Week 8: Down to 3 Unbeatens

We almost made it to a possible 9-0 vs 9-0 game in a couple weeks but Denver beat San Jose to give the SaberCats their first loss of 1995. It should still be an entertaining game when they host Houston, but at most just one team will be undefeated. Houston, Orlando, and Washington all won to keep the zero in the loss column and the Federals enjoy a 4 game lead on Baltimore. Could Baltimore be getting their mojo back? One week after a comeback win over New Jersey, the Stars hang 73 on Charlotte and find themselves 4-4, right in the middle of the wildcard race. A lot of other things happened in Week 8 and the playoff races should be exciting, so let's check out the action.

Gamblers 48 Blitz 20

Tony Dean and the Gamblers offense got out to a 24-0 lead and the leaky defense gave up a lot of yards, but never let Chicago get closer than 13 the rest of the game. Tony Dean threw for 357 yards and 5 TDs, with Hugh Chance catching 7 for 170 yards and 2 scores. Chicago was able to run for 214 yards with John Gates leading the way with 148 and a TD, but Houston ran the ball almost as well. The Gamblers rushed for 231 yards, but they had 5 more carries than the Blitz for a slightly lower yards per carry. Houston was led on the ground by Lloyd Ellis, who had 143 yards and a TD on only 9 carries. Donald Turner did the heavy lifting, carrying 16 times for 62 yards and adding 83 yards and a TD on 7 catches. Houston's next 3 games are against Memphis, San Jose, and Memphis again. It's party time.

Federals 26 Force 13

Washington got out to a 10-0 lead after 1 quarter on a John Bazile FG and a short James Dunn TD run. The 2nd quarter belonged to Georgia as Thomas Jacobi fired 2 TD passes, but just 1 XP was good as the Force led 13-10 at the half. Washington struggled on offense all game long, especially Robert Trammell and the running game. Trammell rushed 25 times for 17 yards, with 2 yards on 3 catches. It was revealed after the game he had a serious foot injury, so that was a likely factor in his performance. The 3rd quarter saw just a John Bazile FG and we were knotted at 13 for the 4th. The Federals defense did a great job of shutting down the Georgia offense after their 2nd quarter outburst, and they forced a fumble toward the end of the 4th. Scott Bieber immediately found James Larson for the game winning 38 yard TD. Georgia's next 2 drives were 4 and outs, turnover on downs, and Bazile added a FG after each one for the final margin as Washington remains unbeaten.

Renegades 17 Blazers 3

Orlando got 287 yards and a TD from QB Trey Lyons and the Renegades defense held Florida to exactly 200 as they win for the eighth time in eight tries. Orlando got a FG on their opening drive, then had a 15 play, 83 yard drive for a TD that took nearly half the 2nd quarter. Rookie RB Anthony Milan capped that drive with a 1 yard TD run to give the Renegades a 10-0 lead they would hold until mid 4th quarter. That's when the Blazers finally got on the scoreboard with a FG, but Lyons answered on the next drive with a 35 yard TD pass to Jesse Carr and Florida's final 2 drives ended on downs.

Gold 25 SaberCats 22

Denver and San Jose are serious playoff contenders, and the TV networks can only hope January football is full of games like this. We had 5 lead changes, 778 offensive yards and 10 scoring plays. San Jose dominated the action, possessing the ball for 36:36, had 26 first downs to 8 for the Gold, out gained Denver 421 to 357, had 4 red zone trips to 1 for Denver, and converted 7/18 3rd downs while Denver was 3/12. Denver won the game however, by forcing FGs instead of allowing TDs while also hitting big plays on offense. Jake Plummer was 25/42, 357 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT with 3 sacks allowed, while the yards were spread out among several players. Andrew Brewer was just 14/25, 269 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT while his favorite target was once again Douglas Crowley, who caught 4 for 196 yards and all 3 Brewer TD passes. 

San Jose scored first for a 3-0 lead before Denver scored 2 TDs to take a 14-3 lead after 1. The 2nd qtr belonged to San Jose, as they scored 13 unanswered points for a 16-14 halftime lead. Each team kicked a FG in the 3rd, with Denver going first to retake the lead, but of course the SaberCats FG gave it back and San Jose led after 3, 19-17. That lead was increased to 22-17 with under 5 minutes to play, but Brewer to Crowley TD #3 on the next drive gave Denver a 23-22 lead and Fredrick Whidden ran it in for 2 points. Plummer had plenty of time to drive for the tie or win, and the SaberCats had a 1st and goal from the 9. Plummer completed a pass down to the 2, but the Gold were flagged for pass interference, so they opted to accept the penalty to make it first and goal from the 2. On first down, Plummer was sacked by Walter Pearson, second down David Squires sacked him. Now they faced 3rd and goal from the 20 and Jerry Hyder got the game clinching INT for Denver, handing San Jose their first loss of the season.

Storm 38 Hawaiians 6

Portland and Honolulu continued going opposite directions today as the Storm win handily for their 5th straight win, while the Hawaiians lost their 6th straight after a 2-0 start. Honolulu did not turn the ball over, but the Portland defense was stingy with the yards, allowing 245 on the day. The Hawaiians defense did a good job against the Storm running game but they had no answer for Melvin Driggers on this day. Driggers finished 33/39, 436 yards and 5 TDs, 2 to Richard Robinson. Jeffrey Frost didn't score today but he had a combined 180 yards to help set up his teammates. Frost had 61 rushing yards to lead the committee and he led the receivers with 119 yards on 5 catches. 

Panthers 12 Thunderbolts 3

Michigan continued to be the toughest team in the league to score against, as they've allowed just 84 points in 8 games, 21 less than 2nd place San Jose and Washington. Offensively, the Panthers still need some work, especially in the red zone. Michigan out gained Cleveland 319-210, but only converted 1/15 3rd downs and were 0/4 in the red zone, settling for FGs each time. The Panthers defense intercepted Tony Romo 4 times, and a few more games like this and the MFN Romo might follow his real life namesake into the announcing booth. Neither team could crack the end zone, but the 4 red zone FGs by Michigan were more than enough to beat the Thunderbolts today.

Generals 48 Maulers 7

The last 3 games for Pittsburgh have been close, one score games, and they've won the last 2 where the game script was a tale of 2 halves. New Jersey still leads the East, but the Generals were pretty salty about giving up a 17 point lead and losing to Baltimore last week and they took it out on the Maulers today. Defensively they held Will Allison to 17/37, 140 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT and sacked him 4 times, shutting the Maulers out until the 4th quarter when they had a 38-0 lead. Offensively, New Jersey had it working today, except on 3rd down, where they converted just 3/12. RB David Koresh ran for 109 yards and caught 9 passes for 55 more yards and 3 TDs. Don Ferguson threw 6 TDs in all against 1 INT, completing 37/54 for 362 yards. WR Duncan Meyer caught 5 for 137 yards and 2 scores to lead the receivers.

Steamer 10 Stallions 7

Shreveport had 2 long drives in the first half, one ending on a Jeffrey Morris 2 yard TD run and the other with a FG as the Steamer took a 10-0 lead into halftime. Birmingham came out of the locker room and it seemed like they had the ball the entire 3rd quarter, as they took the second half kickoff and drove 75 yards in 15 plays, taking 9:10 off the clock. Willie Benge got the short TD pass to Joseph Oliver and the Stallions trailed 10-7. The end of the game saw bad FG kicking as Birmingham's Gonzalo Burgess was wide left on a potential 37 yard tying FG and Shreveport's Jeffrey Smith was wide right from 44 on the next drive. Time was running out at this point, but Benge had Birmingham in FG range again, albeit a 54 yard try, and Burgess was short. Shreveport ran the last 1:12 off the clock for the victory that ties them for first in the South with Georgia.

Express 20 Sun 6

Los Angeles demoralized Southern California early, then the defense ended a late rally for the division victory. David Tavarez led the Express on a 15 play, 75 yard game opening drive that ended with a short TD pass to Corey Gibbons. That drive took 9:03 off the clock, then the Los Angeles defense got Tavarez the ball back with an INT. Juan Nichols had a short TD run for a 14-0 Express lead. The defense intercepted Gary Wiggins again on the second drive and turned that into 3 points for a 17-0 lead. Fast forward to the 4th and the Express now led 20-6 but Wiggins had the Sun inside the red zone, looking to cut the deficit. Interception #3 happened though, and Los Angeles wins.

Showboats 32 Outlaws 16

The first half of this game was tight, as Memphis kicked 2 FGs for an early 6-0 lead before Oklahoma tied it on a short John Crisp TD pass to Clarence Murphy and a missed XP. The Showboats got 3 before half for a 9-6 lead at the break, which was no break since the coach spent the entire time chewing rear ends. Whatever was said, it worked as Norman Maldonado throws 3 TD passes in the half, including 2 long ones to Thomas Ballard covering 76 and 82 yards. In all, Memphis went on a 26-0 run after the Outlaws tied the game at 6 before Oklahoma scored 10 late points for a closer final margin. Maldonado finished 25/41, 417 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT and Thomas Ballard caught 3 for 193 yards and 2 scores. RB Steve Ransome didn't score but he had a combined 221 yards, rushing for 164 and catching 3 for 57 yards. Memphis gets division rival Houston 2 of the next 3 weeks.

Stars 73 Hornets 10

Baltimore struggled early in the season, but if they rebound to make the playoffs, last weeks come from behind win against New Jersey is the likely catalyst. Jon Snow was on a roll to end that game and that continued against Charlotte today as he ties a regular season league record with 10 TD passes. 

  The above is the list of QBs who have thrown 9 or 10 TD passes in a single game. The overall record I don't like to speak about, because Birmingham's David Schmitt threw 11 against my Generals in the 1985 playoffs. Back to today, and Jon Snow completed 34/40, 685 yards, 10 TD passes and 0 INT. John Warkentin caught 8 for 326 yards and 4 TDs and Glenn Sprinkle caught 8 for 170 and 3 scores. The only possible negative is bad blood between these division rivals as Snow kept throwing in the 4th qtr, getting 5 TDs after already being ahead 38-7 after 3.

Bandits 33 Bulls 7

I think if given a choice, Tampa Bay would like to see this Antonio Martinez every week. Martinez seems to have some Brett Favre in him, with his big arm trying to force passes and getting some picked off, yet still capable of going off for a ton of yards. Martinez was 21/35, 231 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT, and having a productive running game took some pressure off as well. Charles Granier ran for 71 yards to lead the bandits RBBC that gained 179, and that success was the key to victory. Derek Joyce matched Martinez yard for yard but the Bulls ran for just 24 yards and Tampa Bay went on a 26-0 run after Jacksonville tied the game at 7.

Breakers 17 VooDoo 7

Each team punted on their opening drive before each team's second drive combined to take 17:21 off the clock. New Orleans started their second drive on their own 10, and Joseph Jones led an 18 play, 90 yard scoring drive that took 11:10 off the clock. The 18th play was a 3 yard Jones TD pass to Charles Danielson for a 7-0 New Orleans lead. Boston and Adam Scales answered with an 11 play, 74 yard TD drive that took 6:11 off the clock. RB Ralph Harris finished the drive with a 5 yard TD run. The first half would end 7-7, then Adam Scales threw a 7 yard TD pass to Emanuel Adams on the first drive of the second half for a 14-7 Breakers lead. New Orleans had chances to tie, but Joseph Jones threw two 4th qtr INTs in Breakers territory and Boston hangs on to even their record at 4-4.

Bell 13 (NY) Stars 9

I have spent some time talking about the New York playmakers, and deservedly so, but Philadelphia has some of their own. Scoring was at a premium today, but yards were plenty as New York QB Damien Oleary completed 30/43, 279 yards, Albert Olson caught 10 for 92 yards and RB William Hall had a combined 105 yards, but the Bell defense came up big in the red zone, allowing just 2 FGs and forcing a fumble in the Stars 3 trips. That fumble was huge, as it came with 1:09 left as the Stars were closing in on the potential game winning TD. Philadelphia trailed 9-3 at the half, but Joseph Serio gave Philadelphia the lead in the 3rd when he found Craig Hines for a 35 yard TD. A FG early in the 4th extended the lead to 13-9, forcing New York to get the ball in the end zone on their last minute fumble drive. RB Jamie Epperson led the Bell offense with 157 combined yards, 76 rushing and 81 receiving.

