If it seems like I talk about Georgia WR Glen Hampton every week, it's probably because I do. Hampton continued his 100 yard game streak in a big way, being a one man wrecking crew. Hampton had over 400 yards and 5 TDs today, giving him 2,337/21 on the season. It seems a matter of when, not if those records fall. Speaking of records, Don Ferguson is back on a record pace for TD passes after a couple of struggling games. Ferguson threw for 9 TDs and 745 yards, the 5th best yardage game in league history, and he now has 42 TDs on the year. In case you were wondering, the record for most TD passes in a regular season game in 10, done 5 times, last by Jon Snow last season. David Schmitt of Birmingham threw 11 against New Jersey in the 1985 playoffs for the most ever. Judging by some of the high scores I see, I need to limit my words or this blog could end up being a novel.
Houston, Denver, and San Jose all won to improve to 10-0, and the SaberCats should clinch the division any time now as they have a 6 game lead with 6 to play. The National Conference divisions all have at least a 2 game spread between first and second while all American Conference divisions have 1 game spreads or ties.
Week 11 has several intriguing games including the first meetings between Denver/Portland, Orlando/Florida, and Oklahoma/Houston. Shreveport and Georgia wrap up their season series, as does Charlotte/Washington. If the Hornets can beat the Federals, they will be tied for first in the Atlantic and be in a good position for their first ever post season appearance. All of the above games have a direct bearing on who wins those particular divisions.
Gamblers 38 Hawaiians 13
Honolulu put up 415 yards on the Houston defense but 4 red zone trips produced just 13 points and a pair of interceptions didn't help either. Tony Dean threw for 422 yards and 5 TDs, leading a turnover free Gamblers offense. RB Donald Turner ran for 100 yards and had 74 more receiving but didn't score. That was mostly left up to Jett Black, who hauled in 3 of Dean's 5 TD passes. Black had 6 receptions for 185 yards in all as the champs improve to 10-0.
SaberCats 44 Express 12
This was a competitive game for 3 quarters but several 4th quarter mistakes doomed Los Angeles as San Jose essentially clinched the Pacific division today. The SaberCats led 20-12 after 3 before exploding for 24 points in the final 15 minutes thanks to 3 turnovers and a missed FG by the Express offense. Jake Plummer threw for 319 yards and 4 TDs, 2 to Mark Hsu, while David Hartwig had 150 combined yards with a rushing and receiving TD. San Jose improves to 10-0 and has a 6 game division lead.
Gold 38 Wranglers 10
Denver got on the scoreboard first thanks to an Andrew Brewer TD pass, but Arizona answered with a FG and a Brian Carmichael TD pass to Michael Jones to take a 10-7 lead early in the 2nd qtr. That was it for the Wranglers offense though, as the Denver defense forced mostly three and outs the rest of the game. Andrew Brewer would throw 4 more TD passes, giving him 5 for the game. Brewer completed 26/39 for 354 yards and he found Steven Riley 6 times for 148 yards and 3 TDs. Brian Turner caught the other 2 scoring passes as the Gold cruise to 10-0.
Generals 63 Panthers 7
New Jersey and Don Ferguson bounced back in a huge way after suffering their first loss of the season last week. The Generals started fast but Ferguson threw an INT deep in Michigan territory. Jay Leno promptly intercepted Will Allison and the Generals drove into the red zone again, only for David Koresh to lose a fumble. That was it for the mistakes however, as the rest of the game was an offensive onslaught. Ferguson completed 44/54, 745 yards, 9 TDs and 1 INT. Franklin Cherry, whom I would talk about more, but Hampton and Olson, caught 10 passes for 349 yards and 6 TDs. Eric Davis caught the other 3 among his 4 catches, 134 yards. Ferguson had 5 TDs of 50+ yards, a 70 yard score to Davis, and connections with Cherry covering 60, 71, 86, and 57 yards. Speaking of 50+ yards, K Al Borland has yet to attempt a FG from 50+ all year. It's just a lack of opportunities as the offense has been getting more TDs and driving deeper.
