Baltimore had to come from behind in the second half to defeat Orlando and remain undefeated on the season. The Washington Federals remain hot on their heels at 9-1 as they not only won an important game against East leaders New Jersey, they handed the Generals their first shutout since the middle of the 1977 season. Philadelphia could not take advantage of the Generals loss as they were thumped by our defending champs Portland. Our 3 way tie in the Midwest has been broken as Cleveland beat Detroit to improve to 9-1 and sole possession of first as Michigan also lost. The Honolulu Hawaiians handed the Panthers that loss and they keep pace with San Jose atop the Pacific. Memphis won the rematch with Houston to pull within 1 game of the Gamblers in the Southwest and the Denver Gold beat Boston to remain 1 game behind Portland in the West. The Showboats and Gold are also currently 1 game behind Michigan and Detroit for the 2 wildcard spots. Shreveport saw their South lead trimmed to 2 games as the Steamer lost to New York while Georgia beat New Orleans. Last but not least is the Florida Blazers, who blew an 11 point first half lead before coming back in the second half to win their 5th in a row. Coupled with Tampa Bay's OT loss to Birmingham, the Blazers now have a 4 game lead with 6 to play.
Stars 24 Renegades 14
Baltimore might clean house in the training department this offseason unless they can prevent more injuries. The Stars were missing a few key players on both sides of the ball but they still have a healthy Jon Snow, and he led the Stars to a TD on their first possession with a 4 yard pass to Glenn Sprinkle. Orlando would answer with a Ben Dehaven 3 yard TD run and a 52 yard Trey Lyons TD pass to Eugene Barker as the Renegades took a 14-7 lead into halftime. The Stars defense stiffened in the second half and Jon Snow threw 2 more TD passes as the Stars came from behind to win.
Federals 18 Generals 0
Ex Washington QB Don Ferguson was looking for revenge against his old squad after they defeated New Jersey in last year's playoffs for the right to lose to Portland in World Bowl XX. Perhaps he wanted it too much as he had his worst game as the Generals starter, throwing 3 INTs as New Jersey suffers their first shutout since 1977. New Jersey turned the ball over 4 times in all and usually reliable K Al Borland missed his only FG attempt. Washington held a slim 9-0 lead for most of the second half until Scott Bieber connected with Matthew Cuevas for a 62 yard TD with under 3 minutes to play to seal the win for Washington.
Storm 63 Bell 6
Portland literally demolished any hopes Philadelphia had of tying New Jersey in the East with the lopsided victory today. Melvin Driggers completed 33/39, 446 yards, 7 TD and 1 INT. FB David Smith was the leading receiver, catching 9 for 186 yards and 2 TDs and WR Richard Robinson matched Smith's 9 receptions and 2 TDs, gaining 116 yards. RB Jose Moses also caught 2 TD passes and had 116 combined yards (62 rushing, 54 receiving). For good measure, Portland added a pair of defensive TDs as David Jacquez sacked Joseph Serio, causing a fumble which Robert Harvard scooped up and returned it 3 yards for one score and Raymond McDonald took a Serio INT 26 yards for the other TD.
Thunderbolts 31 Wheels 9
Cleveland won their 8th straight game despite their #1 ranked defense giving up 369 yards of offense. The Thunderbolts bent but did not break, intercepting 3 Gabriel Flanagan passes, recovering a fumble and keeping the Wheels out of the end zone.Tony Romo led the Cleveland offense with 4 TD passes on 21/26 passing for 263 yards. Not only is this Cleveland's 8th straight win, it's also their 8th straight game keeping their opponents under 10 points.
Hawaiians 26 Panthers 20
Michigan traveled to the Hawaiian Islands and they must have got a little too much sun, as their #3 ranked defense allowed 100 yards more than normal, although to be fair, they still held Honolulu below the 410 yards a game they average. That puts the Hawaiians 5th in total offense and they would likely have a better W-L record with better ball security, as they're 31st in turnover ratio. QB Derek Henry threw 3 INTs today but the Hawaiians defense countered that by doing the same to Michigan QB Larry Henderson. Michigan also lost a fumble and were held to 3/15 on 3rd down, but the Panthers managed a halftime lead of 13-9. Honolulu scored 17 unanswered points in the second half before Michigan cut the lead to 6. The Panthers last 2 drives went nowhere and Honolulu gets the win.
Showboats 37 Gamblers 21
It's not often you see a team with 477 offensive yards not reach the red zone or lose by double digits, but you also don't see Tony Dean throw 5 INTs often either. We saw all of that today though, including 428 yards and 3 TD passes from Dean as well, albeit in a losing effort. Memphis got rushing TDs from Erik McNamee and Steve Ransome, while QB Norman Maldonado threw a TD pass to Matthew Royster to lead the offense. Gary Ridgeway made 3 FGs and Curt Chou intercepted 4 passes, taking 1 to the house for six points.
Gold 24 Breakers 7
One week after a zero rush game, Denver ran it 40 times against Boston for 173 yards, scoring touchdowns the first 3 times they touched the ball. Fredrick Whidden ran for 114 yards and Douglas Crowley caught 9 passes for 109 yards and 2 TDs to pace the offense, while the Gold defense held the Breakers under 200 yards.
