We started this week with 8 undefeated teams, and when the dust settled, we were down to 4. We also had half of this week's games decided by one score or less, about as many as we've had the first 3 weeks combined. Houston is one of the 4 remaining unbeaten teams, and they have a ridiculous point differential so far. The Gamblers have scored a league high 170 points and allowed just 27, good for a +143 differential, almost 36 points a game. One thing the undefeated teams have in common is not allowing a lot of points. Michigan has allowed 24, Baltimore 27 and Washington 23.
Gamblers 31 Wranglers 0
Houston is off to a fantastic start in 1994 and they wasted no time getting off to a fantastic start in this game as Daniel Franks returned the opening kickoff 101 yards for a TD. Tony Dean also threw 2 of his 3 TD passes to Jett Black before the end of the quarter and Arizona was in an early 21-0 hole. The Wranglers had trouble moving the ball all game long, finishing with 85 total yards, although they lost 79 yards allowing 9 sacks. Houston RB Donald Turner had 125 combined yards but all the TDs went to Jett Black, who caught 5 for 94 yards and 3 TDs.
Panthers 16 Showboats 12
Memphis out gained Michigan 341-201 and both teams committed 3 turnovers, but Michigan scored the game's only TD and Showboats K Gary Ridgeway missed 2 FGs to allow Michigan to remain undefeated. Memphis got the ball first but Ridgeway missed his first FG attempt, then Larry Henderson drove the Panthers 57 yards in 4 plays, getting the TD on a 25 yard pass to Harvey Williams. Memphis then went on a 12-0 run on 4 Ridgeway FGs to take a 12-7 lead into the 4th. The final 15 minutes belonged to Michigan though, as Jonathan Ruch made 3 FGs for the come from behind win.
Stars 40 Hawaiians 3
Baltimore allowed 393 total yards but they forced Honolulu into 4 turnovers and 0/12 on 3rd down, while the Stars offense put up 652 yards of their own, opening up a tight game by winning the second half 30-0. Honolulu QB Derek Henry threw for 311 yards with an INT but no scores and RB Anthony Davis had a combined 180 yards, including 105 receiving but all those yards netted just 3 points. Baltimore led 10-3 at the half thanks to a Jon Snow TD pass to John Warkentin and a Fred Boyce FG. The Stars opened the game up by scoring on their first 2 drives of the second half, both on long Jon Snow TD passes to Glenn Sprinkle covering 87 and 93 yards respectively. Snow would add two more TD passes of 80+ yards in the 4th qtr, including one on the last play of the game. Snow finished 24/34, 592 yards and 5 TDs, and he produced 3 100 yard receivers: Sprinkle (6-192-2), Warkentin (3-170-2) and Jeffrey Zimmer (3-120-1).
Federals 40 VooDoo 3
Washington and Baltimore are tied atop the Atlantic with identical 4-0 records and this week, they even posted an identical score, winning by the same 40-3 margin. Odd. The Federals didn't quite win with big plays like the Stars, but they won big all the same. Washington forced 4 turnovers, 3 interceptions and they held New Orleans to 139 yards. CB Jeffery Welch intercepted 2 of those passes, returning one 14 yards for a TD. QB Scott Bieber threw 3 first half TDs as Washington led 21-0 at halftime. RB Robert Trammell had a combined 146 yards, rushing for 69 yards and a TD while catching 11 for 77 yards.
Gold 20 Storm 17 (OT)
It took nearly 5 quarters to decide this game, but Denver outlasted Portland to hand the Storm their first loss of the season, tying up the West in the process. It was a tight knit game all the way with Portland scoring first on a 38 yard pass from Melvin Driggers to Jeffrey Frost. Denver answered with a 2 yard Andrew Brewer TD pass to Frederick Barron. Driggers answered back with a 4 yard TD pass to David Smith before Brewer connected with Barron again, this time for a 21 yard TD to tie the game at 14. A short time later, Denver intercepted Driggers, setting up a tiebreaking FG but Portland answered that midway through the 4th.
Denver got the ball to start OT and they punted, as did Portland on their possession. On 2nd down, Brewer found Brian Thornton for a 71 yard catch and run that got the ball down to the Storm 3 yard line and Robert Deacon nailed the chip shot game winning FG on the next play.
Steamer 7 Wheels 3
Detroit came into the game 3-0, but the Shreveport defense held the Wheels to 232 yards, forced 2 turnovers and had 2 sacks. The Steamer offense only had 214 yards but they did not turn the ball over and they were able to put the ball in the end zone once, which was enough to eke out a 7-3 victory to give Shreveport an early 2 game lead on the rest of the South. George Marcil's 5 yard TD pass to Jeffrey Morris in the 2nd qtr was the scoring play and the defense did the rest, getting an interception on Detroit's last drive to secure the win.
Bandits 23 Blazers 13
Tampa Bay QB Antonio Martinez completed less than 50% of his passes but he threw a TD pass and did not turn the ball over and the Bandits defense did the rest. Tampa Bay held the Blazers to 234 total yards, intercepting a pass, recovering a fumble, and recorded 3 sacks. The Bandits held a slim 16-13 lead as the 2 minute warning approached when the defense came up with the play of the game. Florida had the ball inside their own 5 when Michael Dickenson fumbled and Edward Walter fell on the ball in the end zone for the TD that sealed Florida's first loss of the season.
