Maybe it's just me but 5 teams at 3-0 seems low, as does 4 teams 0-3. The unbeaten teams so far are the San Jose SaberCats, Portland Storm, Florida Blazers, Washington Federals and Philadelphia Bell. We have a lot of football in front of us, but how long can those teams keep their streak alive? There were 6 one score games this week with 1 shutout.
SaberCats 36 Gamblers 33
This was a strange box score, as there were some things in Houston's favor that usually indicate a team is going to win.. The Gamblers defense forced 6 turnovers, 4 interceptions by Jake Plummer while committing just 1 turnover on offense. Houston also had the better time of possession and double the red zone opportunities (6 to 3), scoring all 33 points in the red zone to just 14 for San Jose. The SaberCats also committed 8 penalties versus 1 for Houston. There were some other things that were relatively even, like first downs, rushing attempts, passing attempts, and sacks. What each team did with their rushing/passing attempts tells the real story though.
Both teams ran the ball 30 times, but led by 150 yards from Rodney Richardson, San Jose out rushed the Gamblers 202-81. Tony Dean had a much better completion percentage than Plummer, but the Gamblers lacked the big play today. Plummer was just 16/32 on the day, but as usual, he hooked up with Mark Hsu for 3 long TDs, 69, 86, and 75 yards respectively. Hsu finished with 6 catches, 281 yards and those 3 long TDs.
Despite all of that, the game was a back and forth affair with 7 lead changes. Houston led 26-21 entering the 4th before the SaberCats retook the lead on Hsu's 2nd TD and a 2 point conversion. Houston got a TD run from Francisco Russell to take a 33-29 lead, but the next offensive play was Hsu's 3rd TD catch which turned out to be the game winner. Houston went 3 and out after Hsu's 3rd TD and never saw the ball again.
Bell 30 Generals 24
Philadelphia hasn't made the playoffs since 1982, but with today's victory over New Jersey, the Bell are all alone at the top of the East with a 3-0 record. Philadelphia had 401 offensive yards, led by big play WR James Jones, who caught 5 for 171 yards and 2 TDs. Jamie Epperson chipped in 121 rushing yards as Philadelphia overcame a subpar game by QB Robert Hernandez, who threw 2 INTs and completed just 16/35 passes.
The Generals took a 17-7 lead into halftime but Philadelphia wiped out that deficit with a 20-0 3rd qtr. New Jersey cut the lead to 27-24 with 6:13 to play but the Generals defense couldn't get off the field as the Bell ran all but 22 seconds off the clock, adding a FG to force New Jersey to drive the length of the field. It didn't happen and Philadelphia wins.
Storm 27 Renegades 6
Portland got 290 passing yards and 3 TDs from Melvin Driggers as the Storm defeated Orlando today. Portland's defense allowed just 222 yards and intercepted 2 Emory Howard passes in shutting out the Renegades for the first 3 quarters.
Blazers 37 Bandits 13
Florida QB Sidney Maggard completed 30/37 for 393 yards and 4 TDs and the Blazers ran for 181 yards in crushing division rival Tampa Bay. Robert Romero led the rushers with 93 yards while TE William Merkel caught 12 passes for 174 yards and a score. Tampa Bay QB Antonio Martinez had a rough day, completing 15/44 for 310 yards and 4 INTs, allowing Florida to control the ball over 45 and a half minutes of game action.
Federals 34 Hornets 3
Charlotte scored first for an early 3-0 lead but that would be as good as it got for the Hornets. Washington out gained Charlotte 533-88, thanks to Scott Bieber's 401 passing yards. Bieber only found 4 receivers today with Andrew Favela leading the way with 4 catches, 227 yards and 3 TDs. Matthew Cuevas caught the other TD and had 4 catches for 100 yards on the nose. RB Robert Trammell ran for 109 yards and James Dunn ran for 61 and the pair had the other 74 receiving yards (Trammell 44, Dunn 30).
Panthers 13 Maulers 10 (OT)
Michigan got the ball first but QB Larry Henderson started right where he left off last week, throwing an interception on the first drive of the game. Henderson threw 6 in last week's loss and HC Jose Espinoza had to be thinking about pulling him, especially after Will Allison turned it into a Pittsburgh TD with a 10 yard pass to Howard Aguirre. Henderson would settle down after that, finishing the day 25/35 for 179 yards and a TD, with no more interceptions, although his teammates lost 2 fumbles.
Pittsburgh would add a 2nd qtr FG to take a 10-0 lead, but the Michigan defense held strong after that, forcing either a 3 and out or an interception on all but one subsequent drive. Their best ball movement was their final drive of regulation but time ran out as they crossed midfield. The Panthers clawed back in it, tying the game at 10.
In the extra session, Michigan got the ball first but turned it over on downs after a failed 4th and 1, with Pittsburgh taking over at their own 43. They weren't far from field goal range, but a holding penalty on 1st down set the Maulers back and they had to punt. Michigan drove to midfield and punted, pinning Pittsburgh at their own 6. Another Maulers 3 and out gave the Panthers the ball with 1:33 left to play at Pittsburgh's 48. Two pass plays later and Michigan had a 1st and goal from the 3, where they opted for the short, game winning FG by John Hensley.
