World Bowl XVIII is set with the New Orleans VooDoo taking on the Portland Storm for all the marbles at an as yet undisclosed location. All of the drama occurred during the week leading up to the game as Smirt, GM of New Orleans threw shade at Pittsburgh GM and former USFL Commissioner tribewriter in interviews with the media. What about the games? Read on...
Storm 28 Gold 14
Portland WR/RB Timothy Roquemore ran for 70 yards and caught 7 passes for 81 yards and 2 scores while QB Oscar Willis threw for 282 yards and 4 TDs to lead Portland to victory. Denver tried to hang with Portland, but it was tough with leading playmaker Jake Peralta only playing 1 snap. QB Andrew Brewer was 18/22 with 2 TDs but only had 114 passing yards. Brian Thornton ran for 107 but it wasn't enough to overcome the Storm.
Midway through the 1st, Portland got on the board on an Oscar Willis 7 yard TD pass to Tony Abbott. Denver would answer in the final minute of the quarter as Andrew Brewer found Richard Huff with a 2 yard TD pass to tie the game at 7. The second quarter was mostly uneventful until the final minute when Willis fired his 2nd TD pass of the half, a 24 yarder to Jeffrey Frost. Portland led 14-7 at the half.
Portland took control of the game in the 3rd quarter after a 12 play 73 yard drive ended with a Willis 13 yard TD pass to Roquemore that pushed the Storm lead to 21-7. Midway through the 4th qtr, Willis and Roquemore hooked up again, this time on a 13 yard score to give Portland a commanding 28-7 lead. Denver would close out the scoring on the 2nd Brewer to Huff TD pass, but the onside kick failed and Portland ran out the clock to advance to World Bowl XVIII.
VooDoo 24 Maulers 10
Bruno Wilson threw for 329 yards and a TD while Nicholas Dorey ran for 2 TDs and a pair of 2 point conversions as New Orleans took a 24-0 first half lead and made it stand up for the victory. Pittsburgh QB Will Allison continued to play on a bad foot and he was 37/60 and 270 yards. The Maulers win with defense, special teams, and ball control so they clearly didn't want 60 pass attempts, but falling behind 24-0 will wreck any gameplan.
New Orleans got the ball first and they went 75 yards in 8 plays, going up 8-0 on a short TD run by Nicholas Dorey, who also ran in the 2 point try. Pittsburgh went three and out, then the VooDoo went on another 8 play drive that ended with a short Dorey TD run and a 2 point run, also by Dorey. The VooDoo would later have a 14 play, 66 yard drive that resulted in a turnover on downs, so after a sudden change of possession, New Orleans got a quick strike TD and another 2 point conversion for a 24-0 lead. Pittsburgh finally began to move the ball but a 12 play, 69 yard drive ended with a missed FG and their last possession of the half ended with a punt just outside of FG range.
Bruno Wilson threw his lone INT on the first VooDoo offensive drive of the second half to set up Pittsburgh in scoring range. Four plays later, Robert Erickson got Pittsburgh on the scoreboard with a 9 yard TD run to get within 24-7 with plenty of football left. New Orleans had a chance at more points early in the 4th, but they opted to go for it on 4th and goal from the 6 rather than try a FG and they turned it over on downs. After an exchange of punts, Pittsburgh got a FG, cutting the lead to 24-10 but the onside kick failed. Pittsburgh would get the ball back down 14 with 2:30 to go but turned it over on downs and New Orleans advances to World Bowl XVIII.
