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.