Invaders 20 Wranglers 7

Arizona got the ball first and drove 75 yards in 11 plays with Robert Woolford getting a short TD run for a 7-0 Wranglers lead. Andrew Moreno led Oakland on a 75 yard drive and they answered the score with a Ronald McDevitt 2 yard run. Oakland then intercepted Brian Carmichael and the Invaders took the lead on Frederick Barron's 1 yard TD run. A 2nd qtr FG gave Oakland a 17-7 lead, then the Arizona defense settled down, allowing just 3 points the rest of the game that was set up by a lost fumble. Officially, Arizona had 4 turnovers, a pair of INTs in the first half and a pair of lost fumbles in the second, but they also turned it over on downs twice in the 4th.

Wheels 21 Gunslingers 17

Detroit got the ball first and drove 75 yards in 11 plays, taking 8:09 off the clock as Carlton Allen's 1 yard TD run gave the Wheels a 7-0 lead. Four punts later and it was San Antonio's turn for a long drive, going 88 yards in 13 plays, taking 7:50 off the clock. They tied the game on an 8 yard TD pass to Charlie Shanks. A Gabriel Flanagan fumble on a sack gave the Gunslingers an immediate first and goal situation and Randy Leger finished this drive with a 1 yard TD run. Detroit tied it in the 3rd on a 90 yard catch and run TD pass to Carlton Allen before San Antonio took another 7:12 off the clock with a 14 play, 57 yard FG drive to give the Gunslingers a 17-14 lead. Gabriel Flanagan then threw what turned out to be a meaningless INT as San Antonio punted it back still leading. Some punts happened, then Fanelli threw an INT to give Detroit the ball 16 yards away from paydirt. Three plays later, Carlton Allen scored his 3rd TD, 2nd rushing to give Detroit the lead. The Gunslingers had plenty of time left, but turned it over on downs and the Wheels ran out the clock for the victory. 

 

Week 7: The Champs and 3 Others Still Undefeated

 Now that every team has a win this season, we can concentrate on which team will be the last to lose. Defending Champion Houston are now 7-0 after winning a shootout against New York. The San Jose SaberCats are also 7-0 after today's victory over Birmingham, and they host the Gamblers in Week 10. The Washington Federals have been the best National Conference team the last 2+ seasons, and they struggled against a feisty Arizona team, but they survive to go 7-0. Orlando has not won 10 or more games since finishing 11-5 in 1988, but the Renegades beat the Blitz today to run their record to 7-0 and double digit wins seem just a matter of time.

Gamblers 43 (NY) Stars 31

Houston has been struggling on defense lately, so it wasn't a good time to face the dangerous triplets of New York. The Gamblers really focused on stopping Oleary and Olson as they allowed the Stars to rush for 239 yards on 24 carries as a team, with William Hall gaining 181 yards and 1 of 2 New York rushing scores. Hall also returned a kickoff 102 yards for a score. Albert Olson got his in the passing game, catching 8 for 128 and a TD, but overall, Oleary and the passing game struggled. Oleary finished 22/51, 185 yards, 1 TD and 5 INTs. Predictably, Tony Dean and the Gamblers offense made them pay as Dean completed 31/47, 384 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. Hugh Chance caught 6 for 151 yards and a TD to lead the receivers while RB Donald Turner had a combined 143 yards (87 rushing) and a rushing TD as Houston got out to a 17-0 lead and never let the Stars get closer than 10 the rest of the game.

SaberCats 48 Stallions 13

San Jose continues to look like one of, if not the best team in the league, especially these last 5 weeks. QB Jake Plummer is 2nd in passing yards to New Jersey's Don Ferguson, but Plummer has 76 less completions and a stellar QBR of 143.09. The #2 in QBR is Tony Dean at 120.55. Plummer's TD/INT ratio is 24/3 and his YPC is 2.5 yards better than anyone else at 11.48. Today, Birmingham tried to keep up, and the Stallions had 333 offensive yards, but Plummer and the SaberCats scored early and often en route to another blowout win. San Jose "only" ran for 130 yards but they had 3 TDs on the ground, 2 by David Hartwig, and he led the RBBC with 64 yards. Hartwig also caught 3 passes for 84 yards, giving him a combined 148, but the story today was Plummer and Mark Hsu. Plummer completed 22/32, 441 yards and 3 TDs, 2 to Mark Hsu, who hauled in 5 for 148 yards in all. 

Federals 13 Wranglers 3

Arizona is no longer one of the worst teams in the league, but the Wranglers have a way to go before they're ready to play with the big boys. There is no shame in losing to Denver, Portland, or Washington, and defensively, Arizona hung with the Federals, holding them to 284 total yards and 13 points. Offensively was a different story as the Washington defense stifled the Wranglers, allowing just 146 total yards. Washington had a lot of grind it out drives, as veteran QB Scott Bieber completed 25/33, 204 yards and a TD to Matthew Cuevas, while the running game gained just 2.5 ypc on 36 rushes. Five of Arizona's 9 drives were 3 and out and the Federals win the defensive struggle.

Renegades 33 Blitz 14

Orlando QB Trey Lyons completed 28/40, 285 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT to lead the Renegades to their 7th victory of the season. WR Roger Bostic caught 6 passes for 115 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Renegades skill players. Defensively, Orlando allowed Ronald Brown 2 TD passes to his favorite receiver Ian Gordon, but they also intercepted Brown 4 times. Orlando led 24-7 at the half and the Blitz could not get closer than 13 the rest of the game.

Storm 52 Sun 13

Portland did a lot of great things today, but ball security wasn't one of them, neither was punting. The Storm never punted, as every drive ended with either a score, a turnover, or the end of a half. It's probably a good thing for Southern California that Melvin Driggers threw 4 INTs and Jose Moses lost a fumble, otherwise Portland would have scored 80 or more. The Sun actually scored first, taking advantage of a short field after interception #1 with a Mark Littlejohn 4 yard TD run. Portland scored the next 28, thanks to 3 Driggers TD passes, 2 to Richard Robinson, and a rushing TD. Driggers finished the game 32/41, 476 yards, 5 TDs and 4 INTs. The Storm rushed for 244 yards as a team to give them 720 total yards today, while allowing the Sun 94. Portland's defense forced no turnovers but allowed just 2/15 on 3rd down and sacked Gary Wiggins 5 times. Jeffrey Frost had a monster game with a double triple. Frost ran 16 times for 135 yards and a TD, adding 10 catches for 224 yards and a TD. Frost's 359 total yards are the 2nd most in the league in 1995, 90 yards behind the 449 New York's Albert Olson put up earlier. 

Panthers 20 Outlaws 3

Michigan pretty much won this game in the 2nd quarter. Oklahoma scored a FG on the opening drive for a 3-0 lead, then we saw several punts, and Michigan started a 2nd qtr drive from just outside their own goal line. Nine plays and 100 yards later, Larry Henderson found Kevin Terry for a 21 yard TD pass to take the lead for good. Michigan All Pro LB Miguel Lamar then intercepted John Crisp to set up a 10 yard Walter Simmons TD run and a 14-3 lead. Jonathan Ruch added a pair of FGs in the second half and the Panthers defense took care of the rest as Michigan increased their Midwest lead to 2 games.

Stars 37 Generals 34

Baltimore is having a rough 1995 and New jersey started this game like they wanted to bury the Stars, jumping out to a 24-7 lead thanks to a pair of Don Ferguson TD passes and a Kurt Cobain TD run. Jon Snow brought Baltimore back with a 63 yard TD pass to John Warkentin before Al Borland's 2nd FG gave New Jersey a 27-14 halftime lead. In the second half, Jon Snow led a 23-0 Stars run with 3 TD passes to take a 10 point 4th quarter lead. Ferguson got the Generals within 3 on a 75 yard catch and run TD pass to Kurt Cobain, but New Jersey's last 2 drives were turnover on downs as Baltimore hangs on for the come from behind win. Jon Snow completed 23/44, 351 yards, 5 TDs and 2 INTs. John Warkentin announced his presence with authority, catching 8 balls for 258 yards and 3 TDs. For New Jersey, both RBs were productive as Kurt Cobain rushed for 79 yards and a TD while catching 4 for 105 and another TD. David Koresh ran for 67 yards, with 99 receiving yards and a TD on 10 receptions. Don Ferguson leads the league in passing yards, completions, and attempts while being sacked just twice. Today, Ferguson was 36/60, 348 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT. 

Force 38 VooDoo 9

Thomas Jacobi passed for 331 yards and 4 TDs to lead Georgia to a division win against New Orleans to give the Force sole possession of first. Glen Hampton caught 7 passes for 182 yards and 2 TDs to pace the Georgia skill players. New Orleans QB Joseph Jones threw a pair of 2nd qtr INTs that Jacobi cashed in for TDs to put the VooDoo in a 21-3 hole they couldn't get out of. The lack of a productive running game did New Orleans no favors.

Blazers 15 Wheels 0

Florida won despite a sluggish offense thanks to their stingy defense and 5 Gerald Harmon FGs to improve to 5-2. The Blazers are 2 games behind Orlando in the Southeast, but with a bunch of teams lumped together at 3-4, they have a 2 game lead for the top wildcard. Florida QB Sidney Maggard completed 17/20 but for just 122 yards as the Blazers converted only 3/18 3rd downs. Defensively, they forced a lot of incomplete passes as Detroit QBs combined for 21/51, 164 yards and 2 INTs and allowed no 3rd down conversions in 14 tries. The Wheels are falling off for Detroit as they lose their 3rd in a row.

Express 13 Hawaiians 10

Justin Montgomery intercepted a David Tavarez pass and returned it 26 yards for a TD to give Honolulu an early 7-0 lead. At the beginning of the 2nd, Edwin Clarkson had the Hawaiians on the doorstep of a TD with a 1st and goal from the 1, but an INT 2 plays later killed that drive and Los Angeles chipped away with a pair of FGs. Honolulu added a FG for a 10-6 halftime lead. The second half was a field position game and the Express defense forced a 3 and out after a punt pinned Honolulu deep in their own end. David Tavarez took advantage of the short field, finding Juan Nichols for the eventual game winning TD. 

Gold 23 Invaders 20 (OT)

Oakland got out to an early 7-0 lead thanks to a Michael Bethea 3 yard TD run, then the teams exchanged FGs as the Invaders now led 10-3. Denver QB Andrew Brewer then threw an INT to set up Oakland at the Gold 32 yard line. It took 4 plays for Andrew Moreno to find Juan Morgan with an 8 yard TD pass and the Invaders now enjoyed a 17-3 lead. Denver cut the lead to 17-10 on a 1 yard Ray Anderson TD run, and that was it for the scoring until the 4th. Oakland got a FG early in the 4th for a 20-10 lead, then Andrew Brewer found Douglas Crowley for a 19 yard TD pass to get the Gold within 3. Crowley finished with 134 receiving yards on the day in addition to that TD, and has developed into Brewer's favorite target. Denver K Robert Deacon made a 34 yard FG in the final minute to send the game to OT, then Deacon made a 37 yard FG on Denver's 2nd OT possession and the Gold escape with a division win.

Showboats 23 Gunslingers 12

Memphis got 110 yards rushing and 3 TDs from Steve Ransome as the Showboats get a come from behind division win. Ransome's first TD gave Memphis an early 7-0 lead, then we had nothing but FGs until the 4th. There were 5 FGs kicked in the first 3 quarters, with San Antonio's Benjamin Regalado nailing 4 to give the Gunslingers a 12-10 lead entering the 4th. Ransome then took matters into his own hands, getting TD runs of 15 yards to give Memphis a 16-12 lead and a 2 yard TD inside the 2 minute warning to put the game out of reach.

Breakers 20 Bell 10

Boston played their most complete game of the season and turned the East into a 4 team jumble as a result. The Breakers were the only East team to win this week, and Boston joins New York and Philadelphia at 3-4, 1 game behind New Jersey. Boston did allow the Bell to run for over 6 yards a carry but Philadelphia only ran 14 times, while offensively, the Breakers RBBC ran 47 times for 211 yards and a TD. The passing yards were almost even, as were the completions, but while Boston's Adam Scales only needed 25 passes to get 20 completions, Joseph Serio was an inefficient 21/41 with 2 INTs and 2 sacks. Boston's defense allowed just 2/11 on 3rd down and 0/3 on 4th, 3 total points in 3 red zone trips, and the only TD for Philadelphia came on a 105 yard kickoff return by Faustino Dixon. That KO return cut the lead to 13-10 Boston, but early in the 4th, Raymond Caviness ripped off a 50 yard TD run to put the lead back to 10 points and the Bell turned it over on downs their last 3 drives.

