Week 10 continued the blowout trend as the 16 games averaged out to a 20 point winning margin and we had only 3 one score games. Some of the divisions are seeing some separation, although there is still much playoff drama left to unfold this season. We have 4 WR over 1,000 yards with double digit TDs already, but Mark Hsu has a nearly 300 yard lead on Thomas Whitley for tops in the league.
Blazers 47 VooDoo 17
Florida blazed New Orleans today right from the start, as Ronald Kirby took the opening kickoff 109 yards to give the Blazers an immediate 7-0 lead. Kevin Forester ran in a 5 yard TD for a quick 14-0 lead before Bruno Wilson cut the lead in half with a 64 yard TD pass to Eric Duncan. Sidney Maggard then threw a pair of TD passes before the 1st qtr ended, as Florida had a 28-7 lead after 15 minutes. Bruno Wilson would cut the lead in half again in the 2nd qtr with his 2nd TD pass of the game but that's as close as New Orleans would get the rest of the game. Florida went on a 10 point run before the VooDoo booted a FG for a halftime score of 38-17 Florida.
The Blazers kicked 3 second half FGs for the final score of 47-17 and Florida dominated the stats. The Blazers more than doubled the VooDoo's yardage (514-247), held New Orleans to 1/12 on 3rd down while converting 10/17 on offense, which led to a time of possession disparity (44:17-15:26, idk why it doesn't equal 60). Individually, Sidney Maggard threw for 341 yards and 2 TDs while Kevin Forester had a combined 119 yards and Ronald Kirby had 136 offensive yards and a receiving TD to go with his kickoff return score.
Federals 49 Outlaws 3
RB Robert Trammell is usually the star of the game for 9-1 Washington, and he had a solid game today with a rushing TD and 102 combined yards. This game was all about Scott Bieber, Matthew Cuevas, and Andrew Favela, though as Bieber threw for 439 yards and 6 TDs on just 19 completions. Favela caught 3 of those TD passes, his only 3 of the game, for 120 yards and Cuevas caught the other 3. Cuevas caught 5 in all for 252 yards, 3rd highest total in the league this year.
SaberCats 51 Hawaiians 10
Both teams had 3 turnovers, but San Jose gained 615 yards in between turnovers to just 265 for Honolulu. Graham Peterson ran for 68 yards and caught 3 passes for 83 and a TD, but most of the damage was done by Jake Plummer and his favorite target, Mark Hsu. Plummer threw for 482 yards and 4 TDs, 2 to Mark Hsu who caught 6 for 225 yards in all. San Jose scored 24 points in the 1st qtr alone, which set the tone for the rest of this game.
Gold 48 Stallions 13
Denver had 533 yards to Birmingham's 256 and the Gold converted 11/12 3rd down conversions. Andrew Brewer completed 28/32, 343 yards and 3 TDs and Jake Peralta ran for 118 yards and a score as Denver crushed Birmingham today. Craig Maddox also ran for 43 yards when Peralta needed a breather and he caught 5 passes for 86 yards and a TD, and his 129 combined yards almost surpassed Peralta (116-16). Brewer spread the ball around in the passing game as leading receiver Richard Funkhouser had 91 yards.
Panthers 24 Showboats 3
Michigan threw half as many passes this week as last, and they were more efficient as a result. William Mauriello still threw 2 INTs, but he completed 36/45, 319 yards and 3 TDs to lead the Panthers to victory. The Michigan defense limited Memphis to 181 total yards, forced and recovered 2 fumbles, intercepted 2 passes and sacked David Allen 3 times as the Panthers improve to 8-2 on the season.
Gamblers 29 Wheels 13
Tony Dean completed 84% of his passes (21/25) for 282 yards and a pair of TD passes to Jett Black, and Lucio Grant booted 5 FGs to lead Houston past Detroit today. Black caught 4 for 174 yards while Ryan Dearing and Francisco Russell combined to rush for 136 yards. Detroit hung around in the first half, trailing 13-7 at the break but their lack of running game left them unable to sustain drives as Houston had a 9 minute advantage in time of possession. Houston might have scored more points but they were 0/2 in the red zone (2 FGs) and just 3/14 on 3rd down conversions, although the Gamblers defense held the Wheels to 1/11 on 3rd down, forced a pair of turnovers and sacked Gabriel Flanagan twice.
Stars 28 Generals 18
Through 3 quarters, Baltimore led New Jersey 12-7 thanks to 4 Fred Boyce FGs before the teams combined for 27 points in the 4th. Baltimore would open the 4th qtr scoring with a FG but Jon Snow would throw an INT to set up the Generals in scoring range. Paul Marcum found Sam Beckett for a short TD pass and James Wright ran in the conversion to tie the game at 15. On Baltimore's next offensive play, Snow found John Warkentin for a 75 yard TD to put Baltimore in the lead for good. New Jersey would add a FG after another Snow INT, but it was too little too late.
