.
Invaders 17 Blitz 17 (OT)
They were kissing sisters in Chicago as the Invaders and Blitz couldn't decide things after 70 minutes of football. This was a possible playoff preview, except for the tie part, that Oakland might wish they could do over. The Invaders had a 17-3 lead heading into the 4th qtr, and led 17-10 late. Oakland QB Les Lacy threw his 3rd INT with 1:33 left in the game and Chicago capitalized, tying the game. OT was a whole lot of nothing and somewhere, Donovan McNabb is confused.
Gamblers 27 Gunslingers 6
Bulls 18 Breakers 0
(NY) Stars 35 SaberCats 6
Showboats 9 Outlaws 3
Stars 23 VooDoo 11
Panthers 23 Thunderbolts 0
Sun 23 Storm 13
Bandits 20 Renegades 10
Federals 25 Force 7
Stallions 20 Steamer 3
Blazers 43 Maulers 10
Wheels 19 Hornets 16
Scoring was down as a whole week 8 with only 2 teams topping 30. Florida is Blazing hot, scoring 43 after their 49 point outburst last week. Tampa Bay and Birmingham have 3 game division leads at the halfway point. Is it time to print playoff tickets yet? Houston, Memphis, Baltimore and Washington probably have playoff appearances in their future, but their divisions are in doubt. Two of these juggernauts are going to have to hit the road in January.
The Charlotte Hornets put up a good fight, but K/P Kenneth Dukes missed a 49 yd FG in the final minute that could have sent the game to OT. Shreveport finally ended their scoreless streak with a FG very late in the first qtr. The Steamer had gone 9 quarters, 1 minute and 4 seconds between scores.