Bulls 23 Steamer 20

I think each team's defense got stuck in traffic and arrived late because the first 6 drives of the game produced points, then the defenses took over and limited the scoring in the second half. Shreveport got the ball first and quickly jumped out 7-0 on a 67 yard George Marcil TD pass to Richard Funkhouser. Derek Joyce tied the game for Jacksonville on the Bulls opening drive with a 2 yard TD pass to Tyron Bailey. George Marcil answered with a 1 yard TD pass to David Shafer and a 14-7 Steamer lead three drives in. Jacksonville answered with a FG, Shreveport added a FG, then another Jacksonville FG and the Steamer led 17-13 at the half. The defenses started to settle in toward the end of the first half and that continued into the 3rd quarter. Derek Joyce was able to get the Bulls the lead late in the 3rd with an 11 yard TD pass to Anthony Holland, but he threw an INT early in the 4th to allow Shreveport to tie the game at 20 with a FG. George Marcil drove the Steamer into FG range but Jeffrey Smith was wide right on the 44 yard try and we remained tied with less than 5 minutes to play. Derek Joyce and the Bulls took over and used most of the remaining clock to drive to the edge of Neal Williams FG range. Williams put the 52 yard kick through the uprights as time expired to give Jacksonville the victory.

Thunderbolts 24 Bandits 17

Tampa Bay needs more consistent play from QB Antonio Martinez, good or bad, so they can decide if he is the guy to lead their offense in the future. So far in his short career, Martinez's play can best be described as mercurial as one drive he can look like Mario Valencia, the next he'll look like real life Jameis Winston. The good Martinez began this game leading a 4 play, 74 yard TD drive, ending it with a 16 yard TD pass to Earle Noble for an early 7-0 lead. Tony Romo answered on the next drive for Cleveland with a 46 yard TD pass to Shane Looney. Early in the 2nd qtr, Jameis Winston came in, I mean Martinez threw an INT deep in his own end and Romo cashed in with his 2nd TD pass to continue the Thunderbolts scoring run. Martinez bounced back on the next drive but was let down by his kicker who was wide right on a 34 yard try. Cleveland would add a FG to take a 17-7 halftime lead they increased to 24-7 early in the 4th thanks to an Evan Hershey 1 yard TD run. That score was set up by you guessed it, a Martinez INT. Fast forward to 6:13 left to play and the Bandits have the ball still trailing 24-7. The good Martinez is back and he leads a FG drive to get within 14 points, and the ensuing onside kick is recovered by Tampa Bay. Martinez then drives the Bandits to a TD with a 12 yard pass to Garry Fowler. There are still 3:03 on the clock, but the Bandits try another onside kick anyway, and this was also successful. Martinez trots back on the field for his third "drive" within a drive and got the offense in FG range, but needing a TD to tie, they went for it on 4th and failed. Cleveland ran out the remaining clock en route to victory.

Maulers 20 Hornets 17

Pittsburgh got the scoring underway with a Ronald Smith 1 yard TD run but the XP was no good, so the lead was 6-0. The Maulers played 3 and a half quarters of great defense, forcing 4 turnovers in total. Will Allison capitalized on 2 of those with TD passes in the first half to extend the Pittsburgh lead to 20-0. From that point to the middle of the 4th was mostly punts with Charlotte finally getting on the scoreboard with a FG. Robert Ament finally got Charlotte into the end zone with 4 minutes to play on a 5 yard pass to Henry Young. They decided to go for 2 and failed, so the score was 20-9. The onside kick failed but the Hornets defense forced a 3 and out to get the ball back to Ament and the offense. Ament found Jake Peralta for a 46 yard TD and this time Ament converted the 2 point try to get the Hornets within 20-17. The onside kick was successful this time but Ament couldn't move the offense and they turned it over on downs as the Maulers hang on by the skin of their teeth for their 2nd straight win.

 

Week 6: Every Team Has a Win

 We still have the same 4 teams without a loss: San Jose, Houston, Orlando, and Washington, but we now have no teams with zero wins. New Orleans came into this week 0-5, but 3 of those losses were by a combined 6 points, including an OT loss so they were due for some breaks. The crazy part is that despite their 1-5 record, the VooDoo are just 1 game out of first place in the South. In fact we have 3 divisions where just 2 games or less separate first and last and only Washington has more than a 2 game lead. I'm going to try to make this blog short and sweet.

Gamblers 31 Bell 22

Houston's defense got shredded for over 400 yards by an East division team for the second week in a row, but just like last week, Tony Dean and some timely turnovers save the day for the Gamblers. Philadelphia got 119 rushing yards from Jamie Epperson and rushing TDs from Timothy Roquemore and Robert Cooper to compliment Joseph Serio's 308 passing yards. Serio didn't pass for any TDs however, and he was responsible for both turnovers, tossing an INT and losing a fumble. Houston ran the ball effectively, just not very often as Tony Dean did the heavy lifting today. Dean finished 30/38, 389 yards and 4 TDs. 

SaberCats 25 Sun 3

San Jose opted for a run heavy/defensive game plan today and it worked, as Jake Plummer threw for just 171 yards today. RB David Hartwig led San Jose with 95 rushing yards and 56 receiving yards but the story was the SaberCats defense. They harassed Gary Wiggins all day long, allowing him to complete just 1/3 of his passes, 11/33 for 88 yards, 3 INTs and 2 sacks, with only one Southern California drive covering more than 21 yards.

Federals 20 Bulls 13

Jacksonville was just 1-4 coming into this game against 5-0 Washington, but the upstart Bulls hung with the Federals, never trailing by more than 7 points. The Bulls defense frustrated Bieber and the Federals in the first half, as Jacksonville led 6-3 at the break. Bieber finally got the offense moving a bit in the second half, finding Ronald Matthews for a TD pass to take the lead. Derek Joyce got the lead back for the Bulls with a TD pass of his own, aided by a short field after a Bieber INT. James Dunn would catch Bieber's 2nd TD pass early in the 4th to give Washington the lead for good and the Federals defense made sure Jacksonville had no more scoring opportunities.

Renegades 31 Wheels 24

Orlando leads the Southeast and the Renegades traveled to the Motor City to face the Midwest leading Detroit Wheels. Gabriel Flanagan threw 3 TDs for Detroit today and his first one gave the Wheels a 7-0 lead. Orlando came back with a FG before Flanagan's 2nd TD pass made the score 14-3 Detroit. Trey Lyons then found Donald Young for a 25 yard TD to cut the lead to 14-10. The alternating scores continued with Flanagan's 3rd TD pass and another Lyons to Young TD and the halftime score was 21-17 Detroit. The defenses settled down in the second half and the Renegades stopped following the alternating scoring script with Trey Lyons' 3rd TD pass to finally take the lead 24-21. Detroit tied it with a FG and Orlando's Roger Radke had a short TD run inside the 2 minute warning for a 31-24 Renegades lead. Flanagan had the Wheels in Orlando territory, but an INT stopped that drive and the Renegades stay unbeaten.

Storm 59 Express 10

Sorry mwd65, last week in the blog, I said your team was flying under the radar then this game happened. Melvin Driggers threw for 425 yards and 6 TD passes, and the Storm converted all 5 red zone opportunities into TDs. WR Richard Robinson caught 9 passes for 213 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Portland skill players. The Portland defense intercepted David Tavarez 3 times, with Mark Sumner taking his INT to the house for 6 points, and Tavarez was sacked twice. 

Panthers 29 Gunslingers 10

San Antonio led at the half 10-6 but the Michigan defense shut down the Gunslingers offense in the second half while the Panthers offense scored on all but 1 possession the final 30 minutes. Larry Henderson didn't have a great statistical game, completing 27/40 for 272 yards but the important stat was zero turnovers. Henderson threw a TD pass in the 3rd quarter, William Hutchings capped the scoring with an 8 yard TD run, and Jonathan Ruch booted 5 FGs to help Michigan win and gain sole possession of first in the Midwest.

Force 23 Steamer 16

Division games in the South are more important so far than other division games because the 4 South teams are just 1-13 against non South teams. Georgia scored 2 TDs and a FG their first 3 possessions to take a 16-3 lead and the Force led at halftime 16-6. Both Georgia TDs were scored by RB Shaun Sutton and he finished the game with 90 rushing yards, 2 TDs and another 63 yards on 3 catches to lead the Force skill players. George Marcil led Shreveport to a FG in the 3rd and his TD pass early in the 4th to Richard Wise tied the game at 16. As the game wound down, Georgia forced Shreveport into mistakes as the Steamer's last 3 drives ended INT, punt, fumble. Just inside the 2 minute warning, Thomas Jacobi threw a 68 yard TD pass to Glen Hampton and Georgia wins, forcing a tie atop the South between these 2 teams.

VooDoo 19 Stallions 13

The other 2 South teams faced off in New Orleans, where the VooDoo were searching for their first victory of the season. RB Thomas Thomas had 105 combined yards and his rushing TD on the game's opening drive gave New Orleans the early 7-0 lead. The VooDoo eextended the lead to 13-0 with a pair of Emil Porter 2nd qtr FGs. Birmingham fought back in the 3rd with a FG and a 73 yard Willie Benge TD pass to Theodore Turner to get within 16-10 as the 4th started as New Orleans got 3 in between Stallions scores. Birmingham cut it to 16-13 before New Orleans ended the scoring with a FG in the final 2 minutes. The VooDoo out gained the Stallions 334-200, held Birmingham without a 3rd down conversion in 9 tries, and sacked Benge 4 times. Both teams are just 1-5 but also just 1 game out of first place.

Generals 38 Outlaws 16

New Jersey is the last division leader I'm writing about mainly because the East division is listed at the bottom and they aren't undefeated. Don Ferguson and the Generals had the turnover bug continue to follow them, as Ferguson threw 3 INTs and David Koresh lost 2 fumbles. Ferguson and Koresh more than made up for their lack of ball handling with otherwise big games as Ferguson completed 35/50, 528 yards and 4 TDs, producing three 100 yard receivers. One of those was Koresh, who caught 10 for 146 yards to go with 46 rushing yards, although he did not score. Fellow RB Kurt Cobain led the team in rushing despite about half as many carries as The Waco Wacko. Cobain smelled like TDs today, rushing for 52 yards and 1 score while catching 9 passes for 105 yards and 2 more scores. 

Gold 48 Wranglers 6

Time to take a look at games involving teams that would be in the wildcard race, if we were worried about such things now. The Denver Gold are used to being discussed in relation to the playoffs while the Arizona Wranglers are not. Denver pretty much could do no wrong today as they rack up 573 yards of offense while limiting the Wranglers to 187. Andrew Brewer completed 24/28 for 376 yards and 4 TDs, with Douglas Crowley catching 2 of the scores among his 9 for 247. Denver only led 14-3 at halftime, but the Gold scored 17 points each in the 3rd and 4th to win going away. 

Showboats 34 Breakers 14

Boston QB Adam Scales had a solid game with better ball security than his counterpart Norman Maldonado, but the Breakers running game was beat on both sides of the ball. Boston ran 27 times for 44 yards while Memphis ran less, 22 times, but gained 150. Showboats RB Steve Ransome had a double triple, rushing for 110 yards and a TD and catching 5 for 151 yards. RB Erik McNamee ran for 40 yards and 2 scores and added a 3rd TD receiving. Maldonado threw for 416 yards and that TD in between his 4 INTs and Memphis won easily by jumping out to a 21-0 lead and having all but 1 turnover occur after the game was in hand.

Blazers 23 Bandits 6

Florida and Tampa Bay didn't create a ton of offensive fireworks, but Sidney Maggard threw 2 TD passes and Gerald Harmon booted 3 FGs in a battle for the current top wildcard spot. Bandits QB Antonio Martinez threw 2 more INTs today on 15/31 passing for just 127 yards and 1/12 on 3rd downs. Tampa Bay did a good job defensively, keeping the Blazers under 300 yards and they trailed just 7-3 at the half, and 7-6 after striking first in the second half. Sidney Maggard then threw a TD pass to Richard Carstens for a 14-6 lead, then the FGs started as Florida ended the game on a 16-0 run for the division win.

