Week 11 saw turmoil on and off the field, as the playoff race is heating up and we had some owner changes. We'll start with the off the field turmoil. Dluckyguess left Los Angeles, and one time Express owner mwd65 wanted his old franchise back. That would have left New Orleans open, but as luck would have it, slowtospeak was looking to join our league. Portland posted some bulletin board material about their playoffs starting now, but Seth has to be glad we're not in single elimination yet as Memphis hand the Storm a loss. Denver beat Oakland and now the Gold are tied with Portland atop the West at 8-3. Cleveland had a chance to put some distance between themselves and Michigan, but the Panthers were up to the challenge. Detroit beat Honolulu so that means we are back to a 3 way tie in the Midwest as the Wheels, Thunderbolts, and Panthers are all 9-2. South leaders Shreveport have now lost 2 in a row, but Georgia and Birmingham could not take advantage, losing as well. Two teams that didn't face turmoil are the 11-0 Baltimore Stars and the 10-1 Washington Federals, and league officials have to hope their Week 16 matchup ends up being the Sunday Night Game.
Stars 44 Maulers 0
While Baltimore is fighting for home field advantage, Pittsburgh is battling Arizona and Oklahoma for the #1 draft pick. The old saying "any given Sunday" did not apply as Baltimore dominated from start to finish. WR John Warkentin continues to miss action nursing an injury but Glenn Sprinkle stepped up in his absence, catching 9 passes for 259 yards and 3 TDs. QB Jon Snow threw for 404 yards, 5 TDs and 2 INTs while the Stars defense held Pittsburgh to exactly 200 yards.
Federals 31 Stallions 23
Birmingham got a 3 yard TD run by Francis Schultz and a 50 yard Marvin Benford TD pass to Theodore Turner, while the defense held Washington to a scoreless 80 yards as the Stallions took a 17-0 lead into halftime. The Federals got the ball to start the second half and punted again, but their next 4 drives went: TD, TD, TD, TD, as Washington took a 28-17 lead. Scott Bieber threw 2 TD passes to Ronald Matthews, then James Dunn ripped off a 69 yard TD run, then followed that up by catching a 22 yard TD pass from Bieber. Birmingham would get a Carl Jordan 5 yard TD run but the 2 point try failed, making the score 28-23 before Bazile added a FG for the 5th consecutive Washington scoring drive. Birmingham's last 2 possessions ended with an INT and turnover on downs as Washington gets a come from behind victory.
Panthers 21 Thunderbolts 7
Cleveland came into this game 9-1, thanks to a stingy defense and good ball security from Tony Romo, who only had 4 INTs all year. Michigan's defense is pretty stingy too, and they intercepted Romo 3 times and sacking him once for a safety. The Panthers offense scored the first 4 times they had the ball for a 16-0 lead, then they rode their defense to victory. Field position was huge, as Michigan P Napolean McQuaig pinned Cleveland inside their 20 on 5 of 7 punts and the average Thunderbolts drive started on their own 19. Michigan's average drive started at their 41, a whopping 22 yard difference.
Wheels 29 Hawaiians 13
Honolulu got RB Anthony Davis back for this game and he had a combined 145 yards and a receiving TD, which got the Hawaiians within 10-7 at halftime. Each team kicked a FG on their first second half drives before Derek Henry threw 2 passes to the Detroit defense, leading to 10 points as the Wheels increase their lead to 23-10 heading into the 4th. RB James Fischer had a 27 yard TD run in the 4th to put the game out of reach, enabling Detroit to improve to 9-1. Gabriel Flanagan completed 34/42, 363 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT as he is 6th in the league in passing yards.
Showboats 20 Storm 19
Seth and the Storm have got to be frustrated with this loss, as their defense was spot on save for 2 long pass plays that went for TDs, while the Portland offense settled for too many FGs and after one of them, the kick coverage unit allowed a 110 yard kick return to Omar Jenkins. Portland forced Norman Maldonado into 2 INTs on 15/33 passing, but he had a 75 yard pass to Thomas Ballard and the game winning 71 yarder to Eric Duncan inside the 2 minute warning as Memphis scores the upset. Prior to that, the Storm defense intercepted Maldonado inside the 2 minute warning, but the offense went 3 and out, taking just 20 seconds off the clock. Portland was able to try a last second 59 yard FG but the kick fell short.
Gold 15 Invaders 7
Oakland took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 12 plays, with Lemon Jefferson running the last 5 yards for a 7-0 Invaders lead. It was here that they decided to pull a Costanza and leave on a high note, nevermind there was still most of the game to play. The Invaders offense managed just 67 yards for the rest of the game, sacking Martin Greene 4 times, including once for a safety to pull the Gold within 7-2. Andrew Brewer's TD pass to Calvin Hoffman gave Denver the lead they would not relinquish and they rode the legs of Fredrick Whidden and Robert Deacon to victory. Whidden ran 22 times for 145 yards, leading to a pair of Robert Deacon FGs.
Gamblers 54 Outlaws 3
This game was never in doubt as Tony Dean threw 3 of his 6 TDs in the first quarter as Houston took a 20-0 lead and never let off the gas. The Gamblers scored on every first half drive except the last one when they were running out the clock, and the first 6 scores were touchdowns as they held a 44-0 halftime lead. In all, Houston converted a ridiculous 13/17 3rd downs and held the ball over 41 minutes. Tony Dean finished 32/39, 490 yards and 6 TDs, 4 to Daniel Franks who caught 5 in all for 143 yards. Hugh Chance also caught 5, for 106 yards and Lloyd Ellis had a combined 132 yards and caught Dean's other 2 TD passes.
