Each conference final featured a previous league champion against a team without a championship, and now we'll have a first time champion after the World Bowl. The San Jose SaberCats got a last second FG to defeat the Portland Storm, and they advance to play the New Orleans VooDoo, who outlasted the New Jersey Generals.
San Jose SaberCats 20 Portland Storm 18
Portland got the ball first and punted, then we had a wild play on San Jose's first snap from scrimmage. Jake Plummer was intercepted by Wade Mullinix, who returned it 9 yards before Plummer hit him and knocked the ball loose. LG Dalton Risner fell on the loose ball and it's 1st down all over again. That drive ended with a punt that pinned the Storm at their own 2, and a few plays later the SaberCats defense intercepted Raymond Oswalt. Raymond Moore got the interception which led to a Craig Icenhour 1 yard TD. The 2 point run failed, keeping the score 6-0 San Jose. Oswalt would be intercepted again on Portland's next play, leading to a FG and a 9-0 SaberCats lead early in the 2nd quarter.
The balance of the half was mostly punts, but Portland did convert a 4th and 1 to keep a drive alive that ended with a 42 yard FG and a halftime score of 9-3 San Jose.
San Jose got the ball to start the 3rd quarter and drove for a TD thanks to Eric Tanner's 17 yard run. Tanner also ran in the 2 point conversion, pushing the SaberCats lead to 17-3. Portland would answer with a FG to cut the lead to 17-6, but it wasn't easy as they had to convert two more 4th and 1 plays to get these 3 points. The Storm defense got the ball back for the offense, and they were driving as we switched to the 4th quarter.
Early in the 4th, Raymond Oswalt's 1 yard TD pass to Guadalupe Navarrette cut the deficit to 17-12, and the 2 point pass failed. Portland's next drive ended with Oswalt's 3rd INT of the game and San Jose was already in scoring range. Their drive stalled and the 37 yard FG try was wide left, leaving the score 17-12 with just under 7 minutes to play. Each team then went three and out before Portland started driving toward a score. At the 2 minute warning Portland faced a 2nd and 8 from the San Jose 10, and eventually faced a 4th and 2 from the 4. John Gill got the first down and almost a touchdown, but he was marked short of the goal line. Robert Byrd ran in the score on the next play and the 2 point pass failed, but Portland now had the lead 18-17. Jake Plummer had a little more than a minute to get into FG range and he wasted little time, finding Craig Icenhour for 13 yards, then David Barfield for 51. That set up a first and ten from the 11 and a few runs set up the game winning 19 yard FG by Robert Rodriguez to send San Jose to their first ever World Bowl.
New Orleans VooDoo 31 New Jersey Generals 24
New Jersey had more yards (412-383), more time of possession (+ 17 minutes), the better rushing attack and a better 3rd down rate (7/18 vs 2/11), yet they still lost the game. Turnovers were even as both QBs threw 3 INTs, but the Generals defense had no answer for Benjamin Jones today. Jones caught 6 passes for 256 yards and 3 TDs to single handedly lead the VooDoo to the World Bowl.
There were other contributors of course, but there is no doubt who got the game ball. New Jersey got the ball first and were just outside the red zone when Don Ferguson threw interception #1. The rest of the quarter was punting until the Generals defense intercepted Charles Crase to start the 2nd.That drive started just inside VooDoo territory and David Koresh finished the drive with a short TD plunge for a 7-0 New Jersey lead. A couple of punts later, Charles Crase found his man Benjamin Jones for a 68 yard TD to tie the game at 7 midway through the 2nd quarter. Don Ferguson would then throw interception #2 but the Generals intercepted Crase for the 2nd time, leading to an Al Borland FG and a 10-7 lead. On the Generals next drive, Ferguson threw interception #3, leading to a Harry Charles 1 yard TD run and a 14-10 halftime lead.
New Orleans got the ball to start the 3rd and wasted little time extending their lead, as Crase hit Jones for another long TD, this one 75 yards on the first play of the drive. Crase would throw interception #3 on the next drive, which led to another FG for New Jersey to make the score 21-13 VooDoo. New Orleans would add a FG in the quarter for a 24-13 lead entering the 4th.
With about 10 minutes to go, Ferguson threw a 4 yard TD pass to Paul Cox and a David Koresh 2 point run made the score 24-21. The New Jersey defense got to sit for 12 plays while the offense ground out a drive, but the VooDoo offense also got to rest, meaning Benjamin Jones had fresh legs. Those fresh legs took a Crase pass 75 yards for a TD on the very next play to kill any momentum New Jersey had just gained. The lead now 10, New Jersey went on a 10 play FG drive to get within 31-24 with 5:32 to play. The Generals defense would hold to give Ferguson a chance to tie the game, and after the first play, things were looking good for New Jersey. Ferguson found Anthony Booker for a 52 yard gain and the clock was not a factor yet. The Generals would only gain 5 more yards however, turning the ball over on downs. They would have one last, desperate chance at the end, but they went nowhere and New Orleans hold on to advance to the World Bowl.