Blitz 24 Thunderbolts 13

Chicago had three 75 yard first half drives but just 10 points to show for it, and their TD "drive" was a 75 yard Ronald Brown TD pass to Ian Gordon. Cleveland scored first with a FG, and they closed the half with a FG to trail 10-6 at the half. Tony Romo gave Cleveland the lead in the 3rd with a 12 yard TD pass to Matthew Martin, then gave Chicago the lead with a pick six to Sammy Montz. RB Dale Davis put the final nail in the coffin with a 71 yard TD run as the Blitz win a division game.

(NY) Stars 36 Hornets 3

New York QB Damien Oleary completed 20/26 for 530 yards and 4 TDs, all to Albert Olson, who caught 7 in all for 449 yards. New York forced 2 turnovers and held Charlotte under 200 yards. At 3-3, New York is in a good position for a playoff run, especially with their talented, big game skill players. 

Maulers 23 Stars 20 (OT)

This game was a tale of two halves, turnovers, and free football. Jon Snow led Baltimore to TDs on the Stars first 2 drives and FGs on the next two for a 20-0 halftime lead. The Stars were winning the turnover battle 2-0 at this point. The second half was all Pittsburgh, as Snow threw 4 INTs and Fred Boyce missed a FG and Will Allison capitalized. Allison had an 81 yard TD pass to Arthur Thompson, then an 80 yard TD pass to Ronald Smith added to an earlier 3rd qtr FG and Pittsburgh found themselves down 20-17 after the horrible start. Snow's last INT of the 4th led to a short field for the Maulers and Brett Bowman tied it with a short FG as the regulation clock expired. The Maulers got the ball to start OT and were forced to punt. Jon Snow then threw his 5th INT of the day and shortly after, Bowman booted the ball through the uprights to give Pittsburgh a divisional win.

Invaders 27 Hawaiians 18

Oakland and Honolulu have been going opposite directions and that trend continued today. The Hawaiians sorely miss RB Anthony Davis and the good play of their defense from the first 2 weeks of the season. Without the threat of Davis, both QB Derek Henry and his replacement Edwin Clarkson haven't been able to pick up the slack. Clarkson had a decent game today, 28/42, 268 yards and a TD but he was also sacked 4 times. When Oakland had the ball, Honolulu didn't stop them, giving up 420 yards. Andrew Moreno completed 23/34, 335 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT, with RB Ronald McDevitt catching 8 for 233 yards and a TD. Fredrick Barron's 28 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter gave the Invaders a 27-7 lead, and had the game well in hand. Honolulu got a late TD and 2 point conversion to get within 9 points, and even recovered the onside kick. The Hawaiians still needed two scores though, and time expired before they could get the first one. Oakland has now won 3 in a row while Honolulu has dropped 4 straight.

 

Week 5: The Beat Rolls On

Gamblers 31 Generals 19

New Jersey does not have fond memories playing Houston as the Gamblers have given the Generals 2 of their 4 World Bowl losses. Today, Houston comes into the game 4-0 and defending champs, so New Jersey had their work cut out for themselves. One thing the Generals needed to do was move the ball offensively. They gained 410 yards, so check. Another thing they needed to do was prevent big plays from the Houston offense. They allowed 277 total yards and just 157 through the air, sacking Dean twice and intercepting him twice, check. The last thing they needed to do was hold onto the ball. Don Ferguson threw 3 INTs and David Koresh lost a fumble, New Jersey, we have a problem. Especially big problem when all 4 turnovers occurred in Generals territory and Houston made them pay with TDs after each. Three of the 4 came in the last 17 minutes to turn a 14-13 Houston lead into a 31-13 lead and the champs remain undefeated.

Federals 34 Stars 10

Washington and Baltimore have been battling each other for years, but the Federals made a statement that the Atlantic is theirs. We still have a lot of football left, but Washington already has a 3 game lead and today's victory over the Stars in their pocket. Scott Bieber led Washington to a TD on their opening possession, finding Ronald Matthews for the 45 yard score. The Federals defense intercepted Jon Snow, and Bieber made them pay with his 2nd TD pass, 17 yards to Robert Trammell. Washington had the running game working as Trammell had 76 yards on the ground and James Dunn had 67 and a 1st qtr TD run to give the Federals a 21-0 lead. Jon Snow then got Baltimore on the scoreboard, but 21-7 would be as close as they would get. Bieber threw 3 TD passes in all, finding Andrew Favela in the 3rd to extend the Federals lead to 31-7. 

SaberCats 39 VooDoo 6

New Orleans is having a rough season, so seeing the red hot SaberCats next on the schedule wasn't well received. The VooDoo had some good news, bad news in this game. The good news is they held San Jose under 40 points and 500 yards after they averaged 60.5 points and 706 yards the last 2 games. The bad news is San Jose drove for TDs on each of their first 3 possessions, putting the VooDoo in a 21-0 hole they couldn't climb out of. Jake Plummer finished 22/32, 288 yards and 4 TDs with Mark Hsu catching 3 passes for 3 TDs and 108 yards. San Jose ended up running the ball quite a bit after the big lead, finishing with 174 yards on 37 carries. The SaberCats defense made life rough for Joseph Jones, intercepting him twice and allowing just 12/31 passing.

Renegades 23 Steamer 20 (OT)

Orlando and Shreveport played a full 5 quarters and every drive but 1 ended with a kick. The only drive of the game not to end with a kick was the drive that ended the first half, as all other drives ended with either a punt, FG, or XP. It was a back and forth game with similar stats on both sides of the box score. Shreveport took the opening kickoff and kicked a FG while Orlando matched that on their opening drive. George Marcil got the lead back on the next drive with a 2 yard TD to Richard Wise and the rest of the half was punts, except the last drive which ended when the clock expired. Orlando got a FG on their first second half drive, then Trey Lyons threw a 5 yard TD pass to Jason Amen as the Renegades took a 13-10 lead early in the 4th. Marcil then brought the Steamer down the field, connecting with David Shafer for a 31 yard TD as Shreveport took the lead right back. At the 2 minute warning, Trey Lyons threw his 2nd TD pass, a 1 yard toss to Jesse Carr as the Renegades retake the lead 20-17. Plenty of time for George Marcil to drive down the field, and he did just that. The Steamer had a 1st and goal from the 5 inside a minute to play but 2 of 3 passes were incomplete and the 3rd was a short gain, so with time running out, they had to settle for a FG and overtime. Shreveport got the ball to start OT but punted, in fact the Steamer punted 3 times in the extra session, with Orlando getting slightly better field position each time. Lyons managed to get the Renegades into FG range before time ran out in OT and Scott Mueller's 49 yard kick split the uprights as Orlando remains undefeated by the slimmest of margins.

Blitz 26 Blazers 20 (OT)

Chicago has played 4 one score games and their 5th game was decided by 9 points, so the Blitz are always in the game. In week 1, they spotted Jacksonville 16 points before going on a 20-0 run to steal victory. Today they play their 2nd Southeast division foe and enjoyed a similar result. Florida got a Sidney Maggard 44 yard TD pass to Richard Carstens on their opening drive for a 7-0 lead and a FG later in the 1st extended it to 10-0. Ronald Brown then got Chicago on the board with a 2 yard TD pass to David Karim but Florida would add a FG for a 13-7 halftime lead. Blazers RB Robert Romero had a 3 yard TD run late in the 3rd to give Florida a 20-7 lead entering the 4th. Ronald Brown tossed his 2nd TD pass and Evan Joseph made FGs of 52 and 57 yards, leaving us tied at 20 at the end of regulation. Chicago won the toss and ended it quickly, with a 75 yard catch and run TD pass from Brown to Ian Gordon and the Blitz send the crowd home happy.

Thunderbolts 9 Wheels 6 (OT)

Not much to say about this game, other than both teams gained over 300 yards, had at least 19 first downs and couldn't put the ball in the end zone. The individual stats were spread out so nobody had an outstanding game in that respect. Detroit got the ball first and had a good drive but Kent Olden was wide right on the FG attempt, and that miss would loom large. The end of regulation came and the score was 6-6, so they played OT, where the punts continued. Cleveland was getting the better field position, and had the Wheels pinned inside their own 10 after the Thunderbolts second punt in OT. Gabriel Flanagan threw an INT as Detroit approached midfield, and that was all Cleveland needed to kick the game winning FG in the final minute of OT.

Storm 20 Panthers 6

Michigan QB Larry Henderson only threw 1 INT, but it came early and deep in his own end, allowing Portland to take a quick 7-0 lead on an 8 yard "drive". Melvin Driggers capped that mini drive with a 1 yard TD pass to Grady Babin, and Driggers would add another scoring toss later in the 1st as the Storm led 14-3 after a quarter. The Panthers defense stiffened after that, limiting Portland to just 2 FGs the rest of the game, but the Storm defense never allowed Michigan to get into the red zone, let alone the end zone. Portland had trouble putting the game away though, as Driggers threw 2 4th quarter INTs after the defense forced 4 and outs in the final quarter. The second INT came after Portland drained the clock under 2 minutes though and the Storm get the win.

Bell 28 Force 21

Philadelphia scored the first 5 times they had the ball, although only one score was a TD. The Bell kicked FGs on their first 2 drives before Thomas Jacobi got Georgia on the scoreboard with a short TD and a 7-6 lead. Jamie Epperson had a 12 yard run on the next drive and Philadelphia led at the half 13-7. The Bell got the ball to start the second half and scored a FG, then added another FG following a Jacobi INT to lead 19-7. Georgia got back within 5 when Shaun Sutton recovered his own fumble and advanced to the end zone for a TD. Philadelphia had a scoring opportunity on their 6th drive but the 56 yard FG try was wide left. Jacobi had the Force poised to score in the 4th, but interception #2 halted that drive and 3 plays later, Joseph Serio found Andres Freeman for a back breaking 97 yard TD pass. Thomas Jacobi got Georgia closer with a TD pass inside the 2 minute warning to trail 26-21 but the onside kick failed. Georgia's defense forced a quick punt, but the offense was pinned at their 3 yard line and Horace Duchene sacked Jacobi in the end zone to seal the win for the Bell.

Breakers 14 Maulers 7

Pittsburgh nearly doubled the yardage of Boston, out gaining them 400-202, running for 235 yards and getting 3 red zone trips to none for the Breakers. So how did Pittsburgh lose? Tough luck and timely red zone defense by Boston. The Breakers had a pair of first half FGs and led 6-0 as the clock wound down before halftime. Pittsburgh was driving for a score with a 1st and goal from the 1, but 2 incomplete passes and a dive into the line had the Maulers facing a 4th and goal. They opted to try for a TD but Will Allison's pass was knocked down, and the Breakers held that 6-0 lead at the break. Ronald Smith led the Pittsburgh ball carriers with 134 yards and Arthur Thompson chipped in 72, and his 16 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter gave the Maulers a 7-6 lead. Pittsburgh would miss a FG on the next drive, then Boston pinned the Maulers at their own 1 with a punt. Allison was intercepted in his own end zone for a Boston TD by Carlos Wilson, then Ralph Harris ran in the 2 point conversion and the Breakers now led 14-7. Will Allison had one last chance to send the game to OT and he got the Maulers to the Boston 10 yard line in the final minute, but Anthony Dyer intercepted him to stop the scoring threat and give the Breakers the win.

Bulls 23 Bandits 10

Tampa Bay opted to start Thomas Lawson at QB instead of the struggling Antonio Martinez, but he only completed 50% of his passes and threw 3 INTs. Martinez also saw brief action and was 0/4 with an INT. The Bandits also lost a fumble and allowed 2 sacks while Jacksonville QB Derek Joyce completed 38/47, 257 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Tyron Bailey ran for a TD and Neal Williams booted 3 FGs as the Bulls get the division win.

Wranglers 27 Sun 17

Brian Carmichael completed 18/23 with 2 TD passes and the Wranglers RBBC gained 158 yards on 45 carries as Arizona gets their 4th win of the season. The Wranglers led 24-3 after 3 quarters before the Sun made it close with 2 TDs in the final 4 minutes. Southern California out gained Arizona 328-295, but they lost the turnover battle 2-1, converted just 3/13 on 3rd down, and allowed 3 sacks. Gary Wiggins had 322 passing yards in the loss.

