Blazers 25 VooDoo 13
Florida got the ball first but didn't run an offensive play as Robert Romero returned the opening kickoff 107 yards for a score and a blazing fast 7-0 lead. New Orleans answered with a FG on their first possession and the quarter would end with that 7-3 Florida lead. The 2nd qtr saw a FG for each team to give us a halftime score of 10-6 Florida.
The second half was a FG fest for Florida as they got 3 points on their first 5 possessions of the half to take a 25-6 lead with just over 2 minutes left. New Orleans finally got a TD of their own, a Bruno Wilson 2 yard TD pass to Tom Jacobs, but it was too little, too late even if the onside kick was successful, which it was not.
Nicholas Dorey was the stat king of the game, catching 4 passes for 141 yards and Bruno Wilson passed for 271, but he was far from efficient. He only completed 17/39 with a TD and an INT, and all of those incompletions stalled drives. Florida quietly amassed 284 offensive yards, less than the VooDoo's 327, thanks to Sidney Maggard completing 26/31 with no turnovers. The Blazers also didn't have an offensive TD, but that TD on the opening kickoff gave Florida the early momentum, which they never relinquished. Gerald Harmon booted 6 FGs in all while Robert Romero chipped in 43 yards rushing and caught 7 passes for 22 yards to go along with his kickoff return TD. Florida was the only team to have more than one KR TD this season as Romero did it once in the regular season, as did Ronald Kirby.
Stars 50 Generals 13
This game was over 2 minutes in, as the Generals played giveaway one week after playing takeaway. New Jersey forced 5 Washington turnovers last week to get to this point, but today New Jersey gifted Baltimore 6 turnovers, including 2 in the game's first 2 minutes. The Generals got the ball first and Sam Beckett fumbled on the first play, setting up Baltimore at the Generals 35 yard line. Three plays later, Jon Snow found John Warkentin for a 3 yard TD and a quick 7-0 lead. When New Jersey got the ball back, Paul Marcum promptly threw an INT, giving the Stars the ball at New Jersey's 40. 2 plays later, Snow found Warkentin for another TD, this one 33 yards. New Jersey would go 3 and out on their next possession, then Baltimore added a FG for a 17-0 lead. New Jersey finally got some offense, going 75 yards in 15 plays, finding paydirt on the first play of the 2nd qtr with a Paul Marcum TD pass to Michael Wood.
That made the score 17-7 Baltimore but that would be as close as the Generals would get today. The balance of the 2nd qtr was 2 FGs for Baltimore and 1 for New Jersey, for a halftime score of 23-10 Stars.
New Jersey LB Jeffrey Dahmer intercepted Jon Snow on Baltimore's first second half possession but Paul Marcum fumbled it away, killing any possible momentum gain. Fred Boyce would kick a FG for a 26-10 lead then Knob Creek ran in a score on a short run for a 33-10 lead and the rout was on. Paul Marcum then threw an INT which led to a Jon Snow TD pass to Mark Numbers, increasing the lead to 40-10.
The 4th qtr was similar to the first 3 and Baltimore advances to play Florida for the right to play in World Bowl XIX. Jon Snow finished with 342 yards passing and 4 TDs with John Warkentin hauling in 8 passes for 120 and 2 scores. Knob Creek had a rushing TD (82 yards total today) and a receiving TD (8-58) for 140 combined yards. For New Jersey, QB Paul Marcum threw 2 interceptions and lost 2 fumbles, as did Sam Beckett.
