The Divisional Round of the playoffs saw 3 of 4 road teams win, with unbeaten Memphis the lone home winner. Southern California doesn't want to leave the playoffs now they've finally got here after 13 seasons. Baltimore won round 3 against division rival Washington, the third straight year the Stars have bounced the Federals from the playoffs. New Jersey got revenge on Birmingham for last year's playoff embarrassment, reaching their 6th Conference Championship Game.
Sun 23 Wranglers 20
The closest game of the weekend was in Tempe, Arizona between Southern California and the Arizona Wranglers. The first quarter and a half was a kicking contest, Arizona getting 2 FG's and a punt while the Sun got a FG and a punt. The last half of the second quarter was a different story as we saw 3 TD's scored. The first TD was scored by Southern California, a 1 yard pass from Christopher Kimbrough to Daniel Dungan to make the score 10-6 Sun. Following an Arizona punt, Southern California got the ball back and scored another TD. James Wise caught this TD pass from Kimbrough to put the Sun up 17-6 with 1:12 left before halftime.
There were more fireworks before the break however, as Arizona drove 75 yards in 4 plays, getting a 44 yard TD pass from Luis Gero to Desmond Kirkland. That cut the Sun lead to 17-13, but they scored too quick, allowing Southern California to kick a FG at the end of the 2nd qtr to take a 20-13 lead into halftime.
The second half saw 10 punts, 3 FG attempts (1 good) and 3 turnovers with 2 of those on one play. It wasn't all bad play in the second half as Arizona managed to tie the score at 20 thanks to this 7 yard TD pass from Gero to Chris Goldberg. Southern California K Alan Grossi missed a go ahead 47 yd FG with 2:13 left, but Wranglers QB Luis Gero gave the ball right back to the Sun.
Southern California twice almost blew a chance to win the game in regulation. The first time, RB Nicholas Wittrock fumbled but RG David Wilson was there to fall on it and keep the drive alive. The second time, Daniel Dungan was flagged for OPI, pushing back the game winning FG try. Kimbrough got those yards back and then some on the next play, setting up Alan Grossi's 28 yard game winning FG as time expired.
Showboats 32 Panthers 13
Michigan got the ball first and drove for a FG to take an early 3-0 lead. The Memphis offense started slow with a three and out before scoring on their next 3 possessions. The first TD was a familiar sight, David Allen to Willie Howland. The successful 2 point run made the score 8-3 Memphis. Two plays later, the Showboats defense stepped up, intercepting Michigan QB Jerry Ruiz. That set up a short Numbers Zielinski TD run. Jessie Cepeda added his second 2 point run to make the score 16-3. Memphis would add a FG to make the halftime score 19-3 Showboats.
The 3rd quarter saw an exchange of FG's, making the score 22-6 entering the 4th. Early in that 4th qtr, a 4 yard Jerry Ruiz TD to Albert Barraza cut the Memphis lead to 22-13. Two plays later, Memphis stopped that little bit of momentum and slammed the door shut on Michigan. This 75 yard TD from Allen to Jerome Betancourt did the trick. There was more football played, but it was just a formality as Memphis sails into the Conference Championship.
American Conference Championship: Southern California @ Memphis (-12)
Stars 33 Federals 21
These two divisional foes are quite familiar with each other, having faced off 3 times each of the last 3 seasons. Just like 1984 and 1985, the Baltimore Stars ended the Washington Federals season. Baltimore scored FG's their first 2 drives to take a 6-0 lead after 1 quarter. Early in the 2nd, Washington intercepted Jon Snow, with John Meyer returning it 22 yards, to the Stars 11. Two plays later, Joe Richardson found Cory Martin for a 2 yard TD pass to give the Federals a 7-6 lead. Following a Baltimore punt, Washingtom had their best drive of the day. Fifteen plays, 89 yards, culminating in another Joe Richardson TD pass, 6 yards to Patrick Begay. That made the score 14-6 Washington and that score would hold up until halftime.
Baltimore got TD's their first 2 drives of the second half to take a 20-14 lead. First, Jon Snow found Timothy Harmon for a short TD pass then Knob Creek ran it in from 7 yards out. Washington was able to retake the lead on this 32 yard Richardson to Luther Ellis TD pass. That's the only points the Federals got from 3 straight Jon Snow INT's following the 2 Stars scoring drives.
Washington carried that slim 21-20 lead deep into the 4th qtr until Fred Boyce nailed a 34 yard FG to take the lead with 3:30 left. Baltimore then forced a punt before scoring the game sealing TD with 1:40 left. That Snow to Brian Darden TD was preceded by a bad face mask penalty against Federal Matthew Minor. Washington fumbled the ball away on their last drive, enabling the Stars to tack on a last second FG. I'm interested to see if this "rubbing it in" FG will cause some Bengals/Steelers type brawl when these teams meet in 1987.
Generals 30 Stallions 13
Last year was on the minds of the Generals in this game as David Schmitt torched New Jersey for 11 TD passes in the 79-19 beatdown to knock New Jersey out of the 1985 playoffs. Birmingham got the ball first and punted while New Jersey went 80 yards in 11 plays for their opening drive, scoring on a short pass to Calvin Hobbes from Ric Flair. It didn't take long for Birmingham to tie the score at 7 as Richard Sutton took the kickoff 103 yards to the house. New Jersey kicked a FG to give the generals a 10-7 lead after a quarter.
Generals P Clark W. Griswold pinned the Stallions inside their own 10 and one play later, Lars Ulrich intercepted David Schmitt to set up an instant red zone opportunity. New Jersey capitalized a few plays later on this 5 yard Ric Flair TD pass to Justin Timberlake to give the Generals a 17-7 lead. Lucio Grant kicked his second FG to push the Generals lead to 20-7 before the back breaking play just after the 2 minute warning.
David Schmitt threw late across the field, getting intercepted by CB Bernardo Schoenberger who returned it 32 yards for a TD. That gave us our halftime score of 27-7 New Jersey. The second half was uneventful, with 3 FG's, 2 by Birmingham and a bunch of punts by both teams.
National Conference Championship: Baltimore (-2) @ New Jersey