Gold 38 Hawaiians 12

Edwin Clarkson started under center for the second consecutive game, and he wasn't bad, completing 32/44, 211 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT, but until the Hawaiians stop someone on defense, who plays QB doesn't matter. Denver didn't torch Honolulu like San Jose did, but Andrew Brewer completed 18/20, 296 yards and 4 TDs to lead the Gold to victory. Brewer had help from RB Fredrick Whidden, who had a double triple, rushing for 117 yards on 24 carries and catching 2 TD passes among his 5 for 129 yards. Denver led 28-0 at the half before going into cruise control in the second half.

Invaders 17 Hornets 10

This was a 3-3 game for the first 44:55 of the game until Dennis Baird's 1 yard TD run 5 seconds before the start of the 4th gave Charlotte a 10-3 lead over Oakland. Early in the 4th, Andrew Moreno tied the game on a 49 yard pass to Rodney Hawkins then his 80 yard TD pass to Juan Morgan with 1:17 left broke the tie. Charlotte had plenty of time to tie, but Robert Ament threw an INT on the first play to seal the win for Oakland.

Express 34 Stallions 9

Half of the league has 2 or 3 wins this season, and of the 7 teams 4-1 or 5-0, Los Angeles is the one flying under the radar. They lost Week 1 by a single point, and have now won 4 in a row after taking care of Birmingham today. David Tavarez only threw for 194 yards, but he completed 19/25 with 3 TDs and 0 INT and converted all 3 red zone trips into TDs. The Express defense allowed 8/17 3rd down conversions, but only allowed Willie Benge to complete 16/32, intercepting him 4 times. Los Angeles set the tone for this game by grabbing an instant 7-0 lead, thanks to Raymond Straight's 99 yard return of the opening kickoff.

Showboats 30 (NY) Stars 9

Coming into this game, New York had one of the league's leading offensive triplets as QB Damien Oleary had been on fire, along with RB William Hall and WR Albert Olson, while Memphis QB Norman Maldonado had been struggling, with 6 TDs and 10 INT. Those trends ended today however, as Maldonado played turnover free football and got support from his running game and defense as the Showboats snap a 2 game losing streak. RB Steve Ransome ran for 115 yards and a TD, fellow RB Erik McNamee ran for 63 yards and a TD while Maldonado finished 27/45, 255 yards and a TD. For New York, Albert Olson had an average game, catching 7 for 85 yards, but overall, Oleary had a mediocre game, completing 23/43, 206 yards, 1 INT and 2 sacks. William Hall was completely shut down to the tune of 1 rushing yard on 5 carries and his 4 receptions netted all of 19 yards.

Gunslingers 6 Outlaws 3

San Antonio won the FG contest 2-1 as Benjamin Regalado made both of his FG tries while Oklahoma kicker Eric Chandler was just 1/3. Defense ruled the day as the teams combined for 308 yards and 5 turnovers, along with 4/30 on 3rd down. Each team only had 2 drives cover more than 30 yards and I feel like a school kid using extra words for my 500 word essay, as this game didn't provide much to write home about.

 

 

Week 4: Down to 4 Unbeaten Teams

 Gamblers 30 Gunslingers 13

Tony Dean completed 26/35, 309 yards and 3 TDs and was sacked once. That's not normally newsworthy but Dean was injured on the sack and left the game for a good chunk of the next drive, though he would return and throw a TD pass. San Antonio hung around in the first half, trailing just 20-13, but QB Robert Fanelli threw 2 INTs in the second half and the Gunslingers turned it over on downs as Houston pulled away in the 4th quarter for the win. WR Hugh Chance had 5 catches for 115 yards and a TD while RBs Donald Turner (112 yards) and Lloyd Ellis (102) both had over 100 combined yards. 

Federals 27 Bell 13

Philadelphia out gained Washington 369-299 and the Bell scored first on a short Richard Cooper run for an early 7-0 lead. Scott Bieber would tie the game with an 11 yard pass to Ronald Matthews. Steve Matthews then made a FG for Philadelphia to reclaim the lead but Bieber found his Matthews again, this score covering 68 yards as the Federals took a 14-10 lead into halftime. Bieber threw his 3rd TD of the game to Robert Trammell in the 3rd qtr but Philadelphia cut the lead to 8 with another FG. The Bell had a chance to cut the lead to 5 but Matthews missed a FG and Philadelphia turned it over on downs the next 3 drives, allowing the Federals short fields with which they added a pair of FGs and the win.

SaberCats 55 Hawaiians 17

San Jose just put the league on notice: they are for real. The SaberCats amassed 759 yards today and have now scored 121 points the last 2 weeks, more than all but 4 teams have scored all season. QB Jake Plummer completed 28/34, 557 yards and 6 TDs, with WR Dave McEntee leading the receivers, catching 9 for 189 yards and 3 TDs. Mark Hsu caught 4 for 125 and a TD while RB Rodney Richardson had a monster game, rushing 12 times for 162 yards and a TD, adding 80 yards and another TD on 2 receptions. Honolulu benched QB Derek Henry for this game, opting for 10 year vet Edwin Clarkson, but they could have had vintage Mario Valencia today and it wouldn't matter the way Plummer carved up their D.

Renegades 31 Stallions 9

Birmingham out gained Orlando, had more red zone trips, and they scored first for an early 3-0 lead. That's where the good news ends though, as 4 Stallions red zone trips netted 6 points, they committed 10 penalties and QB Willie Benge  tossed 4 INTs. Orlando rookie RB Anthony Milan has taken over as the RB1 and he responded with 123 rushing yards and a TD. Fellow RB Jose Rush had 51 rushing yards and a TD, and led the Renegades in receiving yards with 78, catching a TD as well. QB Trey Lyons didn't throw for a ton of yards as Orlando had a balanced offense today, but the important numbers are 2 TDs and 0 INTs.

Storm 27 Wranglers 10

The upstart Arizona Wranglers faced their toughest test so far this season against Portland, and the game was a defensive struggle early. Arizona scored first on a FG, taking advantage of the short field following an interception of Portland QB Melvin Driggers. That was one of just 8 combined "incompletions" on the day as Arizona's Brian Carmichael finished 23/26, 155 yards and a TD while Driggers was 25/30, 335 yards, 3 TD and that INT. That early lead was as good as it got for Arizona as Portland's defense forced punt after punt while the offense found it's groove, scoring on 4 straight possessions in the 2nd/3rd quarters to put the game away with a 27-0 run. 

Panthers 24 Showboats 21 (OT)

Michigan outlasted Memphis in a mistake filled game that took extra time to decide. Michigan QB Larry Henderson completed 32/42, 362 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, and his first TD gave the Panthers an early 7-0 lead. Memphis QB Norman Maldonado threw the first of his 4 INTs on the next drive but Michigan missed a FG so the score remained the same. Memphis then scored 14 straight points on a Steve Ransome 4 yard run and a Maldonado 18 yard pass to Justin Dixon. Larry Henderson's 2nd TD pass tied the game at 14, and that was our score until the 4th quarter. Memphis was driving for a score early in the 4th, when this crazy play happened. Maldonado throws an INT in the end zone, but for some reason Miguel Lamar tried to run it out and fumbled. RB Erik McNamee knocked the ball loose and fell on it in the end zone for a TD and a 21-14 Showboats lead. Lamar intercepted another pass to help set up Larry Henderson's 3rd TD pass which tied the game at 21. As the end of regulation wound down, the mistakes continued for both sides. Henderson was sacked and lost a fumble, setting up Memphis at the Panthers 33. On the next play, Maldonado tossed INT #4, and it was Lamar doing the honors again, his 3rd of the game. The clock ran out in regulation and Michigan got a FG on their first drive of OT. Memphis had a chance to tie, but had to attempt a 59 yard FG to do it and it was short, giving Michigan the victory. 

Bandits 22 VooDoo 21

New Orleans is having a tough year and today they suffer their 3rd one score loss on the season in 4 games. I have a team in GM II that is also 0-4 with 4 one score losses so I can relate, especially the dumb ways my Cows have lost. This is the USFL blog though, so I'll focus on the VooDoo. New Orleans got a pair of Joseph Jones TD passes in the first half and enjoyed a 21-6 lead at the break. Tampa Bay chipped away at the lead with a 3rd qtr FG and an Antonio Martinez TD pass in the 4th to pull within 21-16. Three punts later, Tampa had the ball again and Martinez led a 14 play, 90 yard drive that ended with a 4 yard TD pass to Wm Jones. The 2 point try failed but the Bandits had the lead with less than 2 minutes to play. Jones would lead the VooDoo into long FG range but the 50 yard try was wide right. Tampa Bay got the ball back with 0:40 left yet decided to pass and paid the price with an interception. One pass play later and New Orleans called timeout so they could try a 55/56 yard game winning kick but Jacob Owens was flagged for a false start and the VooDoo offense came back on the field for the final play. Jones threw an interception and the Bandits escape with the win.

Stars 16 Breakers 14

Jon Snow threw interceptions on Baltimore's first 2 drives before finding John Warkentin for a 55 yard TD on the third drive to give the Stars a 7-0 lead. Boston quickly tied it on a Ralph Harris 75 yard TD run before the defenses took over. Baltimore would get 2 FGs in the 2nd qtr and 1 in the 3rd for a 16-7 lead while the Breakers offense was stuck in neutral. Boston CB Edward Baker got the Breakers within 2 after returning an INT 21 yards for a TD in the middle of the 3rd. That was it for the scoring however as Baltimore does just enough in between Snow INTs to get a narrow win over Boston. William Halford ran for exactly 100 yards for the Stars, John Warkentin had 136 yards and the TD while TE Michael Holt caught 14 balls today.

Wheels 13 Blitz 7

Detroit started the scoring with a 1st qtr FG, then Ronald Brown found Ian Gordon with a 21 yard TD pass to give Chicago a 7-3 lead. The Blitz offense then struggled to move the ball until the 4th quarter. Detroit would get a FG in the 2nd qtr to trim the deficit to 1 at the half. The Wheels got the ball to start the 3rd and Gabriel Flanagan drove them 75 yards in 8 plays, finding Matthew Houston for a 5 yard TD. Chicago gained 111 of their 212 yards in the 4th but those 3 drives ended with a punt, turnover on downs, and the clock ran out, allowing Detroit to hang on for the division win.

Generals 41 Steamer 19

Shreveport scored the first 3 times they had the ball, but all 3 scores were FGs and the Steamer led 9-7 after a quarter. Don Ferguson then led New Jersey to 17 unanswered points for a 24-9 lead before a George Marcil TD pass cut the lead to 24-16 at the half. The Generals went on another 17 point run in the second half to put the game away. Ferguson completed 27/50, 331 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT. WR Duncan Meyer was the leading receiver, catching 3 for 115 yards and 2 TDs. RB Kurt Cobain caught the other 2 passing TDs and added a rushing TD for a 108 yard, 3 TD day. Cobain ended up rushing for 93 yards while fellow RB David Koresh ran for 95, adding 81 receiving yards to lead New Jersey in yardage today. 

Hornets 12 Gold 10

Charlotte benched QB Robert Ament for this game, opting for Jeremy McDonald, and while it didn't translate to more points and yards, it did lead to victory. The Hornets defense stung the Gold, holding them to 269 yards and forcing 2 lost fumbles. After 3 quarters of play, Charlotte led just 6-3, and they would add 3 with 5:51 to play. On the next offensive snap, Andrew Brewer found Douglas Crowley with a 75 yard catch and run TD and the XP gave Denver a 10-9 lead. McDonald and the Charlotte offense took the field just inside the 2 minute warning following a punt that had the Hornets pinned at their 6 yard line. McDonald completed 4/6 on the drive to get the Hornets to the edge of Javier Gill's range, and Gill put the ball through the uprights on a 55 yard FG as time expired to give Charlotte their first win of the season.