Force 45 Stars 20
Baltimore got the ball first and had to punt on their first two drives, each time pinning Georgia inside their 10. Each time, Thomas Jacobi found you know who for long TD passes for a 14-0 Force lead. The first Glen Hampton TD went 86 yards, the second 79, but Baltimore WR John Warkentin knows big plays too. Warkentin took a Stephen Ponder pass 80 yards for a TD to cut the lead in half. Too much Glen Hampton though, as he and Jacobi connected on 2 more first half TD passes, one for 59 yards, the other 48. Baltimore got another Ponder TD pass to trail 28-14 at halftime. The 3rd quarter saw Georgia get a Henry Young TD run and a 5th Jacobi to Hampton TD pass as Georgia goes on to the win, improving to 4-6, 1 game behind Shreveport. Jacobi finished 26/36, 474 yards, 5 TDs and 1 INT, and predictably most of the yards went to Glen Hampton, who finished with 408 yards and 5 TDs on 11 catches.
Outlaws 22 Gunslingers 20
Oklahoma scored first on a short TD run by Christopher Oliver but the XP was no good. San Antonio RB Roy Johnson ran for 121 yards today and 2 early TDs that gave the Gunslingers a 14-6 lead after 1 quarter. The Outlaws scored the next 13 points on a pair of FGs and a Robert Hill 10 yard TD pass to Craig Icenhour. San Antonio closed out the first half with a FG at the gun to pull within 19-17. The second half was a defensive struggle with the Gunslingers taking the lead on a FG in the 3rd, then Oklahoma took the lead back with a 4th qtr FG. The defense kept San Antonio off the scoreboard the final 9+ minutes to win their 7th game in a row, Oklahoma faces a tough test this week, facing the champion Houston Gamblers for the first time this season. The rematch is 3 weeks later, but their other 4 games are against sub .500 teams as they continue their best season since 1987.
Blitz 15 Breakers 10
Chicago and Boston played a defensive game as the first half saw just 3 FGs. Chicago made the first two for a 6-0 lead they held until right before halftime, when Boston got their FG. In the second half, Boston missed a FG on their first drive, then marched 86 yards in 13 plays, taking a 10-6 lead on a 16 yard Larry Henderson TD pass to Bob Carder. The Blitz cut it to 10-9 with an early 4th qtr FG, then later in the quarter Joshua Estes lost a fumble recovered by Chicago's Abdul Strout. That set the Blitz up just outside the red zone and Ronald Brown would find Jason Rambo for a 3 yard TD. The 2 point try failed but Chicago took the lead back 15-10. Boston's last 2 drives ended with an INT and the clock running out 29 yards from the end zone as Chicago hangs on for the win.
Renegades 13 Bulls 6
Yards and points were hard to come by today for both teams. Orlando had 265 yards of offense to 170 for Jacksonville, and the first quarter and a half saw 3 FGs. Jacksonville had 2 of them for a 6-3 lead but just before the 2 minute warning, Trey Lyons threw a 3 yard TD pass to Anthony Milan. That gave the Renegades a 10-6 halftime lead and midway through the 3rd, they added 3 more and that was it. The defenses for both teams controlled the game down the stretch and it was Orlando coming out on top for their 8th straight win.
Blazers 29 Federals 6
Florida isn't quite as hot as Orlando, football wise not temperature, but they ran all over struggling Washington today for their 6th straight win to keep pace atop the Southeast with the Renegades. USFL leading rusher Robert Romero didn't lead Florida in rushing today but he still had 90 yards, while Stephen Hannah chipped in 95 yards. QB Willie Graham threw 2 TD passes to Antonio Calvo, who caught 4 for 134 yards in all. Tristan Arnold isn't giving CrazyRazor what he hoped for when he benched Scott Bieber, as the Federals offense is ranked 27th in the league. It's not all the QBs fault as the running game has struggled as well.
Storm 24 Thunderbolts 0
Cleveland suffers their second consecutive shutout as their offense has shriveled up to almost nothing. Portland held Cleveland to 93 total yards today, and with last week's 106, the Thunderbolts have just 199 yards the last 2 games. Tony Romo completed 10/15 for 27 yards, taking 2 sacks to bring the net yards down to 9 through the air. Melvin Driggers completed 26/31, 210 yards and 2 TDs in the first half for a 17-0 lead. The second half was uneventful save for a Harry Moorman 58 yard INT return for a TD to give us the 24-0 final margin. Portland improves to 7-3 with the victory.
