I have been talking about Glen Hampton all season, and he went off for 360 yards and 4 TDs today, giving him 2819/26 on the season. The records are 2835/29, and given I'm 3 game weeks behind on this blog, spoiler alert, both records fall. I am going to do this rapid fire style in an effort to catch up.
Force 31 VooDoo 30...New Orleans had their best offensive game of the season, keeping the ball over 42 minutes with 553 total yards. QB Ellis Soza threw for 426 yards and 3 TDs, but Glen Hampton was just too much for the VooDoo and Georgia wins a nail biter that oddly saw zero points in the 4th quarter after 61 were scored in the first 41 minutes.
SaberCats 29 Storm 17...Jake Plummer threw for 309 yards and a TD while the San Jose defense held Portland to 286 yards and 10 offensive points. Mark Hsu caught the TD and had 152 receiving yards to help San Jose improve to 12-0.
Gunslingers 19 Gamblers 13...Charlie Shanks ran for 96 yards and San Antonio played turnover free football. 19 points isn't usually enough to beat the champs, but the Gunslingers defense forced 2 turnovers and had the field position advantage as the Gamblers average start was their own 19. San Antonio gets to play spoiler, handing Houston their first loss of the season.
Generals 49 (NY) Stars 14...The first Stars/Generals game, New Jersey expected an all out aerial attack, but New York ran the ball some and they beat the Generals. This time around, New Jersey expected some runs, but New York threw every down. Damien Oleary (328 yards, 2 TD) and Albert Olson (8-193-2) got theirs, but everybody else disappeared. For New Jersey, Don Ferguson got himself ahead of the pace for the TD record, throwing 7 scores today among 41/52, 596 yards. WR Franklin Cherry had 209 receiving yards and 2 scores while TE Redd Foxx hauled in 3 scoring passes.
Renegades 34 Federals 20...Tristan Arnold found Matthew Cuevas for a 75 yard TD pass and a quick 7-0 Washington lead, but the usually stout Federals defense allowed Orlando TDs on the first 3 Renegades drives, falling behind 21-7. Washington would make it close, getting within 24-20 in the 4th before the Renegades scored the last 10 points to seal the win. QB Trey Lyons threw for 320 yards and 3 TDs while RB Anthony Milan led the team in rushing (91 yards) and receiving (81 yards, 2 TDs). ESPN's Scoop Peterson is reporting that Milan is about to be named 1995 Offensive Rookie of the Year, though the official announcement has yet to be made.
Blazers 25 Bulls 17...Jacksonville gave Florida all they wanted defensively, and the Bulls took a 7-0 lead on a defensive TD as Alfonso Ballance returned a fumble 26 yards for the score. Florida only had 241 offensive yards, converting just 1/16 3rd downs and their lone TD was a 46 yard Willie Graham TD pass to Douglas Jordan. K Gerald Harmon made all 6 FG tries as the Blazers kick the Bulls further away from first place.
Gold 40 Stallions 7...Denver bounced back from their first loss of the season in a big way, out gaining Birmingham 503-196. Andrew Brewer completed 25/32, 391 yards and 3 TDs while Steven Riley caught 9 for 244 yards and a TD to lead the Gold offense. Defensively Denver intercepted 2 passes and allowed just 1/12 on 3rd down.
Outlaws 16 Hawaiians 9...Oklahoma couldn't run the ball today but they did get a pair of Robert Hill TD passes, while the Outlaws defense allowed Honolulu just 3 FGs all game. It wasn't a pretty win, but the Outlaws improve to 9-3, which is pretty.
Blitz 23 Thunderbolts 20 (OT)...Cleveland benched Tony Romo for John Crisp, and while his stats weren't crisp, Crisp and the Thunderbolts RBBC got out to a 20-3 lead midway through the 3rd qtr. Evan Hershey (74 yards) and Howard Buxton (63 yards) each scored rushing TDs but Chicago QB Ronald Brown tossed a pair of 4th qtr TD passes and along with a 3rd qtr FG, the game was tied. Neither team moved the ball well in the extra session and a Howard Rouse fumble gave Chicago the ball in FG range. Evan Joseph was good from 46 yards, helping the Blitz maintain their lead over Detroit.