Outlaws 26 Sun 20

There are a lot of adjectives I could use to describe this game, but smooth and mistake free aren't among them. Not to say this wasn't an exciting, back and forth game...it was, it just wasn't smooth. Both teams sometimes struggle on offense but they each had over 300 yards today, however the struggles were Southern California turned it over 3 times while Oklahoma was 0/4 in the red zone with 4 FGs. Southern California scored first on a Mark Littlejohn 4 yard TD run with Oklahoma's Douglas Arnold tying the game shortly after with a 56 yard run. The teams exchanged FGs before John Crisp found Craig Icenhour with a 21 yard TD pass and a 17-10 lead. The Sun got a FG just before the half expired and they trailed 17-13 at the break. Gary Wiggins gave the Sun the lead with a 44 yard pass to Michael Johnson before the turnovers started. When they did, the Outlaws added FGs, first tying the game at 20, then taking the lead by 3, then extending it in the final minute to earn their first victory of the season. 

Invaders 15 Thunderbolts 7

Barring an OT tie, one of these 0-3 teams was getting their first win today and this game was also anything but smooth. Cleveland QB Tony Romo threw INTs on the Thunderbolts first 2 drives, leading to a pair of Lawrence Linville FGs and a 6-0 Oakland lead. Oakland then fumbled but nothing came of it for the Cleveland offense, although later in the 2nd, Romo did capitalize after Andrew Moreno threw an INT. Romo had a 32 yard TD pass to Shane Looney for a short lived 7-6 lead, as the Invaders added a FG before the half to take a 9-7 halftime lead. Moreno led Oakland to FGs on the first 2 drives of the second half and the Invaders defense made that stand up for their first victory.

(NY) Stars 38 Maulers 0

This game was all New York as the Stars shut out Pittsburgh, holding the Maulers to 248 total yards, 0/12 on 3rd down and intercepting Will Allison 3 times. Offensively, New York's triplets got the job done again. QB Damien Oleary completed 29/33, 398 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INT, with Albert Olson the leading receiver, catching 7 for 170 yards and a TD. RB William Hall had a double triple, or double hundo game, whichever you prefer. Hall ran for 112 yards on 17 carries, adding 5 catches for 129 yards and 2 TDs.  

Express 33 Force 13

The first half went back and forth and the game was tied at 13 following Milton People's 2nd TD pass of the first half (the XP was missed after the 1st TD), but the Force would only get 66 yards the rest of the game. It took a couple of drives for the Express offense to get going, but once they did, they controlled the game from the middle of the 2nd quarter to the middle of the 4th. Los Angeles got a David Tavarez TD pass in the final minute of the first half to break the tie, then the Express won the second half 13-0 to win going away. Los Angeles had 166 team rushing yards and Juan Nichols scored twice on the ground. 

Blazers 21 Bulls 6

Both teams played this close to the vest, opting mostly for runs and short passes. Florida's Sidney Maggard completed 19/22 for 167 yards and a TD while Derek Joyce completed 26/37 for 158 yards. Florida ran the ball twice as much as Jacksonville for 3 times as many yards, although the Bulls ran decent. Jacksonville ran 16 times for 51 yards while the Blazers ran 34 times for 158. Each team converted 3/13 on 3rd down while Jacksonville lost a pair of fumbles. The teams also alternated FGs in the first half until Florida got greedy and kicked 2 in a row. The Blazers started first, going up 3-0, 6-3, and 9-6 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Jacksonville had chances to keep the alternating scoring going, but the offense stopped moving the ball and Florida went up 12-6 with yet another FG before Maggard's TD pass made the score 18-6. That TD came in the 4th so they went for 2 and failed, though it did not matter with how the Blazers defense was playing. 

Week 3: Only Five Undefeated Teams Remain

 Just 3 weeks into the season and all but 5 teams have suffered a loss already. Our undefeated teams are San Jose, Arizona, Houston, Orlando and Washington. It's no surprise our World Bowl XXI teams are 3-0 as the Gamblers and Federals have been great teams for a long time, and San Jose is a mild surprise, only because of their recent history since HollyHH left. A series of owners could not get All World WR Mark Hsu going, but Wolveraider got Hsu untracked last week and if that continues, look out. Orlando's start is somewhat surprising as well due to their recent history, but anyone who has been in a league with IoanBlood knows his track record and figured success was coming to the Renegades. The Arizona Wranglers have been a lightning rod for controversy the last 2 seasons, tanking 1994 for the #1 pick then winning Week 1 on a punt block that gave some owners, including me, exploit PTSD. The Wranglers have the #23 offense and #21 defense in the league, so they're doing it with smoke and mirrors, but all that matters is wins and losses.

There are 27 more teams in the league and plenty of football left to be played this season, so the 1995 USFL story is far from written in stone. Let's see what happened across the league this week.

Gamblers 27 Wheels 3

Houston continued their amazing start to 1995 by destroying Detroit, out gaining the Wheels 368-94. The Gamblers lead the league in scoring offense, which is no surprise as long as Tony Dean is under center, but the Gamblers defense has given up just 15 points all season, best in the league. Houston is primarily known as an offensive team, as the defensive ranks of CJ's 4 World Bowl teams were 14th, 3rd, 20th, and 15th last season. Houston held Detroit QBs to 12/41, 55 yards and an INT, and allowed zero 3rd down conversions in 14 attempts and kept the Wheels out of the red zone all day. Tony Dean only threw for 185 yards, but he completed 26/38 with 2 TD passes and the Gamblers RBBC had 183 yards and a TD. Houston converted 9/19 3rd downs, scored TDs on all 3 red zone trips and enjoyed a 42-18 time of possession advantage.

Federals 39 Breakers 7

Scott Bieber threw for 316 yards and 3 TDs and Robert Trammell had a combined 190 yards as Washington broke Boston. Trammell had 155 rushing yards and James Dunn had 46 as the Federals ran for 208 yards on the day. That's over 500 yards of offense, yet it wasn't all smooth waves for the Federals as they only converted 3/13 3rd downs and had 1 TD/4 FGs in 6 red zone trips.The Washington defense had it covered though, allowing Boston just 112 total yards and intercepting Adam Scales 3 times.

SaberCats 66 Invaders 22

WR Mark Hsu set the league on fire during his first 4 seasons, breaking the single season league record in 1993 with 2,745 receiving yards and 29 TD receptions and averaging almost 2,000/18 in that span. The last season plus, San Jose had some ownership turmoil and the new guys couldn't get Hsu as involved in the offense, until this week. Hsu hauled in 5 passes for 275 yards and 3 scores as the SaberCats took advantage of Oakland's 32nd ranked defense. It wasn't all Hsu and Jake Plummer, who completed 19/23, 485 yards, 6 TD and 1 INT. Daniel Hartwig had 98 receiving yards and 2 TDs while Rodney Richardson ran for 132 yards and a TD on 14 carries. Oakland had 385 offensive yards of their own and converted 10/21 3rd downs, but until their defense stops someone it's not going to matter.

Renegades 30 Force 14

I haven't checked all rookies, so forgive me if I "ignored" your guy, but Orlando has a rookie of the year candidate in RB Anthony Milan, who got the scoring underway with a 64 yard run in the first quarter. Milan ran for 112 yards today, and has a combined 299 yards and 4 TDs on the season, putting him on pace for a 1600 yards and 20 TDs, ROY numbers for sure. Neither team exercised good ball security today as Orlando turned the ball over 3 times (2 INT and a fumble) while Georgia coughed it up 4 times (2 INT and 2 fumble), but in between the giveaways, the Renegades nearly doubled the yardage of the Force, 434-219. Orlando took a 24-0 lead into halftime and held on for the win despite losing the second half.

Wranglers 17 Stars 13

Last season these teams combined for a 16-16 record, which in and of itself is ordinary, but the teams could not have had more different seasons as Baltimore finished 16-0 while Arizona tanked to 0-16. After this game, one team is 3-0 while the other is 1-2, and if I mentioned this as a fact before the season, most everyone would assume Baltimore is the 3-0 team. Looking at the box score, I'm not sure how the Wranglers did it, as Baltimore out gained Arizona 361-257 and the Wranglers had just 100 passing yards. There was just 1 turnover in the game, by Baltimore and the Stars won time of possession. William Haubert had a 59 yard TD run on the first play of the 4th to break a 10-10 tie and the Wranglers defense held on down the stretch for the victory. The 3 wins is more than the previous 4 seasons combined, when they went 2-62.

 

Bandits 24 Blazers 21

The box score makes it look like Florida probably won as they out gained Tampa Bay 420-368, turnovers were even, their passing game was more efficient, they converted 8/15 3rd downs, made 5 red zone trips and held the ball 36:45. Sidney Maggard was 36/46, 290 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT and the Blazers had a pair of RB have 100 combined yards, Robert Romero (67 rushing, 66 receiving) and Stephen Hannah (60-67). Florida had just 2 TD and a FG in those 5 red zone trips however, and they also missed a FG. The Bandits go as Antonio Martinez goes, and today he only threw 1 INT on 16/33 passing, 299 yards and 3 TDs. His first TD came on the opening drive and that gave Tampa the lead for good. Florida hit a pair of FGs to get within 7-6, before Martinez's 2nd TD pass extended the lead to 14-6 at the half. A 3rd quarter FG for Tampa Bay made it 17-6 before Maggard's first TD pass and a 2 point run got the Blazers within 3. On the next play, Martinez fired his 3rd TD pass, a 75 yard catch and run to Garry Fowler for a 24-14 lead. Sidney Maggard then drove Florida to a TD just inside the 2 minute warning and the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Blazers. Maggard drove Florida all the way down to the Bandits 1 yard line as time was running out, so they opted for a game tying FG. Gerald Harmon's kick was good, but there was a holding penalty that wiped it out, and since the clock ran out during the kick, Florida would not get another chance and Tampa bay escapes with the win.

Gold 23 Storm 10

These West division rivals have been battling it out the last several seasons, and have combined to win 4 of the last 6 World Bowls, so it's rare this game is #6 on the list in the blog. These teams have offensive firepower, so of course this was a game ruled by the defense. Portland had a 10-0 lead in the 2nd before a Jeffery Frost lost fumble set Denver up in Portland territory. Andrew Brewer made them pay with a 4 yard TD pass to James Riley, and the Storm led at the half 10-7. The Gold got the ball to start the 3rd and they tied it with a FG, then the Denver defense intercepted Melvin Driggers to set up another FG and Denver took the lead 13-10. The rest of the second half was just as frustrating for the Storm offense as Denver never let them get momentum. The back breaking drive came with 11:41 left in the 4th, when Brewer led the Gold on a 14 play, 80 yard TD drive, taking 7:30 off the clock. The drive ended with a 30 yard TD pass from Brewer to Douglas Crowley, then the Gold defense intercepted Driggers again on the next play to seal the victory.

Bell 10 Showboats 6

Neither team played their best game offensively as they combined for 532 yards of offense, with Memphis gaining 303. Memphis was able to run better than Philadelphia and they converted 6/15 3rd downs, but it didn't translate into victory. The Showboats made 3 trips inside the red zone but game away with just 6 points on a pair of FGs. Philadelphia went 85 yards in 2 plays on their opening drive and the 32 yard Joseph Serio TD pass to James Jones was all the points they would need today. Memphis QB Norman Maldonado threw 2 INTs in the 4th quarter in the failed comeback attempt. 

Sun 30 Blitz 21

Chicago started out this game on fire, as Ronald Brown led a 9 play, 75 yard TD on the opening drive, then hit David Karim for a 77 yard TD pass on the next drive for a quick 14-0 lead. Southern California fought back with a FG, an INT of Brown, and a TD drive following the turnover to pull within 14-10 after 15 minutes. The Sun kept scoring, adding a TD in the 2nd, 10 points in the 3rd, and another FG inside the 2 minute warning for a 30-14 lead. After starting the game on fire, the Sun quickly doused that flame en route to their 30-0 run, mostly forcing three and outs. Brown threw 2 more INTs in the 4th before a long, garbage time TD made the score closer. The Sun RBBC ran for 118 yards and QB Gary Wiggins completed 29/41 for 265 yards and 3 TDs.

Maulers 27 Hornets 13

Charlotte and Pittsburgh were both 0-2 at kickoff, meaning one team would get their first win today. Charlotte got on the board first with a FG but just a few seconds later, Jeffrey Chartier returned the kickoff 102 yards for a TD and a 7-3 Pittsburgh lead. The Maulers added a FG for a 10-3 lead before Charlotte scored the next 10 points to retake the lead 13-10 after Henry Young's 5 yard scoring run. This time Javier Gill kicked the ball into the end zone, but Maulers QB Will Allison immediately fired a 75 yard TD pass to Glenn Lajoie as Pittsburgh retook the lead 17-13. The rest of the half and the entire 3rd quarter was a punt fest, before Allison put the game away in the 4th with his 2nd TD pass. 

