Week 3 featured a World Bowl Rematch and we went from 9 unbeaten teams down to 4: Denver, Michigan, Florida, and Baltimore. The Michigan Panthers have given up a total of 8 points this season...not 8 points per game, which would still be impressive, but 8 total points in 3 games and 2 of those points were scored against the offense on a safety. Baltimore is tied with Portland for most points scored with 115 through 3 games and the Stars point differential is +99. We have a QB tied for 12th in the league rushing leaders, James Wright of New Jersey. In fact, Wright has the exact same rushing line as current starter Kurt Cobain, 153 yards on 40 carries. The Generals are getting Sam Beckett back soon, which will push Wright into more of his normal QB2 role so he won't stay in 12th place.
San Jose's Mark Hsu has the league lead in receiving yards, but the TD lead belongs to Baltimore's Jeffrey Zimmer. Zimmer has just 11 receptions on the season, but 7 have gone for points. We have had 1 kickoff return TD this year and 1 punt return TD, both by Oakland players.
We only had 3 one score games this week, including a tie so there's not much drama to discuss. Let's see what went down.
VooDoo 14 Storm 6
In a rematch of World Bowl XVIII, New Orleans got a measure of revenge although Portland is still the champs. The Storm had the ball more than 36 minutes and out gained the VooDoo 337-213, but 3 lost fumbles and 2 missed FGs severely hurt their chances of winning. Bruno Wilson struggled, completing less than half of his pass attempts, but he did manage to toss a pair of TD passes which was more than enough for New Orleans to pull the upset. I'd love to talk about this game in more detail but it was a defensive struggle.
Gold 53 Sun 13
The Portland loss opened the door for Denver to take the early division lead if they could defeat Southern California. Gold QB Andrew Brewer threw 5 TD passes, 3 to Brian Thornton as Denver broke open a 24-10 game with 21 points in the 3rd quarter to cruise to a win over the Sun. WR/RB Jake Peralta ran for 136 yards and a TD and added 90 receiving yards on 7 catches while Thornton had 68 rushing yards and 62 receiving. Denver kept the ball nearly 39 minutes and the Gold defense had 2 sacks and forced 3 turnovers.
Stars 37 Maulers 10
Baltimore and Pittsburgh met for the first time in 1992 and the early division lead was on the line. Pittsburgh has been winning ugly lately but today was just ugly. The Maulers ran for about a yard and a half per carry and totaled just 209 offensive yards. Pittsburgh did win the turnover battle 2-1, but the Maulers defense struggled to slow down the Baltimore offense. Jon Snow wasn't very efficient, barely completing 50% of his passes, but the ones he did complete went for 381 yards. Snow tossed 4 TDs and 2 INTs, with 3 of his TDs going to John Warkentin, who caught 6 in all for 151 yards. Baltimore had their running game going well too, as William Halford rushed for 134 yards and Knob Creek added 66, giving the Stars exactly 200 yards today.
Panthers 12 Thunderbolts 0
For the 3rd straight week the Michigan defense kept their opponent out of the end zone as they have allowed just 6 points this season on a pair of FGs. The other 2 points scored by Panthers opponents was a safety on a sack in the end zone. The Michigan offense is still lagging as they didn't reach the end zone either, but 4 FGs by Robert Moulton were more than enough for victory today. Michigan allowed Cleveland only 46 total yards after you take away the 47 yards worth of sacks the Panthers had, and they allowed less than 1 ypc on the ground.
Blazers 31 SaberCats 10
Last season, Florida finished 10-6 but missed out on the playoffs, so the 1992 version is doing it's best to avoid that fate. Today was a major test as San Jose has a potent offense and the SaberCats were 2-0 coming in, just like the Blazers. San Jose WR Mark Hsu got his, with 4 catches, 111 yards and a TD but the rest of the SaberCats offense was effectively shut down by the Florida defense. The Blazers intercepted Jake Plummer 3 times, sacked him twice, and forced 2 lost fumbles. On the other side of the ball, QB Sidney Maggard tossed 3 TD passes and threw for 325 yards, while Ronald Kirby had 98 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, 1 rushing and 1 receiving.
Bulls 28 Renegades 23
Wild finish in Jacksonville as this game had 4 lead changes, including 2 in the final 2 minutes of the game, and Orlando was poised to make it another but time ran out with the offense just 4 yards from paydirt. The offenses for both teams put up over 400 yards and turned it over twice, but the oddest stat of all was red zone possessions. Orlando had 5 of them, scoring 3 TDs and a FG while Jacksonville never got there.
Jacksonville took a 16-10 lead into the 4th qtr and extended that to 22-10 after Brian Turner's 80 yard TD run (2 point try failed). Orlando would then score 13 unanswered points on 2 Emory Howard TD passes, the second one coming with 1:18 on the clock. That gave Orlando a 23-22 lead after the 2 point try failed, so their defense just needed a stop. That didn't happen as it only took 1 play for Jacksonville to retake the lead as Joseph Serio found Charles Ayers for a 74 yard TD. Yet another 2 point try failed, so Orlando trailed 28-23 but had a minute to score another TD and steal the game. The Renegades almost got it done, but a running play with no timeouts left took too much clock and the drive stalled at the Jacksonville 4.