Blazers 20 Bandits 12
Florida and Tampa Bay produced similar box scores, 308 yards for the Blazers, 302 for the Bandits, rushing yards almost dead even, passing yards almost even and pass completions actually were even at 24. Both QBs also threw an INT but Florida's Sidney Maggard only needed 29 attempts for his 24 completions and he tossed 2 TD passes, while Tampa Bay's Antonio Martinez was 24/44 and the Bandits offense had to settle for 4 Edward Walter FGs. That was enough for Florida's 6th straight victory.
Generals 20 Renegades 10
New Jersey didn't start the game well, as Don Ferguson threw an interception on the first drive, leading to an Orlando FG, then the Renegades drove 76 yards for a Jose Rush 9 yard TD run to give the Renegades an early 10-0 lead. The Generals offense slept walked through most of the first half until Ferguson found Duncan Meyer for a 95 yard TD pass and Orlando led 10-7 at the half. New Jersey's defense stiffened after the Renegades initial outburst, and despite struggling for yards, the Generals offense chipped away in the second half, finally putting the game away with 5 minutes left on the 2nd Ferguson to Meyer TD.
Bell 21 (NY) Stars 3
New York out gained Philadelphia 363-338 but 2 missed FGs and 2 lost fumbles prevented the Stars from scoring more than 3 points today. The first lost fumble happened on the first drive and the Bell took advantage of the short field and Joseph Serio's 6 yard TD pass to Craig Hines gave Philadelphia a 7-0 lead. Following a 3 and out for the New York offense, Philadelphia drove 73 yards and Jamie Epperson ran in the first of his 2 TD runs for a 14-0 lead. Epperson finished the game with 141 combined yards, 112 rushing. The red zone made the difference today as both teams made 3 trips inside the 20, with Philadelphia getting all 3 TDs while New York had 3 points.
SaberCats 33 Sun 3
San Jose is undefeated since pronfl51 took over and he actually got a TD from Mark Hsu after 11 games. It's been a rough year for Hsu, who set league records in receiving yards and TDs last season, but a stream of new owners have not been able to duplicate that. The SaberCats defense forced 3 INTs, had 2 sacks, kept Southern California from converting any 3rd downs in 11 tries, and kept them under 100 total yards. QB Jake Plummer was 17/20, 201 yards, 2 TDs and no sacks as he looks to be coming around after getting battered early in the season. San Jose kept the ball over 43 minutes and their RBBC ran 54 times for 151 yards as they now have sole possession of first in the Pacific.
Bulls 15 Force 8
Jacksonville got the ball first and kept it for over half the quarter, going 75 yards in 14 plays with Scott Randall's 2 yard TD run giving the Bulls a 7-0 lead. Georgia out gained Jacksonville 376-260, led by Milton People completing 26/37 for 271 yards and the Force RBBC ran for 114 yards on 27 carries. All of those yards produced just 2 FGs but the Georgia defense got a 4th quarter safety, sacking Derek Joyce in the end zone to take an 8-7 lead. It looked like Georgia was going to escape with the win after pinning the Bulls at their 14 with a punt, and Jacksonville had just 19 seconds to work with. Derek Joyce pulled a rabbit out of his hat, finding Leon Guiterrez for an 86 yard catch and run TD to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
Gunslingers 19 Wranglers 0
San Antonio didn't have a particularly good game, but they didn't need one considering Arizona started the worst of their 3 rookie QBs. They started Charles Trevino, whose accuracy rating is a pathetic 17/31 and probably has a better future as a plodding RB. The results were predictable as Trevino completed 2/35 with 2 INTs. San Antonio got a Russell Arroyo short TD run and 4 Benjamin Regalado FGs to post a 19-0 win.
Breakers 10 Hornets 3
Boston missed FG tries on their first 2 possessions before Adam Scales led a 13 play, 96 yard TD drive, with his 11 yard TD pass to Robert Nash being the only points the Breakers would need today. Charlotte QB Robert Ament completed 20/29 passes but for just 96 yards and an INT with 3 sacks allowed. After this, the teams combined for 2/3 FGs made, 1 for each team and a whole bunch of punts as Boston holds on for the win.
VooDoo 25 Steamer 9
Neither offense played that well as neither team could run. Shreveport ran for 46 yards on 23 carries while the VooDoo ran for 8 yards on 30 carries. New Orleans did score a TD on their opening drive as Joseph Jones found Richard Whipple for a 12 yard TD, and Jones followed that with a 22 yard TD pass to Brandon Ross after the defense intercepted George Marcil. The rest of the game saw each team make 3 FGs and the VooDoo defense sacked Marcil in the end zone for a safety as mwd65 wins his last game as New Orleans owner.
Blitz 30 Express 16
This box score was pretty even save for 2 differences that played a part in the outcome. For Chicago, RB John Gates ran for 89 yards and a TD, adding 56 receiving yards to lead the Blitz offense. Los Angeles had 93 rushing yards from Raymond Straight, 118 receiving yards and a TD from Sidney Chavis, and QB David Tavarez completed 24/30 for 227 yards to lead the Express. One of the differences was turnovers. Both QBs threw an INT, but Los Angeles also lost 2 fumbles which led to 10 Chicago points. The other difference was the red zone, where Chicago got 3 TDs and a FG in 4 trips while Los Angeles got FGs on all 3 of their trips. Add it all up and Chicago gets the victory.