Steamer 21 Invaders 6...George Marcil completed 20/24, 132 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT and his leading receiver was RB Scott Randall, who caught 8 for 41 yards and the TD. While the passing game was dink and dunk, the story of this game was each team's rushing attack. Scott Randall also led Shreveport in rushing with 201 yards and a TD, and the yardage is a league high for the season. For Oakland, it's not fair to call it a rushing attack as the Invaders had negative 8 yards on 15 carries. If Randall runs like that in January, the Steamer will be a tough out.
Showboats 17 Maulers 10...Memphis RB Steve Ransome ran for some yards today, 96 to be exact and he scored both a rushing and a receiving TD. Both teams played turnover free football while using a short passing attack and it was the running of Ransome making the difference. Pittsburgh ran for 1 yard per carry while Memphis ran for 4.76. The Maulers were driving to tie the game late in the 4th, but turned it over on downs just short of the red zone and Memphis gets the win that bolsters their playoff chances.
Wheels 32 Bell 14...Detroit QB Gabriel Flanagan completed 33/46, 349 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT and K Kent Olden booted 6 FGs to lead the Wheels to victory. The Detroit defense sacked Sidney Maggard twice and intercepted him 4 times, leading to several of Olden's 3 pointers. This is Detroit's 6th win in a row after a 1-5 start.
Hornets 32 Bandits 17...Tampa Bay had been starting 1st round rookie Nicholas Irvine at QB and the INTs became too much, so the Bandits coaching staff decided to see what 4th round rookie Dwayne Byrd can do. Byrd acquitted himself well, throwing for 387 yards and a TD on 31/46 passing. Byrd did take 4 sacks, one for a safety and Irvine saw limited action as well, tossing a TD and taking a sack. Irvine completed just 2/9 though, and has likely lost the job. Aside from turnovers, the Bandits problems stem from their 27th ranked defense. Charlotte ran for 124 yards using a RBBC and QB Jeremy McDonald threw 3 TD passes as Charlotte keeps their playoff dream alive.
Express 38 Sun 16...David Tavarez threw for 334 yards and 4 TDs to lead Los Angeles to victory. Tavarez connected with 9 different receivers and cashed in 5/6 red zone trips with TDs. RB Michael Bethea caught 2 of Tavarez's TD passes and ran for 94 yards. Bethea almost had a rushing TD but he fumbled near the goal line and Robert Lott fell on the ball for the Express TD. Southern California moved the ball well with 352 yards, but 2 Sean Ogden INTs made it harder to keep pace with the scoring of Los Angeles.
Wranglers 30 Panthers 22...Arizona got out to a 14-0 lead before Michigan cut it to 14-7. William Haubert returned the ensuing kickoff 106 yards for his 2nd return TD of the season, joining Francis Schultz in the multiple kick return TD club. . All of that happened in the 1st quarter, and our score remained 21-7 until the 4th where we had 3 TDs, 3 missed 2 point conversions and a pair of FGs. Michigan got within 5 points twice but no closer as Arizona wins. Michigan QB Will Allison threw for 240 yards and 3 TDs on 24/44 passing while Arizona's Brian Carmichael completed 23/26, 252 yards and 2 TDs.
Breakers 13 Stars 10...Baltimore ran for over 6 yards a carry but QB Stephen Ponder threw for just 75 yards on 14 completions. Baltimore had 2 good drives all game, one for a TD and one for a FG. Boston ran the ball often, though not quite as well as the Stars, gaining 135 yards on 40 carries. Larry Henderson completed 18/23, 149 yards, leading four good drives, one for a TD and three FG opportunities. The first 2 kicks were good as the Breakers took a 13-10 lead early in the 4th, while the last kick missed. The miss didn't matter a whole lot as it left Baltimore just 0:32 to tie the game, which they couldn't.