(NY) Stars 20 Stallions 0
The last couple of games, New York has had a more balanced offensive approach as their yardage leader today was FB Nathanael Allen with 110 combined yards. Damien Oleary threw for 248 yards and 2 TDs and the Stars defense did the rest. Norman Maldonado completed just 15/33, 80 yards and 3 INT as New York improves to 8-2.
Steamer 38 VooDoo 14
New Orleans gained 342 offensive yards but 3 INTs and a lost fumble kept their point total low, while the VooDoo defense wasn't making many stops until the 4th quarter when the game was out of hand. George Marcil completed 20/25, 280 yards and 3 TDs for Shreveport, 2 in the first half as the Steamer led 17-0 at the break. RB Scott Randall caught 1 of those and he added a rushing TD in the 3rd, extending the lead to 24-0. Randall ran for 145 yards, adding 46 receiving for a great fantasy day. The win keeps Shreveport 1 game ahead of Georgia in the South, while the loss was the straw that broke slowtospeak's back.
Showboats 27 Sun 13
One week after pushing the champs to the brink of overtime, Sean Ogden's Cinderella story turned into a pumpkin. Ogden completed 28/54, 223 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs, though to be fair he had no support from the running game. Memphis had 392 yards of offense and Erik McNamee threw 2 TD passes to give the Showboats a 20-6 lead in the 3rd quarter. Southern California got their points on a pair of FGs thanks to intercepting McNamee and getting a short field. Ogden then led a TD drive, connecting with Jonathan Sapp for a 48 yard TD pass to pull Southern California within a touchdown. The 4th quarter saw a total of 6 interceptions, 3 from each QB, with Memphis padding their lead/sealing the win when Vincent Hernandez returned one of the INTs 43 yards for a score. Memphis wins their 3rd in a row as they wait in the weeds, hoping one of the teams ahead of them in the playoff chase goes on a losing streak.
Wheels 23 Invaders 19
Oakland scored defensively, offensively and on special teams, but the Invaders lost the turnover battle 4-2, leading to them also losing the game. Oakland sacked Gabriel Flanagan in the end zone in the 2nd qtr, cutting the Detroit lead to 7-2 after the Wheels James Fischer's 1 yard TD run in the 1st. Detroit would add a pair of Kent Olden FGs for a 13-2 lead, then Flanagan found Fischer with a 19 yard TD pass to take a 20-2 lead. The Invaders special teams TD came on the ensuing kickoff as Patrick Miller took it 102 yards to the house. Early in the 3rd, Andrew Moreno threw a 57 yard TD pass to Donald Hart, making the score 20-16 and a FG early in the 4th got Oakland within 1. The Invaders would have a chance to take the lead a few minutes later, but the 45 yard FG was wide left. Detroit would get a 3rd Kent Olden FG to extend the lead to 4 and Detroit hangs on for the win, evening their record at 5-5.
Hornets 23 Maulers 10
Charlotte scored first on a Kenneth Olson 25 yard TD run then Jeremy McDonald found David Delgadillo with a 4 yard TD pass to extend the Hornets lead to 14-0. Pittsburgh got on the board with a FG inside the 2 minute warning, then got within 14-10 after William Obrien's 3 yard TD run ended the first drive of the second half. Charlotte closed out the scoring with 3 FGs and the Hornets win makes them 4-6, just 1 game behind Washington in the Atlantic. RB David Delgadillo was the fantasy stud in this one with 130 combined yards and a receiving TD.
Bell 19 Bandits 12
Tampa Bay rookie QB Nicholas Irvine continues to have growing pains getting used to the pro game, although he has found a nice connection with Luis Dean. Irvine did complete 20/35 for 267 yards, but also threw 3 INTs. Dean caught 8 for 147 yards to lead the Bandits in yardage. The game was a FG contest for most of the first 3 quarters until late in the 3rd when Sidney Maggard found Jamie Epperson with a 3 yard TD pass, breaking a 9-9 tie. Tampa Bay would get a 4th FG to get within 16-12 before Irvine threw INTs #2 and 3 to seal the win for Philadelphia.
