For the last several weeks, we've had 3 undefeated teams but that changed in Week 11 as the Honolulu Hawaiians not only handed the Baltimore Stars their first loss of 1990, they stay 1 game out of the playoffs. No team has officially clinched a spot, but it's almost certain that Portland will win the West, Memphis and Houston will be in, with one of those teams a wildcard, which leaves 3 spots up for grabs in the American Conference. The Midwest winner will get one of those, which currently leaves San Jose, Honolulu, and Oakland fighting for 2 spots. The Midwest is wide open, with Chicago currently holding a half game lead over Cleveland, but Detroit and Michigan are also within striking distance.
In the National Conference, Baltimore should still win the Atlantic unless they go on a losing skid, as they have swept Washington and have a 2 game lead on the Federals. New Orleans should at least be a wildcard if they don't win the South. They currently have a 3 game lead on Shreveport, but the Steamer and VooDoo play each other twice in the last 5 weeks, so this race isn't over. New Jersey should clinch the East soon, as they have a 4 game lead with 5 to play, but they have to play the undefeated Champs next, so any celebrations likely have to wait a week. Orlando currently has a 1 game lead on Tampa Bay in the Southeast, and whomever ends up in second will be in a wild wildcard race with Shreveport (or N.O.), Washington and Charlotte.
Hawaiians 30 Stars 21
Baltimore's offense put up some yardage on the Honolulu defense, but the Stars made way too many mistakes to remain undefeated. Jon Snow threw for 310 yards and 3 TDs, but also tossed 2 INTs and had a costly sack late in the game. Baltimore also lost 2 fumbles and missed 2 FGs. WR Jeffrey Zimmer caught 2 of Snow's 3 TD passes as part of his 7 catch 168 yard day. Honolulu QB Derek Henry threw for 232 yards and 3 TDs, 2 to WR Allen Grant as the Hawaiians played turnover free football. Baltimore found themselves down 2 points inside the 2 minute warning with the ball at their 2 yard line thanks to a William Stolz punt. Honolulu LDE Kevin Sanchez hit the sack trifecta, stripping the ball and picking it up in the end zone for the game sealing TD.
Storm 42 Bell 0
The Oscar Willis Redemption Tour continued this week, with Willis tossing 5 TD passes and zero INTs to lead the undefeated champs to victory. Willis spread the ball around, as no receiver had more than 72 yards and those 5 TD passes went to 4 different receivers, with Fred Wink catching 2. Timothy Roquemore did Timothy Roquemore things, running for 136 yards and adding 40 receiving with a TD.
Showboats 57 Outlaws 3
Memphis continues to roll despite a change in ownership, as David Allen continued his bounceback campaign. Allen, like Portland's Willis, had INT problems in 1989, but so far in 1990, he has a 41/10 TD/INT ratio after tossing 4 scoring passes today. Allen passed for 433 yards with Omar Jenkins leading the way with 142 yards and 2 TDs on 7 receptions. Mark Lambert ran for 75 yards and 2 TDs, adding 8 catches for 82 yards to help the Showboats hog the ball for 40 minutes.
Gold 17 (NY) Stars 13
The teams combined for 483 yards in this defensive struggle as neither QB topped 200 yards. Denver's Andrew Brewer was efficient, completing 25/31 but for just 165 yards. Brewer did throw 2 TD passes, and his 3rd qtr scoring strike to James Riley broke a 10-10 tie, enabling Denver to win and stay on the fringe of the wildcard race.
Generals 15 Breakers 10
The last time the Boston Breakers defeated the New Jersey Generals was Week 16 of 1985. In the 4 season since, these teams have played 8 times with the Generals outscoring the Breakers 278-18. This isn't the same Breakers team though, as they gave the Generals all they wanted in a narrow defeat. Generals rookie RB Eric Davis ran for 113 yards and also caught a TD pass from Ric Flair as New Jersey took a 12-3 lead into the 4th. Boston would pull within 12-10 on an Edward Swafford pass to Nathan Fogle with just under 5 minutes left, but the Generals ran out most of the remaining clock.
Wheels 38 Steamer 30
When you think of offensive shootouts, Detroit and Shreveport aren't the teams you would normally think of, but they combined for 68 points and 921 yards. Steamer QB Edgar Jones completed 28/38 for 381 yards and 3 TDs and 1 INT. RB Orville Barker ran for 75 yards while also catching 10 passes for 53 yards. James Brown caught 6 for 203 and a TD. Detroit QB Gabriel Flanagan completed 21/30 for 316 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT. Raymond White caught 3 passes, 2 for TDs with 159 yards. Detroit had a 35-30 lead in the 4th, when Shreveport decided to go for it on 4th down deep in their own territory just before the 2 minute warning. It failed, Detroit added 3, then the Steamer, down 8, started driving. They ran out of time at the Wheels 15 yard line.
