We had 5 one score games in Week 2, leaving us with 9 undefeated teams and 9 winless teams. Memphis and New Orleans are tearing it up through the first 2 weeks as the Showboats are +94 in point differential and the VooDoo +81. To put that in perspective, the 3rd highest scoring teams, Michigan and Tampa Bay, have scored a total of 69 points. Our defending champions Portland have "only" scored 67 points but that defense is shutting teams down, giving up a massive 1.5 points a game.
Looking at some early stats, Memphis QB David Allen has a 13/2 TD/INT ratio, trailing only New Orleans QB Bruno Wilson in yards. Allen's QBR is 138.91, second to Melvin Driggers 141.20, thanks to his 9/0 TD/INT ratio. The rushing yards race is tight with 9 yards separating the top 3. Orlando has 2 of the top 7 including Ben Dehaven, who leads the league while New Jersey has 2 of the top 6. Memphis WR Arthur Devore leads the league in receiving yards with 430, and has a nearly 100 yard lead on second place James Hillis of Michigan. Boston's Randy Patterson has returned a kickoff for a TD in both games so far. Elwood Valdez of Washington has 4 sacks to lead the league and we have a 6 way tie for most INT with 3 each.
SaberCats 23 Federals 20
This was one of 2 games decided on a last second FG. San Jose scored first as QB Jake Plummer found Glenn Kahl for a 14 yard TD pass for an early 7-0 lead. Plummer would finish 23/30, 283 yards and 2 TD. Washington QB Scott Bieber finished the game 26/45, 333 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT, and his first TD pass went for 58 yards to Ronald Matthews tied the game at 7. San Jose rookie WR Mark Hsu had a solid game after his 200 yard debut, finishing with 4 catches, 95 yards and a TD. The SaberCats kicked a FG before Hsu's TD catch, giving San Jose a 17-7 halftime lead.
Bieber's second TD pass came early in the 3rd qtr, a 30 yard pass to James Dunn to pull the Federals within 3. Washington had a chance to tie it, but usually reliable multiple All Pro K John Bazile was wide left on a 43 yard attempt early in the 4th. San Jose would kick a FG for a 6 point lead, followed by 2 Washington FGs and we were tied at 20 with 5:29 left. San Jose then ran off the remaining time on a 12 play 60 yard drive which ended in the 3rd FG for Robert Rodriguez, giving the win to the SaberCats.
Blazers 19 Gunslingers 17
Florida out gained San Antonio 401-247, yet needed a last second FG from Gerald Harmon to come away with the win. Harmon kicked 4 FG on the day and the Blazers offense was led by QB Sidney Maggard who finished 22/34, 296 yards with a TD and INT. San Antonio got 2 TD passes from QB Willie Benge, the second one with 1:52 left to give the Gunslingers a brief 17-16 lead. Florida needed 5 plays to run the remaining time off the clock before Harmon's 50 yard game winning FG.
Thunderbolts 23 Blitz 17
Perhaps this game isn't as close had Cleveland enjoyed better red zone success. The Thunderbolts out gained the Blits 396-324, but lost the turnover battle 2-0 and had just 1 TD in 4 red zone trips. Chicago scored first as QB Ronald Brown fired the first of his 2 TD passes as part of his efficient game. Brown was 29/37, 223 yards, and those 2 TDs. Cleveland QB Michael McGowan also tossed 2 TD passes, though he wasn't as efficient, going 30/44, 313 yards with 2 INT.
Cleveland scored the next 10 points for a 10-7 lead they kept until late 2nd qtr. That's when Leon Rupe booted a game tying FG for a 10-10 halftime score. Cleveland scored 10 points in the 3rd but Chicago was driving as that quarter came to an end. Brown's 2nd TD pass cut the Blitz deficit to 20-17 early in the 4th, and there was no other scoring until a Bill Shepherd 35 yard FG at the 2 minute warning to give Cleveland a 23-17 lead. Chicago was driving at the end of the game, but needing a TD, they ran out of time at the fringe of FG range.
Renegades 20 Stallions 13
Both teams had success running the ball and completed less than 50% of their passes in this turnover free game. The big edge was 3rd down conversions, where Birmingham was 0-7 while Orlando converted 14-21, which led to a time of possession disparity. Birmingham jumped out to a 13-3 lead before the Renegade running game and defense took control of the game. Ben Dehaven ran for 86 yards and the game winning TD in the middle of the 4th qtr while Jose Rush added 84 yards. Mark Peterson rushed for 116 yards but it wasn't enough for the Stallions.
Bandits 38 Bulls 33
Wild game in Jacksonville as Tampa Bay scored 31 second half points to come away with a thrilling 38-33 victory. Jacksonville built a 20-7 halftime lead behind QB Joseph Serio's 2 TD passes. Serio finished the day 32/40, 418 yards and 3 TD. The Bandits started off slow, punting on their first 4 drives before finally scoring at the 2 minute warning of the first half on the first of 5 Melvin Driggers's 5 TD passes. Driggers finished 27/37, 401 yards with 5 TD, 4 in the second half.
Jacksonville scored the final points of the first half, but the 3rd quarter was all Tampa Bay. Driggers first TD pass went to Richard Miller and those guys hooked up twice more in the 3rd qtr and the Bandits added a FG for 17 unanswered points to take a 24-20 lead into the 4th. The Bulls would get within 24-23 on a FG, then Driggers to Miller struck a 4th time, giving Tampa an 8 point lead. Miller finished with 5 catches, 168 yards and 4 TDs. Jacksonville fought back within 38-33 but their final drive could not cross midfield, and the Bandits claimed the W.