Stallions 17 Steamer 17 (OT)
Birmingham and Shreveport played 70 minutes of football and a winner could not be determined. Shreveport dominated time of possession thanks to going 11/26 on 3rd down conversions. I don't remember ever seeing more than 26 3rd down attempts but I don't always look, and it led to 98 offensive plays for the Steamer. For Shreveport, Orville Barker ran for 115 yards and Shane Falco passed for 302 and a TD. Ric Flair made his debut for Birmingham and tossed 2 TDs and no INTs, including a 97 yard catch and run TD to Theodore Turner, but he still completed less than 50% of his passes. There was not much end game drama and the OT period was nothing but punts. Both teams are now 1-1-1, a half game behind New Orleans in the South.
Generals 27 Hornets 12
Ric Flair's former team is now 2-0 since his departure as Ernest Simmon tossed TD passes to 3 different receivers and had 303 yards on just 12/20 passing. Backup QB James Wright continued to produce while filling in as a RB as he led the Generals with 129 combined yards, rushing 17 times for 45 adding 84 yards on 2 receptions with a TD. All 3 of Simmon's TD passes were at least 60 yards.
Federals 34 Breakers 13
Boston came in 2-0 and faced a major test against one of the league's elite teams, Washington. The Breakers got a 78 yard TD run from Nicholas Wittrock that tied the game at 10 in the 2nd qtr, but it went downhill from there. The Federals defense held the Boston offense in check and the Washington offense scored touchdowns in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th qtrs to take a 31-10 lead before Boston scored again. QB Scott Bieber threw for 315 yards and TD passes to 3 different receivers and Robert Trammell had 140 combined yards to lead the Federals.
Gamblers 30 Gunslingers 3
Much like Boston, 2-0 San Antonio faced a major test against an elite team with a loss already. The Gamblers played angry, limiting the Gunslingers to 75 total yards. The defense had no sacks but they made stops all day long, allowing just 3 first downs, 1 via penalty. Ryan Dearing ran for 103 yards and Lloyd Ellis had 83 to compliment Tony Dean's 254 yards and 3 TD passes.
Showboats 30 Blitz 20
Chicago put up 443 yards on Memphis but 2 turnovers were their downfall. Blitz QB Ronald Brown threw for 378 yards and 2 TDs but his 1 INT was returned 21 yards for a TD by Sylvester Teal. WR Patrick Jackson had 123 receiving yards and a TD for Chicago. Memphis QB David Allen completed 18/25, 226 yards and 2 TDs, with 10 different receivers catching a pass.
Bandits 33 Force 19
We had rookie QBs battling it out in Florida and we saw good and bad things from Thomas Lawson and Milton People. Both QBs threw 2 INTs and while People also tossed a pair of TDs and 331 yards, he was out performed by Lawson, who threw 3 TDs and 468 yards. It certainly helped Lawson that he can throw to likely future HOFer Thomas Whitley, who caught all 3 TDs as part of his 6-184 receiving line. Tampa Bay also had a nice game by RB Paul Meade, who ran for 77 yards while catching 7 passes for 78 more.
Invaders 27 Wranglers 15
Oakland won a turnover filled game thanks to a interception return for a TD and a punt return TD. Zachary Kincaid got the start for Arizona, their 3rd different starter this season, and he didn't fare much better than the other 2. The Wranglers actually out gained the Invaders 275-224, won the turnover battle 6-4 and also had an INT return for a TD. Yes you read that right, 10 total turnovers. Oakland's Andrew Moreno threw 4 INTs to 3 for Kincaid and the Invaders lost 2 fumbles while Arizona lost 1. The difference in the game was Arizona only kicked FGs when they kept the ball while Oakland was able to score 2 offensive TDs to get the win.
Hawaiians 19 Express 9
Honolulu QB Derek Henry threw for 299 yards and a TD to Scott Stillings, who had 130 combined yards, to lead the Hawaiians to victory. Honolulu held a 10-9 halftime lead and their defense shut out Los Angeles in the second half as they improve to 2-1 on the year.
(NY) Stars 34 Bell 10
New York doubled the yardage of Philadelphia (464-218) and only 1 Willie Bust pass hit the ground as the Stars get their first win of 1992. Bust was 23/26 for 257 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs and the Stars had 207 rushing yards, led by William Hall's 99. One of Bust's interceptions was returned for a TD by the Bell's Chris Moore.
Wheels 22 Outlaws 10
Detroit had 385 yards of offense, most through the air and the defense limited Oklahoma to 136. Detroit did turn the ball over 4 times (3 lost fumbles) and Gabriel Flanagan lost a fumble on a sack for the Oklahoma TD, but not much else went right for the Outlaws as their lack of offense was the name of the game. Flanagan did throw for 351 yards and the Wheels had a pair of 100 yard receivers, James Fischer (8-124) and Thomas Barrerra (7-116). Fischer also added a rushing TD as Detroit improves to 2-1.