New Jersey could not stop the Snow to Warkentin connection as the pair hooked up for 4 receptions, 194 yards and a TD and Snow finished with 399 yards and 2 TDs. William Halford ran for 81 yards with 87 more receiving.
Steamer 10 Invaders 9
Shreveport and Oakland combined for a whopping 334 offensive yards and the only TD came on a 1st qtr Orville Barker TD run. Oakland got 3 FGs, the last with 6:37 to play that gave the Invaders a 9-7 lead. The Steamer were able to drive into FG range and William Neal's 53 yard FG as time expired gave Shreveport the 10-9 victory, and coupled with the New Orleans loss means the Steamer are in sole possession of 1st place in the South.
Storm 23 Sun 6
Portland used a balanced attack to defeat Southern California today as the Storm had 6 different ball carriers (not counting 2 Driggers kneeldowns) combine for 179 rushing yards while Melvin Driggers threw for 213 yards and a TD. 9 different Storm players caught a pass, with Timothy Roquemore leading the way with 116 combined yards. Portland's defense held the Sun to 174 total yards and less than 23 minutes of possession.
Thunderbolts 27 Breakers 3
Cleveland's defense intercepted 5 Norris Thomas passes and Tony Romo took advantage of the short fields to throw 3 TD passes, leading the Thunderbolts to victory over Boston. Bobby Colley caught 2 of Romo's TD passes on 3 receptions for 59 yards and he added 77 rushing yards, while Howard Buxton ran for 75. The win puts Cleveland into a wildcard spot if the season ended today.
Maulers 19 (NY) Stars 6
New York scored first and last, both FGs but Pittsburgh scored 19 in between to defeat the Stars 19-6. Maulers QB Will Allison completed 29/33 passes for 309 yards and William Obrien had 65 rushing yards and 2 TDs to lead the Pittsburgh offense. Defensively, the Maulers held New York to 204 total yards with an INT and 2 sacks.
Renegades 20 Bandits 13
Orlando led Tampa Bay at the half 10-6 but the Bandits took the lead 13-10 when Thomas Lawson threw a TD pass to Garry Flower on their first second half drive. Orlando would tie it with a FG on their opening drive of the second half, then the scoring stopped until the final minute. The Renegades started their final drive from their own 20 with just under 5 minutes to play and rookie QB Emory Howard led Orlando on a 13 play, 80 yard drive that ended with a Howard 5 yard TD pass to Donald Young. This was Orlando's 3rd straight win and if they can stay hot, they may find themselves in the wildcard race.
Blitz 46 Bell 13
The last time a RB from Chicago had 4 TDs in a single game was the Chicago High School Title Game where a young lad named Al Bundy scored 4 for Polk High. Dale Davis of the Blitz matched that today, and he hopes to never have to sell women's shoes and marry a lazy redhead named Peg. Davis got the scoring underway with his first TD, then the Chicago defense sacked Adam Scales in the end zone for a safety and a short lived 8-0 lead, as the XP was no good. On the free kick, Chicago's other RB, Jay Kinder, returned it 92 yards for a TD to extend the lead to 15-0. Chicago maintained at least a 15 point lead the rest of the game as Davis ended up with 125 rushing yards and 39 receiving. QB Ronald Brown completed 26/33, 290 yards and a TD as the Blitz amassed 466 offensive yards and were a perfect 5 for 5 in the red zone.
Gunslingers 16 Hornets 10
San Antonio nearly doubled the yards of Charlotte, 263-136 and the only TD the Gunslingers allowed was a 105 yard kickoff return by William Beaubien. That followed the only offensive TD of the game, a 22 yard pass from Robert Fanelli to Peter White. The rest of the game was a kicking/fumble contest. Charlotte "won" the fumbling part, losing 3 of their 4 fumbles while San Antonio just fumbled once. The Gunslingers got 3 FGs from ACDC frontman Brian Johnson to just 1 for Lawrence Linville and San Antonio gets the victory.
Express 23 Wranglers 9
Arizona's offense is looking better but they still struggle getting into the end zone and today was no exception. Gregory Skidmore completed 19/30 passes but was sacked 3 times and threw an INT as the Wranglers had to settle for FGs on all 3 red zone trips. For Los Angeles, Tristan Arnold threw 2 TD passes to Milton Pearce, who caught 7 in all for 149 yards. Daniel Franks added 66 rushing yards and 22 receiving while Mario Price booted 3 FGs to help the Express to victory.
Force 20 Bulls 10
The game is over but I think another penalty flag was just thrown. The teams combined for 18 enforced penalties, 11 by Jacksonville that cost them 84 yards of field position. In between the flag fest, Ricardo Thomas ran for 2 TDs to lead Georgia to victory over Jacksonville. Thomas ran for 53 yards and caught 6 passes for 37 more yards as Georgia built a 20-3 lead. Jacksonville got a TD early in the 4th to pull within 10, but the rest of the quarter produced very little ball movement by either team and the 20-10 score stood.