Storm 37 Wranglers 0
The Portland defense recorded 5 sacks, none by you know who, and held the then ownerless Wranglers to 151 total yards. Following the game it was announced the Arizona Wranglers were taken over by Jaybird, as he looks to turn around the team after an 0-2 start. The Champs got a strong game from QB Oscar Willis, who tossed 3 TD passes to 0 INT. The Storm had 2 players top 100 combined yards, Timothy Roquemore (93 rushing yards with a TD and 57 receiving with another TD) and Jeffrey Frost (63 rushing, 58 receiving with a TD).
Portland's 5 sacks were by 4 different players and the defense forced 2 Arizona turnovers.
Showboats 63 Sun 7
There was a solar eclipse in Southern California as the Showboats obliterated the Sun by 56 points. Total yardage was Memphis 694, Sun 144. Memphis turned the ball over 3 times or it would have been worse for Southern California. Memphis QB David Allen loves his new WR Arthur Devore, as Devore caught 7 for 267 yards and 4 TD. Allen finished 26/39, 485 yards with 7 TD and 1 INT while Mark Lambert added 122 rushing yards. Memphis scored 47 first half points before cruising in the second half.
VooDoo 44 Wheels 3
New Orleans QB Bruno Wilson threw 4 TD and 5 INT, though the Detroit offense couldn't take advantage of them. The Wheels running game had a flat tire as they had negative 22 yards on 19 carries. Nicholas Dorey is liking New Orleans so far as he had 3 more TDs today, all receiving as part of his 8 catch, 204 yard day. Stanley Kerr also had a nice day, catching 7 for exactly 100 yards with a TD, as Bruno Wilson passed for 440 yards when he wasn't throwing to Detroit's defense.
Speaking of QB, Detroit might want to prevent Gregory Skidmore from coming into the game, as he is 2/11 with 2 INT on the year.
Hawaiians 20 Express 9
Honolulu jumped out to a 17-0 lead thanks to a missed FG by Los Angeles and 2 INT by Express QB Joe Richardson. Los Angeles scored a TD early in the 4th to get within 20-9 but turned it over on downs the last 3 times they had the ball. Honolulu spread the ball around and held onto the victory to start the season 2-0.
Gamblers 31 Outlaws 12
Houston got out to a 21-3 halftime lead, then extended it to 31-6 before Oklahoma scored the last 6 points of the game. The Gamblers were led by Jett Black's 3 catches for 110 yards and 2 TDs. QB Tony Dean tossed 3 TD passes in all against 1 INT with 284 yards. Houston was all about the big play, as they averaged over 20 yards a completion and were 0-11 on 3rd down conversions.
Stars 44 Maulers 7
Both teams had 17 first downs and similar passing stats good and bad, but the scoreboard was not close at all. There were 11 total turnovers in the game, all but 1 interceptions. Jon Snow threw 4 INT for Baltimore while Pittsburgh QB Will Allison tossed 5 and backup Nathan Bustamante added 1. In between all the interceptions, Baltimore had the running game going strong while limiting the maulers to very little yardage. The Stars ran for 246 as a team with Knob Creek getting 150 of that (plus 25 receiving). The "Star" of the game for the Stars was WR John Warkentin who caught 7 passes, 4 for TDs and 154 yards. Mark Numbers also had 118 combined yards.
Generals 16 Steamer 6
New Jersey had red zone trouble and QB Ric Flair tossed 3 INT, but also had the only TD of the game on a TD pass to Cody Schiavo late in the 3rd qtr. New Jersey had two 100 yard rushers today, "Dr." Sam Beckett (17-123) and rookie Eric Davis (15-109). Shreveport ran the ball well but had trouble through the air as they could only manage 2 short FGs today.
Breakers 23 (NY) Stars 9
New York has owned the East the last 2 seasons but they find themselves at the bottom today, after an upset loss at the hands of Boston. The Breakers scored on offense, defense, and special teams as Randy Patterson returned a kickoff for a TD for the second consecutive week. The Breakers sacked New York QB Willie Bust in the end zone for a safety (Gary Kremer) and got 2 TD passes from QB Norris Thomas. The Breakers only completed 9/15 passes all game as they used ball control (45 rushes, 34:53 TOP) to keep the New York offense off the field.
Bell 20 Hornets 7
Limiting the passing game also happened with Philadelphia as they complete 8/9 all game long. They didn't quite enjoy a time of possession advantage but the Bell defense intercepted 2 of Charlotte's 48 pass attempts, committing zero turnovers of their own. Charlotte scored first, taking a 7-0 lead early in the second qtr, but Philadelphia scored 17 unanswered points in the second qtr to take a 17-7 halftime lead. The second half was uneventful with the only scoring being a Bell FG to extend the lead to 20-7. Charlotte had a nice last drive but the game ended with the ball at the Bell 2, so we never got to see the onside kick.
Panthers 37 Force 0
Michigan out gained Georgia 471-174 and scored TDs on their first 3 drives to seize control of the game. Panthers QB Adam Scales tossed 3 TD passes to James Hillis, who caught 4 in all for 209 yards. Scales had 405 yards in all and the Michigan defense intercepted Force QB John Brawley 3 times as they kept Georgia off the scoreboard today.
Gold 24 Invaders 10
The box score was pretty close for the most part, as Oakland had more first downs (20-18), yards (348-340), and turnovers (3 each). Denver had twice as many red zone chances as Oakland, which helped them score the game's last 24 points after the Invaders got out to an early 10-0 lead. Oakland RB Oliver Thomas was the only player to top 100 combined yards, as he finished with 80 rushing and 43 receiving with a TD. Denver had contributions from several offensive players as the Gold offense no longer seems to funnel through Peralta.