Generals 39 Bell 23
Philadelphia was 3-0 coming into this game, and if they could beat New Jersey they would have control of the East. New Jersey got the ball first, and were forced to punt. Barry Larkin caused Jay Carlisle to fumble and Nuke LaLoosh recovered, setting up a 7 yard Don Ferguson TD pass to Eric Davis. Carlisle would make up for that by running in a TD from 7 yards to tie the game at 7. The Generals then went on a 17-0 run thanks to a pair of Ferguson TD passes before Philadelphia closed out the first half with a FG as New Jersey took a 24-10 lead into the locker room. Philadelphia tried to fight back but they had 4 turnovers in all while only getting 1 takeaway on defense and the Generals grinder offense and Al Borland's leg (6/6 FGs) took their toll as New Jersey forces a tie with the Bell atop the East.
Thunderbolts 36 Stallions 3
Birmingham scored first, then the Cleveland defense took over, allowing Tony Romo to go to work. The first 2 Thunderbolts TDs were short runs by Bobby Colley, then Tony Romo found Mark Howe for a pair of TD passes, one just before halftime, the other right after. K Carlos Reed missed the XP after the last TD but he made 3 FGs after as Cleveland improves to 3-1. Romo finished 25/30, 286 yards and 2 TDs.
SaberCats 20 Express 13
San Jose QB Jake Plummer bounced back from his miserable start to 1994, completing 23/32, 249 yards and 2 TDs. It's taken a few weeks for the SaberCats to get used to a more balanced offensive approach, and to his credit, all world WR Mark Hsu has yet to publicly voice his displeasure at his lack of targets/counting stats. The San Jose defense forced 2 Los Angeles turnovers and held the Express to 239 total yards as San Jose now sits alone atop the Pacific with a 2-2 record.
Sun 20 Maulers 16
Pittsburgh and Southern California both came into this game 0-3, so someone was coming out of it with their first win of 1994. The Sun scored first with a FG and they forced the Maulers to punt on the next drive, but Victor Smith fumbled the punt away, allowing Pittsburgh to tie the game at 3. The Maulers went on to add a Will Allison TD pass to Franklin Cherry for 66 yards and a FG to take a 13-3 lead in the 2nd qtr. Southern California QB Gary Wiggins finished the game 14/31, 254 yards and 2 TDs, and if you take away the scores, he had 84 yards on 12 completions. Wiggins' 96 yard TD pass to Joseph Baker got the Sun within 13-10 at the half and each team kicked a FG in the 3rd for a score of 16-13 Pittsburgh entering the 4th. The Maulers wish games were 45 minutes today, as the final 15 did not work out well for Pittsburgh. First they missed a FG, then they punted. Their 3rd drive saw them get to the doorstep of the red zone before a James Godoy fumble gave the ball back to the Sun. One play later, Wiggins found Gene Ingram for a 74 yard catch and run TD that gave the Sun the lead for good.
Force 13 Blitz 9
Not a whole lot of offense to talk about in this game, as they held a FG contest in the first half, with both teams making 2 for a 6-6 tie. Georgia QB Milton People threw a 33 yard TD pass in the 3rd qtr to Matthew Taylor for the game's only TD. Chicago cut the lead to 4 with a FG early in the final quarter, but their next drive resulted in an interception and their last 2 drives went nowhere, as Georgia gets off the schneid for their first win of 1994.
Breakers 27 Invaders 6
Oakland out gained Boston 328-283, but the Invaders missed 2 FGs and had the game's only turnover as Boston gets their first win of the season. Ralph Harris got the scoring underway with a 2 yard TD reception from Adam Scales and the halftime score was 10-6 Breakers. In the 3rd, Scales threw his second 2 yard TD pass of the game, this one to Christopher Griffey for a 17-6 lead. Boston would add a FG before Ralph Harris closed out the scoring with a 38 yard TD run. Scales finished the game 13/16, 100 yards and 2 TDs and the Breakers RBBC carried 36 times for 183 yards.
Bulls 27 Hornets 22
Jacksonville scored TDs on their first 3 possessions for a 20-0 lead on Charlotte after 15 minutes of action. The Hornets punted on every first half drive except their last, when the clock ran out on them. Jacksonville QB Derek Joyce was 23/32, 343 yards and 4 TDs, but his 3rd qtr INT set Charlotte up for a FG to finally dent the scoreboard. Charlotte would add another TD before Jacksonville finally answered with a TD of their own. Charlotte would go on to score 2 more TDs to pull within 27-22 but they only had 19 seconds left after their last score and Jacksonville hangs on for the win. Bulls rookie WR Leon Gutierrez had another big game, catching 5 for 163 yards and 2 TDs.
(NY) Stars 10 Renegades 9
Damien Oleary got New York on the board with a 13 yard TD pass to Albert Olson late in the first quarter for a 7-0 Stars lead. Orlando RB Ben Dehaven tried to keep Orlando in the game, finishing with 143 combined yards, but neither he nor his teammates could crack the end zone today. The Renegades did manage 3 FGs from Scott Mueller to take a 9-7 lead which they held onto for most of the 4th. With 1:49 to play, New York took over on their own 20 and Oleary drove New York into position for an Ed Jetton 50 yard game winning FG as time expired.
Gunslingers 40 Outlaws 13
Is Oklahoma even trying? It's my bad, I just now noticed the Outlaws have not had an actual placekicker all season, instead using a WR to kick. He is 3/7, but this isn't going to fly any longer. San Antonio QB Robert Fanelli threw 3 TD passes and their actual kicker, Benjamin Regalado made all 8 of his kicks, 4/4 FGs and 4/4 XP. The Gunslingers defense intercepted John Crisp twice as San Antonio improves to 2-2 on the season.
