Wildcard weekend began last night with 6 games, of which just one was within 10 points. The home team won 5 of the 6 games, with Oklahoma the lone road winner. Let's check the action.
Oklahoma Outlaws 34 Michigan Panthers 12
Michigan took an early 3-0 lead and the Panthers defense did a good job early of keeping the Oklahoma offense in check. The first quarter ended 3-0 Michigan, although the tide started to turn the other way. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Will Allison was intercepted by Jason Chacko, giving the Outlaws the ball in Panthers territory. Six plays later, Clarence Murphy ran in a 2 yard TD to put Oklahoma in the lead for good 7-3. Each team would add a FG in the 2nd quarter for a 10-6 halftime score.
Oklahoma got the ball to start the 3rd quarter and wasted little time moving down the field. Raymond Settles found Ricardo Horton for a 65 yard gain to set up first and goal, while Johnny Crank finished the drive with a 2 yard TD run. Michigan answered with a FG, cutting the lead to 17-9 but Settles quickly found Horton for a 60 yard TD pass, increasing the lead to 24-9. Michigan would have to settle for yet another FG to get within 24-12 after 3.
Early in the 4th, Settles found Glenn Sprinkle for a 72 yard TD to essentially put the game away. Raymond Settles completed 26/41, 358 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Ricardo Horton had those 2 catches for 125 yards and a TD as the Outlaws gained 513 for the game. The Oklahoma defense allowed just 210 yards, intercepted 2 passes and had a sack as they advance to take on the #1 seed San Jose SaberCats.
Portland Storm 27 Denver Gold 3
Portland scored the first 5 times they had the ball then shut it down, much like they shut down the Denver offense all game long. Denver fumbled 3 times, losing 1 and they allowed 1 sack as most passes fell incomplete (7/23, 25 yards) and they ran the ball for less than 2 yards per carry. 58 total yards won't be good enough most games and it wasn't today. Portland QB Raymond Oswalt threw 3 TD passes, 2 to Guadalupe Navarrette, who caught 5 for 129 yards total.
Game highlights: Oswalt 11 yard TD pass to Richard Robinson; Oswalt to Navarrette for 20 yards; Oswalt to Navarrette for 60 yards.
Houston Gamblers 42 Honolulu Hawaiians 20
It's been 2 seasons since Houston has won a championship and today they looked like a team on a mission to change that. Bryan Franklin was making his first ever post season start and the spotlight was not too much for him. Franklin led 3 long TD drives in the first half and he ended the day 20/28, 432 yards, 5 TDs and 1 INT. Francisco Snow caught 3 for 147 yards and a TD while Jim Dallas caught 3 for 101 and a score. The Gamblers added 166 rushing yards as they built leads of 21-0, 28-7, and 35-10 en route to a comfortable win and a date with Portland next week.
Game highlights: Bryan Franklin TD pass #1, TD pass #2, TD pass #3, Derek Henry TD pass, Bryan Franklin TD pass #4, Franklin TD pass #5, 109 yard kickoff return TD, Gus "Hightest" Gas TD run.
Washington Federals 19 Jacksonville Bulls 10
Jacksonville got the ball first but Matthew Royster fumbled the ball away on the 2nd play from scrimmage, allowing Washington great field position. The Federals offense went nowhere but Steve Jones gave the Federals the 3-0 lead on a 53 yard FG. The score remained 3-0 until just before the 2 minute warning when Jacksonville's Jimmy Wagner ran in a TD from 18 yards out to give the Bulls a 7-3 lead. Washington would add a FG near the end of the half to make the score 7-6 at the break.
The 3rd quarter started out defensively with some punts before Washington finally cracked the end zone with 4:44 left in the quarter. Marcus Ricketts did the honors with a 3 yard TD run to give the lead back to Washington, 13-7. The Federals would add a FG in the middle of the 4th for a 16-7 lead but Jacksonville answered with a FG of their own to pull back within 6 points. The Bulls defense held and got the ball back but the offense couldn't get a 1st down and turned the ball over to Washington after a failed 4th down conversion. The Federals turned that into 3 points and an insurmountable 19-10 lead. Jacksonville turned it over on downs again in the red zone, but they were running out of time anyhow. The only good statistical performance was Jacksonville RB Jimmy Wagner rushing for 130 yards and a TD.
Shreveport Steamer 38 (NY) Stars 10
The regular season stats showed New York had the better offense, but that wasn't the case today. Shreveport scored TDs on 4 of their 5 first half drives to take a 28-7 halftime lead before cruising to victory in the 2nd half. QB Tony Romo got the scoring started with a 12 yard TD pass to Eric Bryant, then it was Married With Children time as Al Bundy, I mean Scott Randall scored 4 TDs. Randall finished the day with 216 yards on 28 carries, adding 44 yards on 4 receptions. Randall's TDs covered 23 yards, 22 yards, 0 yards, and 4 yards. New York got their TD trailing 21-0 and it came on a 16 yard pass from Damian Oleary to William Hall.
Orlando Renegades 19 Georgia Force 0
Orlando used their defense and running game to advance to the divisional round against Shreveport. The first quarter was scoreless and the Renegades defense got the scoring underway with a safety early in the 2nd quarter. Zachary Harvey sacked Larry Henderson in the end zone for the 2-0 lead. Anthony Milan ripped a 54 yard TD run a few minutes later to extend the lead to 9-0. Georgia had a chance to cut the lead at the end of the half but a missed FG kept the halftime score 9-0 Orlando.
The Renegades had 318 total yards, 217 on the ground. Orlando used a RBBC led by Milan, who finished with 97 yards and a TD. Orlando would add a FG in the 3rd for a 12-0 lead then Roger Radke finished the scoring with a 1 yard plunge in the 4th.