VooDoo 13 Steamer 10
Shreveport could have taken an early 2 game lead on the rest of the division with a victory over New Orleans today, but the VooDoo had other ideas. Neither offense produced many yards, 474 combined to be exact, and only 1 player rushed for more than 28 yards while just 1 receiver topped 46. Shreveport's James Brown caught 4 passes for 93 yards, including a 65 yard TD in the 3rd to tie the game at 7. The teams alternated scores, with New Orleans scoring first, then taking a 10-7 lead following the Steamer TD. Shreveport would tie the game at 10 early in the 4th but New Orleans K Jordan Fuller's 47 yard FG at the 2 minute warning was the winning margin.
Hawaiians 16 Breakers 14
Honolulu RB Anthony Davis had 189 combined yards, 142 rushing, and a TD to lead the Hawaiians to victory. The Hawaiians kept the game closer than it should have been, only scoring 16 points in 5 red zone trips, QB Derek Henry tossed 3 interceptions, and David McInnis missed a FG. Boston QB Joseph Haight tossed a pair of TD passes to WR Bob Carder, the second of which gave the Breakers a 14-13 lead midway through the 4th qtr. Honolulu's final drive began with 4:08 on the clock and they used all of it to get in range for a game winning 24 yard FG by McInnis.
Invaders 9 Bulls 3
Oakland RB Ronald McDevitt ran for 133 yards with 58 more receiving to lead the Invaders into FG range 3 times. Robert Albertson made all 3 and the 9 points stood up for the win as the Oakland defense shut down the Jacksonville passing attack. Joseph Serio completed 18/36 for 87 yards with a sack and an INT for the Bulls, who actually converted 8/19 on 3rd down to just 2/11 for Oakland. The Bulls also had the ball nearly 10 minutes longer, but could not even reach the red zone once, as their drives started at their own 19 on average.
Stars 31 Wheels 17
Detroit hung with Baltimore, but their lack of running game (9 carries, 9 yards) hurt them in the end. Baltimore ran for 146 yards, led by Orville Barker's 102 and a TD. William Halford added the other 44 yards and was also the leading receiver with 2 catches for 85 yards and a score. John Warkentin was right behind him with 83 yards and a TD on 7 receptions as Baltimore wins their 2nd in a row.
Gold 42 Wranglers 12
Arizona was trying to climb over .500 but they had to play the winless defending champs , and the result was predictable. The Wranglers racked up 301 offensive yards and scored 4 times, albeit all FGs and the defense forced 5 Denver turnovers, but the rest of the news is bad for Arizona. In between the turnovers (2 INTs and 3 lost fumbles), Denver had 660 offensive yards, including 256 on the ground and they converted 5/7 3rd down opportunities en route to 6 scores, all TDs.
Denver was led by Andrew Brewer's 404 passing yards and 6 TDs, 4 going to Douglas Crowley, who caught 5 for 207 yards in all. RB Jake Peralta had a double triple, rushing for 128 yards on 16 carries and catching 9 passes for 106 yards and a score. RB Fredrick Whidden caught the other TD pass as part of his 2-58 yard receiving day while adding 71 rushing yards.
Showboats 23 Gunslingers 0
RB Erik McNamee ran 30 times for 129 yards and a score while QB Norman Maldonado passed for 204 yards with a TD and 0 INT to lead Memphis to 23 points today. It wasn't a great offensive showing but they held the ball for almost 40 minutes and the Memphis defense took away the offensive bullets of the Gunslingers. San Antonio finished the day with just 96 total yards, rushing 13 times for 10 yards and having 10 drives be three and out.
(NY) Stars 20 Stallions 3
Birmingham had the bad draw of facing a new GM in his first game, which makes game planning a crapshoot. New York had a twist on the old 3 yards and a cloud of dust, changing it to 2.47 yards and...The Stars ran the ball 44 times for just 107 yards, but QB Willie Bust was efficient and turnover free, finishing 16/21, 168 yards and a TD. RB Willie Hall had a combined 111 yards on 86 rushing yards and a TD to go with 25 receiving to pace the Stars skill players.
Thunderbolts 20 Sun 10
Tony Romo threw for 256 yards and 2 TDs with WR James Bull accounting for 117 yards and a score as Cleveland beat Southern California. Bobby Colley and Evan Hershey combined for 123 rushing yards and the Thunderbolts defense sacked Wilmer Kimble 5 times.
Force 24 Outlaws 10
Georgia and Oklahoma both had their RBBC in full swing. The Force had 3 rushers combine for 123 yards on 29 carries while the Outlaws had 6 RB combine for 163 yards on 43 carries. Georgia did fumble 4 times, losing 3 and the first one set up Oklahoma for a very short 5 yard TD drive and an early 10-0 lead. The Outlaws passing game didn't support the rushing effort as they had 96 yards all game through the air and they had 7 three and outs after the 10-0 lead. Georgia meanwhile, got 2 TD passes from Milton People to Matthew Taylor, who caught 3 in all for 103 yards. The second TD came early in the 4th, enabling the Force to take the lead 14-10, and they would go on to score 10 more points and the 17 point outburst allowed Georgia the come from behind victory.
Blitz 25 Express 16
We had both teams seeking their first win and Los Angeles held the lead at the half 13-9. Chicago scored first with a 54 yard Leon Rupe FG before William Mauriello found Robert Lott for a short TD pass and a 7-3 lead. Blitz QB Ronald Brown then found David Karim for a 73 yard TD and Chicago had a 9-7 lead after Rupe missed the XP. The Express then added a pair of FGs before the break, but the Blitz made the proper adjustments in the 2nd half. Chicago held Los Angeles to 30 yards and 3 points the final 15 minutes while the offense scored on 4 of it's 5 possessions to score their first win of 1993.