Gamblers 46 Bandits 14
Coming into the game, Tampa Bay QB Melvin Driggers had thrown 10 INT in 10 games, but Driggers threw 5 more today. The Gamblers defense made life rough for Driggers, and Gamblers QB Tony Dean made the Bandits pay for their mistakes, tossing 4 TD passes. Francisco Russell caught 2 of those TDs as part of his 16 catch 80 yard day. Russell also rushed 20 times for 33 yards as he had an incredible 36 touches. Vern McKinney also booted 6 FGs as the Gamblers scored the first 46 points of the game en route to the blowout.
VooDoo 44 Stallions 3
Bruno Wilson tossed 4 TD passes against 0 INT in throwing for 449 yards (41/61 passing) to lead New Orleans to the blowout win. Nicholas Dorey had himself a game again. Dorey rushed 8 times for 31 yards and 2 two point conversions, adding 8 catches for 241 yards and 2 TDs. The VooDoo defense held Birmingham to 100 total yards and intercepted 4 passes.
Federals 48 Maulers 3
The Will Allison improvement stopped in this game, as he went back to throwing INTs, with 3 more today. Washington's defense was stingy all game long and QB Scott Bieber threw for 299 yards and 5 TD passes. James Dunn caught 1 of those 5 as part of his 4 catch 99 yard effort. Dunn would also rush 17 times for 131 yards and Robert Sullivan ran for 102. Pittsburgh GM jayusmc84 skipped the flight home and has not been heard from since.
Thunderbolts 19 Panthers 9
Michigan's playoff chances took a hit with this loss today, as the Panthers are now in last place, 2.5 games behind Chicago. A win would have meant a 3 way tie for second place, but 2 Adam Scales INTs ruined that. Cleveland forced 3 turnovers in all, losing one and QB Michael McGowan got the game's only TD with a 28 yard pass to Mark Howe in the 3rd qtr. Howe caught 5 for 109 today and Samuel Draper had 138 combined yards to lead the Thunderbolts.
Invaders 33 Wranglers 10
Oakland allowed Arizona 326 yards, but forced 3 INTs and had 493 offensive yards of their own in the blowout win. QB Andrew Moreno threw for 416 yards and 3 TDs, with 2 of those to Nelson Martinez. Those were his only 2 catches but they covered 153 yards and Thomas Gustafson caught 5 for 132 and the other score. RB Oliver Thomas had 124 combined yards as Oakland remains in the thick of the wildcard race.
Blazers 30 Force 14
The Bobby Morris era is over in Georgia, and while Thomas Jacobi didn't set the world on fire, the on field results at least weren't a dumpster fire. Jacobi tossed 2 INTs, but his 50 yard TD to Richard Donofrio late in the 3rd got Georgia within 20-14. Florida QB Sidney Maggard threw for 289 yards and 2 TDs to lead Florida to victory.
Sun 16 Gunslingers 13
San Antonio had a halftime lead of 13-6, but Southern California scored 10 unanswered points in the second half for the win. Wilmer Kimble fired a 3rd qtr TD pass for the Sun and William Peterson kicked 3 FGs, the last a tiebreaking 4th qtr 47 yarder.
Renegades 37 Bulls 9
Orlando QB Elwood Savage threw for 290 yards and 3 TDs, all to David King as Orlando had no trouble taming the Bulls. RB Ben Dehaven had a double hundo game, rushing for 113 yards with 105 receiving.
SaberCats 15 Hornets 3
San Jose forced Charlotte QB Robert Ament into 3 INTs and Tim Horton caught the game's only TD in the 4th qtr as San Jose remains atop the Pacific. Horton caught 5 passes in all for 130 yards and presumed Offensive ROY Mark Hsu caught 5 for 108.
Express 23 Blitz 6
Los Angeles got 110 yards rushing from Daniel Franks and 67 yards and a TD from Jessie Cepeda to lead the Express to the upset win over Chicago. The Blitz were able to move the football but the Express were able to keep them out of the end zone all game, sacking Ronald Brown 3 times and forcing an INT from Nathan Hibbard on his only pass of the game.