Stallions 30 Bulls 19

The first half was a back and forth game with Jacksonville leading 16-13 before Birmingham pulled away in the second half for the win. Both offenses had success, especially on 3rd down as Birmingham converted 7/14, Jacksonville 7/15 and they combined for 837 yards of offense. Birmingham enjoyed a 36-24 advantage in time of possession and intercepted Derek Joyce twice, yet the Stallions left points on the field with just 20 points to show for 6 red zone trips (2 TD, 2 FG). Bulls RB Scott Randall had a combined 187 yards and a TD in the loss.

(NY) Stars 23 Outlaws 0

New York has 3 top skill position guys who don't get much press because the Stars haven't been a winning team, but their opponents must account for QB Damien Oleary (3rd in passing yards), RB William Hall (3rd in receiving yards, 1st in total yards), and WR Albert Olson (1st in receiving yards). New York has the 8th ranked offense in the league and their "triplets" filled the box score but it was the Stars defense that stole the show today. Oleary only threw for 204 yards, but he did find Olson for 2 TD passes and 140 yards while Hall had a combined 112. Defensively, they only allowed Oklahoma 134 yards and intercepted John Crisp 5 times, all in the second half to get their first win of the season.

Generals 33 Gunslingers 23

New Jersey got out to a 24-0 halftime lead before taking their foot off the gas in the second half to cruise to the win over San Antonio. The lead was 30-10 late when a pair of Gunslingers TDs made the score closer at the end. The Generals had a 23 minute advantage in time of possession and Don Ferguson threw for 320 yards and 2 TDs. New Jersey held QB Robert Fanelli under 50% on 18/45 passing, but allowed 299 yards and 3 TD passes while allowing Eugene Bufkin a 3-173-1 receiving line. 

Steamer 17 VooDoo 14 (OT)

Shreveport and New Orleans needed 5 quarters to determine a winner today, with the game winning kick coming as time expired in the OT session. The teams combined for 714 yards of offense and no turnovers, so I'm a little surprised at the lack of points. George Marcil completed 36/42, 394 yards and 2 TDs for the Steamer, while VooDoo QB Joseph Jones was 24/34, 171 yards and a TD. Richard Wise caught 9 passes from Marcil for 118 yards while Martin Haley caught both scoring passes. In the middle of the 4th, the game was tied at 14 when Shreveport K Jeffrey Smith was wide right on a 36 yard FG attempt in what was the last scoring threat in regulation. New Orleans got the ball to start OT and was forced to punt. Things looked great for the VooDoo when the punt was downed inside the 1, and a defensive stand would give the offense great field position. Instead, George Marcil led Shreveport on a 13 play, 91 yard drive, draining the clock to near zero as Jeffrey Smith trotted on the field for the game winning 28 yard FG as the OT clock hit zero.

Express 23 Hawaiians 10

David Tavarez threw for 256 yards and 2 TDs to lead Los Angeles over Honolulu. Tavarez connected with Corey Gibbons 5 times for 130 yards and a TD while Gary Sappington ran for 109 yards as the Express got out to a 17-0 halftime lead. It wasn't all good for the Los Angeles offense as they had 1 TD and 2 FG in 3 red zone trips and Mario Price missed 3 FG attempts. The defense had the mistakes covered though, intercepting Hawaiians QB Derek Henry 3 times and keeping Anthony Davis in check running the ball (although he caught 8 for 93 yards). The Express are a blocked punt away from replacing Arizona in the 3-0 club. 

Panthers 13 Thunderbolts 6

Sometimes box scores make perfect sense in relation to the score and other times it's like reading a foreign language you don't understand. This game fell in the latter category, as the teams combined for 37 first downs...thirty seven, yet they combine for 19 points. A combined 8/28 on 3rd down might have something to do with the lack of scoring, as does 4 Cleveland turnovers and Larry Henderson being sacked 3 times. The Thunderbolts got FGs on their first 2 drives for an early 6-0 lead before the punts and turnovers started. Michigan took the lead for good early 3rd quarter on a Larry Henderson TD pass to Harvey Williams and extended the lead early in the 4th. That TD was by ex Cleveland WR James Bull, who was lucky not to get a taunting flag afterward. The 2 point try failed and Cleveland had a couple of good scoring chances end with Tony Romo interceptions to allow Michigan to hang on for the win.

 

Week 2: Wild Conference Championship Rematch

I usually start early season blogs with the defending champs, but the Washington/New Jersey game was the most compelling of the week. Not only was it a wild finish, the Federals have beaten the Generals in the last 2 National Conference Championship games. On top of that, New Jersey QB Don Ferguson used to be the backup to Washington QB Scott Bieber, and these losses are making the chip on Ferguson's shoulder get bigger. We have a total of 10 teams sitting 2-0, and the biggest surprise of that group of teams is Arizona. Their 2 wins is as many wins as they had in the previous 4 seasons combined and they should match their win total for the decade if they keep playing like this. Prior to this season, the Wranglers were 5-75 in the 1990's, and taking away 1990, they were 2-62 the last 4 seasons. Even Cincinnati Bengals fans can feel empathy for Arizona fans.

Federals 34 Generals 30

Not much defense was played in this game as New Jersey had 529 offensive yards and Washington had exactly 500. Don Ferguson and Scott Bieber each threw for 417 yards and were not sacked, although Ferguson also threw 2 INTs. In the first half, the Generals moved the ball at will, scoring on all but 2 drives as they took a 24-10 lead into halftime. Washington chipped away at the lead in the second half, finally tying the game on the second Bieber to Ronald Matthews TD pass with just under 5 minutes to play. Matthews only caught 3 passes today, but 2 went for TDs and he had 160 receiving yards to show for it. Ferguson then drove the Generals deep into Federals territory, but a 4th and goal situation popped up very late in the game, so Al Borland kicked a short FG. That seemingly gave New Jersey the win, as they had a 30-27 lead with 0:12 left and Washington had no time outs. Two swing passes later, the Generals and their fans were stunned as Oliver Jeter took the swing pass 52 yards for the game winning TD as time expired.

Gamblers 35 Thunderbolts 12

Tony Dean and the Gamblers rolled to another win and even improved on something from Week 1. Unnoticed in Houston's 50-0 win last week was red zone deficiency, scoring just 2 TDs and 4 FGs in 8 trips. Today, Houston scored TDs on all 4 red zone possessions while the defense allowed Cleveland just 4 FGs all day. Dean threw for 377 yards and 3 TDs with Hugh Chance leading the receivers with 158 yards and 2 TDs on 5 catches. 

Blazers 23 Steamer 20

This was another game between 1994 division winners and it ended eerily similar to the Federals/Generals game. Florida had a 9-7 lead at the half thanks to 3 Gerald Harmon FGs, then Shreveport briefly took a 10-9 lead with a FG in the 3rd. Sidney Maggard then found Richard Carstens for a 54 yard TD pass and a 16-10 lead. George Marcil had a solid game, completing 32/43 for 268 yards and 2 TDs, and he led a FG drive early in the 4th to cut the lead to 16-13. Marcil then got the ball with 4:11 to play, leading a 7 play, 81 yard TD drive, finishing it off with a short scoring toss to Richard Wise with 1:11 to play. Florida had plenty of time until they faced a 4th and 6 from their own 47 with time running out. The Blazers were out of time outs, yet they threw a short pass to Richard Carstens, who broke a tackle and burst down the sideline. A Shreveport DB seemed to have the angle to stop the TD but Carstens beat him to the pylon and Florida snags victory from the jaws of defeat.

Stars 38 Gold 20

For 3 quarters, Denver played good football offensively and defensively, as they led Baltimore 20-14. The Gold had a 13 minute advantage in time of possession and converted 11/19 3rd downs, while holding the Stars to 2/9 on 3rd down. Baltimore QB Jon Snow threw an INT early in the 4th, but Denver couldn't take advantage, missing a FG. That started a series of unfortunate events for Denver that ultimately cost them this game. Snow rebounded, leading the Stars to the go ahead TD to Glenn Sprinkle. Denver got the ball back and promptly fumbled it away, leading to a Snow TD pass to John Warkentin, extending the lead to 28-20. Denver got the ball back and promptly fumbled it away, again, this time leading to a FG and a 31-20 lead. Denver then turned it over on downs, leading to a William Halford TD run and Baltimore explodes for 24 4th quarter points for the come from behind win.

Storm 45 Invaders 26

There were a whopping 48 first downs in this game, 26 for Portland, 22 for Oakland. Oakland had nearly 400 yards (394) against the usually stout Storm defense as Andrew Moreno finished the game 28/43, 329 yards and 2 TD passes to Juan Morgan, who caught 8 for 112 yards. Good thing for Portland that their red zone defense came through and Melvin Driggers was nearly perfect. Oakland scored on all 4 of their red zone trips, but 2 were just FGs while Driggers converted 4 of 5 red zone trips into TDs, with a FG thrown in on the other. Driggers finished the game 27/31, 307 yards and 6 TD passes and zero INTs. No receiver had 100+ yards for Portland but Richard Robinson caught 4 TD passes. Portland's RBBC rushed for 223 yards with Jeffrey Frost's 110 yards leading the way.

Wranglers 17 Maulers 10

While the Wranglers and their fans are excited about the 2-0 start, there is still much work to do, as Brian Carmichael was intercepted 5 times. Arizona had 139 rushing yards from their deep RBBC and a pair of TDs as they had the back of their young QB. The Wranglers defense allowed 350 yards to the also rebuilding Maulers, but they were able to force 3 INTs and a fumble, which lessened the damage of Carmichael's INTs. 

Showboats 14 Blitz 10

For the second straight week, Memphis QB Norman Maldonado threw 2 INTs and the Showboats lost a fumble just like last week. The Memphis defense also failed to create a turnover just like last week, yet they won just like last week. That also meant that Chicago did not repeat last week, where they cane from behind late in the game. Memphis led 14-7 at the half but Chicago would cut the lead to 14-10 in the 3rd quarter. From that point onward, the Showboats kept the Blitz offense on their own side of the field, ensuring there would be no comeback for Chicago. 

Express 17 Gunslingers 9

Los Angeles got the ball to start the game and David Tavarez capped off an 11 play, 75 yard drive with a 4 yard TD pass to Raymond Straight. The second Express drive ended abruptly thanks to a lost fumble, and the good field position allowed San Antonio to score 3 points. The Gunslingers would return the favor as Robert Fanelli threw an INT, leading to a Juan Nichols 1 yard TD run and a 14-3 Los Angeles lead. The rest of the game saw San Antonio get 2 more FGs while Los Angeles added 1 for a 17-9 lead as the Gunslingers began their final drive near midfield following a missed FG by the Express. Fanelli was driving the Gunslingers but his 2nd INT of the game derailed the drive just short of the red zone, allowing Los Angeles to run down the remaining clock for the victory.

Force 32 VooDoo 15

Georgia QB Milton People had one of, if not the best game of his career today, completing 26/30 for 323 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT to lead the Force to the win. Georgia WR Glen Hampton caught 6 for 132 yards and 2 of the TDs, and the Force converted 7/15 3rd downs. The only negative for Georgia was fumbling 4 times, losing 3. Those didn't hurt too much though, as Georgia's 407 offensive yards was more than double the 193 by the VooDoo offense. 

Breakers 20 Hornets 3

Boston didn't run the ball very well while the Hornets had some ground success, and the passing games were the opposite. Charlotte QB Robert Ament completed 27/39 which looks nice, but those 27 completions only covered 153 yards and Ament threw 2 INTs as well. Boston QB Adam Scales was just 15/26, but he had 235 passing yards with a TD and the Breakers played turnover free football. Boston RB Raymond Babbitt barely had any yardage, gaining 10 yards on 12 carries and 5 yards on 4 receptions, but Rain Man scored a rushing and a receiving TD to help pay off WR Anthony Temple's big game with 138 yards on 4 catches.