Blazers 27 Bulls 23
Florida QB Sidney Maggard threw 3 first half TD passes as the Blazers got out to a 21-10 lead. Just before halftime, Jacksonville cut it to 21-13, then they scored 10 more in the 3rd for a 23-21 lead. Florida retook the lead toward the end of the 3rd with a FG, then they added an insurance FG following a Jacksonville fumble and hung on for the win. William Merkel caught 10 for 104 yards and a TD while Ronald Kirby caught the other 2.
Stallions 33 Bandits 27 (OT)
Both teams had over 400 yards of offense and were on fire converting 3rd downs as Birmingham scored the last 16 points of the game to send it to overtime and win it. Tampa Bay QB Antonio Martinez threw for 359 yards and 3 TDs , with Richard Miller catching 7 for 139 yards and Darren Cotton caught 7 for 132 yards and 2 TDs as the Bandits had a 27-17 lead after 3 quarters. Marvin Benford threw for 281 yards and 3 TDs as Birmingham scored 10 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 27. Tampa Bay had a chance to win at the end of regulation but Edward Walter was wide right on a 37 yard FG try and we were headed to overtime.
Usually both teams get an offensive possession in OT, but nobody got one today, as Francis Schultz took the kickoff 107 yards for the walk off TD.
SaberCats 16 Blitz 3
Both teams had the running game working and the defenses were forcing turnovers in this ugly game. San Jose QB Jake Plummer managed not to get sacked today, but he still didn't fare very well, completing 14/22 with 3 INTs. Chicago's Ronald Brown also threw 3 and each team fumbled twice, with Chicago losing both and San Jose losing one. San Jose did get a rushing TD from Graham Peterson and their kicker won the FG contest 3-1.
(NY) Stars 23 Steamer 13
New York had a pair of first half FGs for a 6-0 lead before George Marcil briefly gave Shreveport a 7-6 lead with a short TD pass to Thomas Whitley. It didn't take Damien Oleary long to answer with the first of his 2 TD passes of the quarter. That gave the Stars a 20-7 lead after 3 and they held on in the 4th for the win. Oleary finished with 317 yards and 2 TD passes while RB William Hall had 128 combined yards and a receiving TD.
Force 21 VooDoo 9
Milton People threw 3 TD passes, 2 to Willard Brekke as Georgia wins a divisional game against New Orleans. Brekke finished with 4 catches, 140 yards and 2 scores. New Orleans had just 1 less yard than Georgia and they each had 1 turnover and scored 3 times, but while the Force put the ball in the end zone for their 3 scores, the VooDoo settled for 3 FGs.
Express 27 Sun 26
Los Angeles and Southern California put on quite an aerial display today, combining for 66/89 passing, 812 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT and 2 sacks with 15 3rd down conversions in 27 tries. Sun QB Gary Wiggins completed 44/63, 373 yards and 2 TDs as Southern California built a 20-3 lead. Los Angeles QB David Tavarez completed 22/26, 439 yards and 3 TDs on the day and his first 2 got the Express within 3 points early in the 4th. The Sun then kicked 2 FGs to 1 for Los Angeles for a 6 point lead with under 2 minutes to play. Tavarez then led Los Angeles 75 yards in 7 plays, connecting with Milton Pearce for the game winning 38 yard TD pass.
Gunslingers 35 Outlaws 26
San Antonio jumped out to a 17-0 1st quarter lead thanks to a Charlie Shanks TD plunge, a Robert Fanelli TD pass to Eugene Bufkin and a FG. Oklahoma got a Gene Collins 2 yard TD run to pull within 17-7 at the half but the Gunslingers scored the only 3 points of the 3rd for a 20-7 lead entering the 4th. Early in the 4th, Richard Hall intercepted Robert Fanelli, returning it 10 yards for a score. Fanelli got it back though, with a 25 yard TD pass to Thomas Davila. Oklahoma didn't take that laying down, as they immediately respond with a 75 yard TD pass from John Crisp to Carl Hunt, but the XP was no good, making the score 28-20 San Antonio. The Outlaws defense forced a three and out but the offense turned it over on downs, setting up a short field for the Gunslingers. San Antonio would score the clinching TD on a Russell Arroyo 10 yard TD run. John Crisp threw another TD pass to make it 35-26, but the 2 point try was no good, as was the onside kick, allowing San Antonio to escape with the win.
Invaders 13 Wranglers 9
Arizona scored first on a 4 yard TD pass by Brian Carmichael to Michael Jones. For some reason, WLB Curtis Prevatte attempted the XP and missed it. Prevatte also missed a FG attempt while real K Jimmy Hoyle made 1/2 for the game. That FG gave the Wranglers a 9-0 lead at the half. Oakland got a 3 yard TD run from Scott Stillings in the 3rd and 2 Lawrence Linville FGs gave the Invaders a late, 13-9 lead. Arizona had the chances to come back from that, but their last 3 possessions ended INT, INT, and downs.
Hornets 10 Maulers 9
Not much offense to talk about as the teams played a scoreless first half. They exchanged FGs in the 3rd and TDs in the 4th. Charlotte struck first as Robert Ament found Edward Conley for a 71 yard TD pass for a 10-3 Hornets lead. Will Allison fired a 7 yard TD pass to David Plante with less than 5 minutes to play but the XP was no good, making the score 10-9 Charlotte. Pittsbugh had plenty of time ti drive for a FG but they never crossed midfield
