Houston's problem is they need a bigger trophy case as the Gamblers won their 6th World Bowl today. The 6 championships are the most of any franchise in league history, and current owner/GM Cjfred68 has led Houston to 5 of those, breaking a tie with Setherick for the most individual championships in the league. Congratulations on those accomplishments and I'm sure I join the rest of the league in wanting to throw a retirement party for Mr. Dean.
Congratulations also go to CrazyRazor, whose Washington Federals made their 3rd straight World Bowl as National Conference Champs. That's quite an accomplishment as well and shouldn't be forgotten as we celebrate Houston's success.
World Bowl XXII
Houston Gamblers 30 Washington Federals 16
It was a cold 42 degrees in Jacksonville, Florida for the kickoff of World Bowl XXII, but it didn't take long for Tony Dean to heat up. Houston got the ball first and Dean needed just 4 plays to find Jett Black for a 58 yard TD and a 7-0 lead. Washington answered with a long, time consuming 13 play drive, but they stalled in FG range and a John Bazile 42 yard FG cut the lead to 7-3. Houston's 2nd drive lasted 14 plays, but they stalled too and Earl Castro made the score 10-3 with a 28 yard FG early in the 2nd quarter. Washington's 2nd drive resulted in a 46 yard Bazile FG, making the score 10-6.
Washington finally forced the game's first punt, then Scott Bieber led a 9 play, 74 yard TD drive. Bieber found Ronald Matthews for an 18 yard TD pass that gave the Federals a 13-10 lead. On the first play following the 2 minute warning, Bieber threw an interception to Joel Clark, giving Dean and the Gamblers the ball just inside Washington territory. Five plays later, Dean threw a 4 yard TD pass to Donald Turner, giving Houston the lead back, 17-13.
Washington got the ball to start the 3rd quarter and a 57 yard John Bazile FG cut the lead to 17-16. Dean led the Gamblers into the Federals red zone on the next drive, but had to settle for another Earl Castro FG to push the lead back to 4 points. Washington would go three and out on their next drive before Tony Dean delivered the death blow. Dean threw a 15 yard TD pass to Anthony Fulks to extend the Houston lead to 27-16.
The 4th quarter saw Earl Castro miss wide right on a 44 yard FG attempt and John Bazile miss wide left on a 57 yard try. Each team would then punt before Dean led a clock killing FG drive. Earl Castro was good from 44 this time, giving the Gamblers a 30-16 lead with less than 2 minutes to play. Washington ended up turning it over on downs and Tony Dean led the victory formation.
Tony Dean was named MVP of the game as he completed 25/32 for 368 yards and 3 TDs. His leading receiver was Jett Black, who caught 4 for 139 yards and a TD. Dean drives away from the game in a brand new 1996 Corvette as a bonus for being named MVP. Fittingly, the car's color is jet black.