SaberCats 17 Sun 10

San Jose QB Jake Plummer completed 19/24 for 175 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT to lead the SaberCats to a 14-0 halftime lead. The San Jose defense intercepted a pair of Gary Wiggins passes in the first half and to make matters worse, the SaberCats would get the ball to start the 3rd. Plummer led the offense to a FG, taking nearly 7 minutes off the clock in the process. Southern California pretty much shut down the San Jose offense after that, and Gary Wiggins tried to bring the Sun back, pulling them within 17-10 with 5 minutes to play. The Sun defense allowed too much time to come off the clock, getting the ball back inside the 2 minute warning. San Jose held defensively and they come away with a divisional victory.

Renegades 34 Bandits 13

There were similarities in each teams box score and their were some polar opposites as well. Orlando had 19 first downs, Tampa Bay 17. Orlando gained 345 total yards, Tampa Bay 336. The Renegades converted 7/17 3rd downs while the Bandits were 7/15 and both teams had 3 red zone trips. Orlando got all TDs from their trips, 21 points, while the Bandits had just 2 FGs in the red zone. The Renegades ran for 134 yards, the Bandits 34, and with a halftime lead of 24-6, Orlando was able to sit back in coverage during the second half when they got 4 of their 5 INTs. Antonio Martinez has been known for games like this throughout his short career, and the Bandits coaching staff has to hope he'll turn the corner soon.Martinez did throw for 302 yards to his own team and seems to really like throwing to Luis Dean. Tony's brother from another mother caught 4 passes for 119 yards and a TD. Orlando was led offensively by their RBBC, and the running success opened up passing lanes for Trey Lyons, who completed 23/31 for 220 yards, 4 TDs and an INT. 

Wheels 19 Outlaws 9

Detroit QB Gabriel Flanagan completed 26/35 for 289 yards, and while he threw no TDs, he also threw no INTs, allowing Kent Olden to boot 4 FGs. Carlton Allen had a 5 yard TD run in the 1st quarter and the Wheels led 19-3 over a pesky Oklahoma team late in the 4th. If the Outlaws could have ran better than 2.26 ypc, they might have had a chance for victory as QB John Crisp completed 24/32 for 201 yards and a TD. 

Bell 40 (NY) Stars 28

Philadelphia came out of the tunnel ready to play, determined not to fall to 0-2 and the Bell defense wasted no time getting the ball for Joseph Serio and the offense, intercepting Damien Oleary on the 2nd play from scrimmage. It took 7 plays to travel 36 yards, but Serio got a TD pass to Daniel Franks for a quick 7-0 lead. Philadelphia had 6 drives in the first half, and only a missed FG prevented the Bell from scoring on all 6, but they still led at the half 30-14. Philadelphia got the ball to start the 3rd and they picked up right where they left off, ripping 75 yards down the field in 8 plays, taking just 2:45 off the clock. Oleary brought the Stars back within 37-28 with 6 minutes to play, but New York would get no closer. Oleary finished 34/51, 345 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT while Serio completed 28/37 for 357 yards and 3 TDs. New York RB William Hall had 142 combined yards with a rushing and receiving TD while Daniel Franks had 2 TD receptions for the Bell. Craig Hines chipped in 118 yards and a TD on 6 receptions while the Philadelphia RBBC had 151 yards on 37 carries.

Hawaiians 17 Stallions 3

Honolulu got a combined 177 yards and a TD from RB Anthony Davis as the Hawaiians survived 3 turnovers to defeat Birmingham. Derek Henry threw 2 INTs and the offense lost a fumble but Henry also threw a TD pass to best Willie Benge, who threw 3 INTs with no scores for the Stallions. The 4th quarter was sloppy for both teams, but Honolulu did more than enough during the first 3 quarters to earn the victory.

Panthers 23 Bulls 6

Michigan QB Larry Henderson has some of the same problems as Tampa Bay's Antonio Martinez, and maybe they are planning on alternating performances this year. In Week 1, Martinez played well while Henderson threw 5 INTs in a loss to Detroit. This week Martinez threw 5 INTs while Henderson completed 22/36 for 292 yards, 2 TD and 0 INT. The Panthers offense still needs to do better in the red zone after getting 2 TD and 3 FG in 5 trips today as Michigan can't rely on their red zone defense being so stout, allowing Jacksonville just 6 points from 3 trips. That was the biggest difference in the game as the Bulls were only out gained by 68 yards. 

Week 1, Part 2

 Wranglers 24 Express 23

Los Angeles got out to a 20-0 2nd quarter lead thanks to a pair of David Tavarez TD passes and a couple Mario Price FGs. Arizona cut it to 20-7 soon after on a 76 yard Brian Carmichael pass to Michael Jones. The score remained 20-7 until the 4th when Arizona got a 2 yard TD run from William Haubert. Los Angeles got their lead up to 9 on Mario Price's 3rd FG of the game but the Express punt team let them down. LB Arthur Poulin broke through the line, blocked the punt, then scooped up the ball, rambling into the end zone for a TD to pull the Wranglers within 23-21. The Arizona defense then forced a 3 and out, leaving just enough time for Carmichael to move the Wranglers into FG position. Brian Haworth's 54 yard kick split the uprights and Arizona is over .500 for the first time in a long time.

Blazers 19 VooDoo 17

Sidney Maggard and Joseph Jones completed nearly every pass they threw, combining to complete 41/47, yet neither team cracked the end zone in the first half. Florida led 6-3 at the break, and the Blazers were kicking off to New Orleans for the start of the second half when Jose Little took that kick 105 yards for the go ahead TD. Florida would get a FG to make the score 10-9 before we finally had an offensive TD. With 2:53 left in the 3rd, Joseph Jones found Martin Getz for a 10 yard TD pass, extending the VooDoo lead to 17-9. Sidney Maggard completed 23/24 today, and his 55 yard TD pass to Freddy Jones got Florida within 1. Had this TD occured in the 4th, they would have gone for 2 points and the tie, but it was still the 3rd, so they kicked the XP. The 4th quarter was scoreless the first 10 minutes when Florida got the ball with 4:52 to play, trailing by 1. Maggard led the Blazers 70 yards in 14 plays, but they faced a 4th and goal with time running out. They were able to stop the clock with a timeout, and Gerald Harmon's 4th FG of the game was good as time expired to give Florida the come from behind win.

Showboats 22 Thunderbolts 19

Memphis turned the ball over on their first 3 drives but Cleveland could only come away with FGs to lead 9-0 after the 1st qtr. Two of the 3 turnovers were Norman Maldonado INTs, but he made up for it with a 2nd qtr TD pass to Paul Davis. Cleveland would get a 4th Carlos Reed FG and the Thunderbolts led at the half, 12-7. A Bobby Colley 15 yard TD run in the 3rd extended Cleveland's lead to 19-7 but the Memphis defense made sure that was it for the rest of the game. Maldonado then threw a TD pass late in the 3rd and another one early in the 4th, with a 2 point conversion giving Memphis a 22-19 lead. The rest of the 4th was uneventful, and Memphis gets the come from behind win.

Gunslingers 23 Invaders 17

Oakland got the scoring underway with a FG and an Andrew Moreno TD pass to Jessie Heidt for an early 10-0 lead. San Antonio responded by scoring the next 20 points, first getting a 64 yard Robert Fanelli TD pass to Michael Stott, then a 3 yard TD run by Randy Leger. Benjamin Regalado then booted a FG in the 3rd and another one in the 4th to end the Gunslingers scoring run. Moreno and Heidt hooked up for another TD with 5:15 to play to get the Invaders within 3 points at 20-17. Fanelli and the Gunslingers responded with a FG drive and the defense held and San Antonio starts 1-0.

Blitz 20 Bulls 16

Jacksonville scored the first 16 points of the game, getting 3 first half FGs for a 9-0 halftime lead, then extending it to 16-0 on a 3rd quarter Scott Randall TD run. Chicago QB Ronald Brown had an eventful final quarter, finally getting the Blitz on the scoreboard with a short TD pass to Jason Rambo. Jacksonville QB Derek Joyce then threw his 2nd INT of the game and it looked like Chicago was in business until Brown returned the favor. At this point, there is just 5:21 to play and Chicago trailed 16-7. The Blitz forced a punt only for Brown to throw his 2nd INT of the quarter just before the 2 minute warning. Chicago forced a punt and Nelson Martinez returned it 29 yards, setting up the Blitz inside Jacksonville territory with 1:39 left. Brown drove the Blitz to a TD, finishing the drive with a 9 yard pass to Barry Dawson. The XP was good, making the score 16-13 Bulls, and all Jacksonville had to do was recover the onside kick for the win. They did not, and Brown immediately found Ian Gordon for a 52 yard game winning TD pass just 2 game seconds after their previous TD. If that's a lot to keep tabs on, Brown had 3 TD and 2 INT in the 4th quarter alone. Chicago scored too quickly, leaving Derek Joyce over a minute to bring the Bulls back, but Joyce threw his 3rd INT of the game, and Chicago escapes with a wild come from behind victory.

Bandits 27 Hornets 20

Tampa Bay QB Antonio Martinez has had INT problems in the past but not today. Martinez was 17/27, 288 yards and 3 TDs to lead the Bandits to victory over Charlotte. The Hornets hung tough, trailing just 14-10 at the half, and entering the 4th following a scoreless 3rd. Martinez extended the lead with his 3rd TD early in the 4th, and they led 27-13 with 2 minutes to go. Charlotte got a late TD to pull within 7 but the onside kick failed and the Bandits hang on. Luis Dean caught 3 for 154 yards and a TD for Tampa Bay and Darren Cotton caught the other 2 scoring passes from Martinez. 

Gold 31 Maulers 3

Pittsburgh is in rebuilding mode after dealing with a salary cap mess in the offseason and it showed against a strong Denver team. The Gold scored 28 first half points to seize control of the game and the second half was basically playing out the string. QB Andrew Brewer tossed 2 TD passes while RB Fredrick Whidden's 96 yards led the Gold RBBC that ran for 179 on the day. While Whidden got the yards, Max Ellis and Jerry Murphy got the TDs. Ellis got his TD after his second fumble, picking up his fumble in mid stride and taking it to the end zone, which is why it doesn't show on his rushing stat line.

SaberCats 26 Force 9

Georgia out gained San Jose and had just as many rushing yards as the Sabercats on less than half the carries. So how did the Force lose by 17? Turnovers and red zone failures. QB Milton People threw an INT and had 1 of Georgia's 2 lost fumbles while San Jose played turnover free football. Add in scoring only 6 points on 3 red zone trips and you have a recipe for losing football games.

Hawaiians 30 Sun 7

Honolulu hosted division rival Southern California and the Hawaiians were rude hosts to the Sun, treating them like Haoles (non native Hawaiians...I watch too much South Park). Derek Henry threw 2 TD passes, Oscar Evenson returned an INT 49 yards for a score and David Owen booted 3 FGs. Honolulu's former OROY RB Anthony Davis did not score, but he made a strong case for his first All Pro selection by gaining a combined 198 yards, rushing for 103 and adding 95 on 7 receptions. The only negative for the Hawaiians was scoring just 2 TDs on 7 red zone trips, with 3 FGs and 2 empty trips.

Renegades 27 Breakers 9

Boston had 302 offensive yards, but their running game struggled all day and QB Adam Scales was inefficient having to throw over 40 times. Scales finished 21/45, 270 yards and 2 INTs, and the Breakers had to settle for FGs on both red zone trips. Orlando QB Trey Lyons was slightly more efficient than Scales, completing 22/41, 304 yards with 0 TD and 0 INT. The difference was the running game and red zone. Boston ran for 1.45 ypc (29-42) while the Renegades averaged 4.76 with 119 yards on 25 carries and Orlando scored 3 TDs in their 4 red zone trips. All 3 Renegades TDs came on the ground with Jose Rush scoring twice.

Steamer 20 Stallions 6

New Jersey wasn't the only team to begin 1995 with a kickoff return TD as Shreveport's James McMahon took it 101 yards for an instant 7-0 lead. Neither QB really tried pushing the ball down the field as Birmingham's Wille Benge completed 25/39 for 121 yards while Shreveport's George Marcil completed 31/39 for 223 yards and a TD. Birmingham struggled to maintain drives, amassing just 20:21 time of possession, thanks to 1/12 on 3rd down and 0/2 on 4th and the Stallions never reached the end zone. RB Orville Barker led the way for the Steamer offense with a combined 116 yards.