Last year's final four was Houston, Michigan, New Orleans and Baltimore, with the Stars being the only one to make it that far this season. We're guaranteed to have a Stars team in World Bowl XVI as Baltimore hosts the New York Stars for the right to face either Portland or Memphis. Not much drama this round despite three intra-division games, as only one was decided by single digits.
(NY) Stars 16 Bandits 13
Tampa Bay did so many things right in this game, yet they still end up on the short end of the stick. The Bandits had 420 offensive yards to just 256 for New York, holding the Stars rushing attack to 11 yards on 12 carries. Tampa Bay averaged 5.76 yards per carry, converted 9/16 3rd down attempts and held the Stars to 3/11. Tampa Bay also possessed the ball 10 more minutes than New York and sacked Willie Bust 3 times. So how did they lose?
Bandits QB Melvin Driggers threw 2 interceptions today after only throwing 10 all regular season and K Edward Walter was wide right on a 52 yard FG try. Driggers' first INT came just before the 2 minute warning before halftime, setting New York up at the Tampa Bay 12 after Charles Bowles' 28 yard return. For most of the day, the Bandits shut down New York's main weapon Cam Dalton (10 rushes for minus 1 yard, 3 catches 24 yards), but he managed to punch it in from the 3 yard line for a 13-3 lead at the half for New York.
Tampa Bay started the 3rd qtr with a 13 play, 75 yard drive, capped by a Paul Meade 1 yard TD run to cut the lead to 13-10. Tampa's next drive got close to the New York red zone, but Driggers' 2nd INT of the game stalled the offense. The Bandits still trailed by 3 halfway through the final quarter when they embarked on another long drive. New York had pinned the Bandits at their own 9, but 15 plays and 89 yards later the drive stalled at the Stars 2 yard line. Walter made this chipshot FG and we were tied at 13 with just under a minute to play. Seemingly heading for OT, Willie Bust and the New York offense had other ideas. The Stars had all 3 time outs, but still needed 40-50 yards in less than a minute to get into FG range. First play was a 26 yard pass completion, clock stopped for a defensive pass interference penalty that was obviously declined. Next play was a 14 yard run, which would have made the FG 52 yards, so it was curious no time out was called. Regardless, Willie Bust found Damien Bierman for a 22 yard gain to set up Daniel Hall for the 30 yard game winning FG as time expired.
Stars 42 Federals 21
WR Robert Sullivan (12 catches, 149 yds, 1 TD) and the Washington offense got off to a flying start, as Scott Bieber found him for a 75 yard TD on the game's first offensive play. On Baltimore's second offensive play, the Federals thought they were about to seize momentum. Caleb Raley intercepted Jon Snow, but he was flagged for pass interference, allowing the Stars drive to continue. It continued all the way to the end zone, with Snow hitting Jeffrey Zimmer with a 9 yard TD pass. Washington would get a 57 yard FG from John "Money" Bazile to retake the lead briefly as Jon Snow found Knob Creek for a 47 yard TD and a 14-10 Baltimore lead. "Money" would boot a 53 yard FG just before the 1st qtr ended to make it 14-13.
Second quarter was like the first for Baltimore, as Jon Snow fired his 3rd TD pass of the day, this time a 5 yarder to Mark Numbers. Those two would hook up again on the next drive, this time for 63 yards and a 28-13 lead. Washington would not get closer than 14 the rest of the way as Jon Snow threw 2 more TD passes in the second half to give him 6 for the game. Snow threw for 414 yards, with Mark Numbers (5-133-2), Knob Creek (3-110-1), and Jeffrey Zimmer (10-96-2) the main beneficiaries. Numbers also added 79 rushing yards.
Storm 37 Gold 13
Everyone was waiting to see what McKeon would do in the playoffs after his record breaking 71 sack season for the Storm, but Portland GM Setherick backed off his controversial LB/DE as he recorded zero sacks. To the surprise of nobody, Setherick's team can still play lights out defense without their "gimmick". This was a tight game through 3 quarters with Portland holding a 20-10 edge entering the final quarter.
Denver's lone TD of the game came on their opening drive, with Richard Huff punching it in from the 2 for an early 7-0 Gold lead. Denver would hold a 10-6 lead as the first half wound down before Oscar Willis found his groove with WR Peter Jessee. They connected on a 63 yard TD to give Portland a 13-10 lead at the break. Late in the 3rd, the pair hooked up again, this time for an 85 yard score.
That made the score 20-10 Storm after 3, and Denver cut it to 20-13 before disaster struck 4 times. First, Gold QB Andrew Brewer tossed an INT to Kevin Bowen. Next play, Storm QB Oscar Willis tossed his 3rd TD pass of the game, this one 47 yards to Fred Wink. Next Denver drive ended with another INT by Brewer, which led to a 57 yard FG by Donald Dosch to extend Portland's lead to 30-13. Any hopes for a Denver comeback were lost when Denver Siegel fumbled rumbling toward the end zone. Alfred Gale put the icing on the cake with a short TD plunge, rendering Brewer's 3rd INT meaningless.
Portland WR Peter Jessee was the game's stat king, catching 7 passes for 187 yards and 2 TDs.
Showboats 35 Gamblers 6
It's been a quiet past few days on the message board as Memphis GM Infinity on Trial finally stopped burning bridges bashing the commish long enough to concoct a game plan to bash his divisional nemesis Houston. The Gamblers got on the scoreboard first with a FG and the first quarter ended 6-3 Houston. Early in the 2nd, Memphis WR/RB Mark Glenn ran it in from 6 yards out, and the 2 point conversion gave the Showboats an 11-6 lead. Late in the first half, Houston was driving for a possible score when Tony Dean was picked off.
I would have liked to be a fly on the wall so I could hear the Memphis halftime speech because the Showboats came out of the locker room like they had bees in their helmets. Houston had 5 "drives" in the second half, covering 29 yards, minus 1 yard, 4 yards, 0 yards, and 9 yards...or in other words, punt, punt, punt, INT, INT. Offensively in the second half, the Showboats first 3 drives were all TD drives, covering 75 yards (9 plays), 95 yards (9 plays), and 66 yards (11 plays).
Former Houston RB Mark Lambert stuck it to his old team with that 48 yard TD run to make the score 24-6. Lambert ran 18 times for 196 yards and a TD, while teammate David Austin ran for 99 yards on 9 carries. As a team, Memphis ran for 358 yards, limiting David Allen's exposure in the passing game.
Houston would have liked to limit the exposure of Tony Dean this game, as he had a very un-MVP like 3 INT and just 110 yards.
