The road to World Bowl XIX is down to 4 teams after the Divisional Round and once again we only had a single one score game. The odds are good we'll have a first time USFL Champion as only Cjfred has won one (ok, 3) before. Let's check out the action.
Gold 18 Storm 16
Both teams have top 5 offenses, so of course this was a defensive struggle type game. Neither team topped 300 yards of offense, only 1 touchdown was scored and they combined for 5 turnovers. Portland got the ball first and they went 75 yards in 13 plays, including a 4th down conversion, to take an early 7-0 lead. That almost didn't happen though, as the play before the TD, Timothy Roquemore fumbled after a red zone reception, but he recovered and and the very next play, Melvin Driggers found Richard Robinson for the 10 yard TD pass. That drive took 7 minutes off the clock and 5 plays later, Denver punted, allowing the Storm to begin another 13 play drive. This one ended with an Alan Grossi FG and a 10-0 Portland lead early in the 2nd qtr.
Denver started it's second possession of the game at 12:41 of the 2nd qtr and lasted all of 2 plays before Andrew Brewer tossed an interception. That led to another Grossi FG and a 13-0 lead for the Storm. Denver finally got a little bit of offensive momentum and Robert Deacon booted a pair of FGs before halftime for a score of 13-6 at the break.
In the second half, it was Portland who struggled to sustain drives while Denver was getting points. Denver had an empty drive to start the 3rd while Portland went 3 and out, leading to a Deacon FG. Jose Moses fumbled on Portland's next possession, leading to another FG by Deacon and the Portland lead was now just 13-12.
Portland put a drive together late 3rd/early 4th, but of course it ended in a Grossi FG to extend Portland's lead to 16-12. Denver responded with another FG of their own and it was a one point game again, 16-15. Following an exchange of punts, butterfingers crept in for both teams. First, Melvin Driggers threw an interception but Denver's Max Ellis fumbled it back a few plays later. We were under 4 minutes to go at this point, and the Storm were hoping to run some clock, but Donald Langlois did his Max Ellis impression and fumbled it back after a pass reception. Denver took over at the Portland 33, and although they did not get a first down, Robert Deacon nailed a 46 yard FG to give Denver their first lead of the game, 18-16, with less than 2 minutes to play. Portland's last drive stalled near midfield and Denver pulls out a late win, advancing to the Conference Final.
Gamblers 34 Panthers 20
This game featured more offense than the first game above, as both teams were over 300 yards and scored in every quarter, and we had a combined 99 pass attempts, 63 by Michigan. Houston got the ball first but punted. The Gamblers would get the ball right back however, as William Mauriello threw the first of his 3 INTs today on Michigan's first offensive play. Six plays later, Tony Dean found Lloyd Ellis for a 7 yard TD pass to give Houston a 7-0 lead. Michigan tied it at 7 when Milton Schwab busted a 42 yard TD run up the gut of the Gamblers defense, leaving tire tracks on rookie SS Christian Soriano. Houston would answer that score later in the quarter when Tony Dean threw a 6 yard TD pass to Donald Turner, and the Gamblers led 14-7.
Houston would score just a FG in the 2nd quarter to take a 17-7 lead before Michigan closed the gap inside the 2 minute warning. James Hillis caught a 48 yard TD pass from William Mauriello to cut the lead to 17-14, which was the score at halftime.
Michigan got the ball to start the second half but Mauriello threw his 2nd INT, which eventually led to another Houston FG to extend the lead to 20-14. Later in the 3rd, Houston's Donald Turner lost a fumble that turned into 3 points for Michigan. The Panthers took over at the Houston 11, and they actually scored a TD, but a holding penalty on Milton Schwab wiped that off the board. The Panthers settled for a short FG and trailed 20-17. Tony Dean then threw an INT on the next possession but the defense held, so the Gamblers took that 20-17 lead into the final quarter.
The game unraveled for the Panthers during a 1 minute stretch of game action as Tony Dean's 3rd TD pass, 54 yards to Anthony Fulks, put Houston up 27-17. Michigan went 4 and out, turning it over on downs, then Tony Dean immediately threw a 29 yard TD pass to Hugh Chance, pushing the lead to 34-17. There were still 9 minutes to play but Michigan wouldn't cross midfield until the final 2 minutes, and a FG with 0:44 left gave us our final score of 34-20.
William Mauriello was 29/63, 258 yards with 1 TD and 3 INTs and James Hillis caught 8 for 107 yards and a TD. Tony Dean completed 26/36 for 306 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT. Donald Turner caught 12 passes for 97 yards and a TD, adding 30 rushing yards for a combined 127.
