The Road To World Bowl XXII began today with 4 games on Wildcard Weekend. None of the games featured much late game drama nor any surprises. Portland and New Jersey defended their home fields with wins and now travel for the Divisional round while Denver and Baltimore continue their road trips as 3 of 4 games next week will be rematches from the regular season. Portland travels to San Jose where the Storm are 2 point road favorites. New Jersey advances to Orlando where the Renegades are 3 point favorites. Denver goes to Houston where the Gamblers are 11 point favorites, although Houston might not have CJfred on the sidelines as he is in the hospital with an undisclosed health issue. Get well soon! Our last game next week is the 3rd game between Baltimore and Washington. The Federals are 6 point favorites but it's never easy to beat a team 3 times in one season.
Let's see how the wildcard games played out.
Denver Gold 26 Chicago Blitz 14
Chicago was one of the hotter teams entering the playoffs, but the Gold defense keyed on RB John Gates, holding him to 23 total yards on 9 rushes and 2 receptions. Denver QB Andrew Brewer wasn't sharp, completing 21/32, 243 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT, but the running game was working and Denver built a 17-0 halftime lead. The Gold ran the ball 50 times for 225 yards, converting 11/19 3rd downs and they held the ball 42:31. Peter White got the first TD with a 7 yard run and Brewer's TD pass was the 2nd, a 3 yard toss to Vincent Rodriguez.
Denver would add a FG in the 3rd for a 20-0 lead before Ronald Brown finally got Chicago on the scoreboard with a 33 yard TD pass to Ian Gordon. Denver would add 2 more Robert Deacon FGs for a 26-7 lead in the 4th quarter. Ronald Brown's 1 yard TD pass to Jason Rambo got the Blitz within 26-14, but that's as close as they would get.
Portland Storm 29 Memphis Showboats 23
The first half of this game was back and forth as Memphis led 16-13, but the Storm pulled away in the second half, with a 13 point lead at the 2 minute warning. Memphis got a TD to pull within 6 but the onside kick failed and the Storm hold on to advance.
Portland took a 7-0 lead in the 1st on a Jeffrey Frost short TD run but Memphis came alive in the 2nd. USFL leading rusher Steve Ransome had a solid game, rushing 15 times for 77 yards and catching 8 passes for 67 yards and a TD that would have tied the game but for Gary Ridgeway's missed XP. On the Showboats next drive, Ransome ran in a TD and a good XP gave Memphis a 13-7 lead. Ridgeway would add a 52 yard FG for a 16-7 lead inside the 2 minute warning. Melvin Driggers didn't take long to connect with Richard Robinson for a 61 yard TD near the end of the half, but this time it was Donald Atkins missing the XP and our halftime score was 16-13 Memphis.
In the 3rd quarter, Donald Atkins tied it with a FG before Portland's Mark Sumner intercepted Norman Maldonado to set up the Storm in Showboats territory. Driggers then found Guadalupe Navarette for a 46 yard TD pass and a 23-16 lead. Portland then went on back to back time consuming FG drives for a 29-16 lead with 2:27 left. Maldonado led Memphis on a TD drive, finding Thomas Ballard for the 22 yard score but the onside kick failed and Portland drained the clock to advance.
Norman Maldonado was solid for Memphis, completing 26/44, 315 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. Thomas Ballard led the Memphis receivers with 5 catches, 149 yards and a TD. Melvin Driggers was awesome for Portland today, completing 33/38, 417 yards and 2 TDs. Richard Robinson caught the first score among his 5 for 141 yards while Guadalupe Navarette caught the other one and finished with 4 for 126 yards.
Baltimore Stars 23 Shreveport Steamer 9
Baltimore's defense came ready to play as they kept the Steamer out of the end zone after 2 early turnovers in their own end of the field. On Baltimore's first drive, Cleveland Lang sacked Jon Snow, causing a fumble that Frank Roberts fell on for Shreveport. Taking over at the Stars 22, the Steamer had a golden opportunity to get an early 7-0 lead, but the Baltimore defense held and Shreveport settled for 3. Snow was intercepted on Baltimore's next drive by Matthew Fisher at the Stars 36, but the defense held once again. Instead of being down 10 or 14 to nothing, the Stars were down just 6-0 and had to feel fortunate.
Baltimore scored 10 points in the final 5 minutes of the first half on a Herman Hayes 19 yard run and a Fred Boyce FG to take a 10-6 halftime lead. Those two drives got the Stars offense rolling and they kept the momentum going in the 3rd as Snow found John Warkentin for a short TD pass and a 17-6 lead. The 4th qtr was all FGs, 2 for Baltimore as the Stars advance.
Jon Snow finished 22/41, 302 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT with John Warkentin the leading receiver, catching the TD among his 7 for 184 yards. RB William Halford had a combined 161 yards, 131 rushing.
New Jersey Generals 30 Florida Blazers 20
USFL leading passer Don Ferguson sat out Week 16 which may have contributed to his shaky play early on today. Ferguson threw 4 INTs, including one on the first play of the game, setting up a 54 yard Gerald Harmon FG for a 3-0 Florida lead. Ferguson bounced back on the next drive, taking a 7-3 lead on a 43 yard TD pass to David Koresh. New Jersey had to punt on the next drive, pinning the Blazers inside their 10. Stephen Fontenot then sacked Sidney Maggard in the end zone for a safety, extending the Generals lead to 9-3. Ferguson would then throw interceptions #2 and #3, with Florida getting a TD out of them. Stephen Hannah's short TD run gave Florida a 10-9 lead early in the 2nd. Ferguson settled down for the next drive, retaking the lead on a 13 yard TD pass to Sam Beckett. The Generals defense finally forced an INT, with Isaac Asimov thwarting a potential Blazers scoring drive. Ferguson capitalized with a 28 yard TD pass to Duncan Meyer and New Jersey took a 23-10 lead into halftime.
The Generals forced a three and out on the first drive of the second half, but Sam Beckett fumbled the punt, giving the ball back to Florida. The Blazers got a FG to pull within 23-13. Ferguson then found Franklin Cherry with a 22 yard TD pass to lead 30-13. Later in the 3rd, Ferguson threw INT #4 and Sidney Maggard cashed it in with a 4 yard TD pass to William Sheppard. That got the Blazers within 30-20 but several punts for both teams followed until the 2 minute warning. Florida was going to try and get within 7 on a 60 yard FG, then hope to recover the onside kick, but Gerald Harmon was short on the try and New Jersey ran out the clock to advance.
Don Ferguson finished 24/35, 342 yards, 4 TD and 4 INT while RB David Koresh had a combined 178 yards and a receiving TD. Koresh ran for 90 yards with 88 more receiving to lead New Jersey in both categories.
