Week 13: 3,000 Receiving Yards For Hampton

 Glen Hampton broke the single season receiving yards record with his first catch of the game, then followed it up with a TD reception 2 plays later. Hampton finished with exactly 200 yards and 2 TDs, pushing the new record to 3,019 yards and counting. His 2 TDs give him 28 for the season, 1 short of Mark Hsu's record of 29 set in 1993. The receiving mark was set at 2,113 yards by New Orleans WR Thomas Canale in our league's first season in 1974. The next season, San Antonio's Donnie Baker raised the bar to 2,223 only to see Oklahoma's Dusty Heckman post 2,548 yards in 1976. Heckman's mark stood until Mark Hsu's 2,745 in 1993 while Hsu only held the record until Albert Olson had 2,835 last year. Who knows how long we'll be in version 4.6, but it's pretty safe to say Glen Hampton will keep this record for awhile.

I have been keeping you guys up to date on the playoff races in the league forum, and I'm still behind, so I'm going to concentrate on the game itself and stats.

Stallions 38 Force 34...Glen Hampton set the record with the help of QB Thomas Jacobi, who threw for 422 yards, 4 TDs and an INT in leading Georgia to 34 points. The Force defense allowed 501 yards to Birmingham though, as Norman Maldonado completed 23/32, 393 yards and 3 TDs with Joseph Oliver catching 2 of the scores. Oliver finished with 193 yards on 6 catches and RB Francis Schultz ran for 101 yards and 2 scores to lead the Stallions to a wild win over Georgia. 

SaberCats 21 Gamblers 15...I wish I had more time to write about this heavyweight fight. These teams are offensive juggernauts at times, capable of hitting big plays but those were hard to come by today as both defenses brought their "A" games. Tony Dean and Jake Plummer each threw a first half TD pass and we were tied at 7 after 30 minutes. The Gamblers defense gave Houston the lead when Allan Schulte sacked Plummer in the end zone. Earl Castro booted a pair of FGs, extending the Houston lead to 15-7. Jake Plummer got San Jose within 15-13 on a 20 yard TD pass to Dave McEntee with 1:01 to play. David Hartwig ran in the 2 point conversion and we were headed for OT. In the extra session, Houston had LT Greg Locke in at FB and he fumbled after a reception, giving the SaberCats the ball near midfield. San Jose drained the clock and Rodney Richardson's 5 yard TD run gave San Jose the win to improve to 13-0.

Gold 27 Storm 15...Max Ellis had 2 TD runs, Andrew Brewer threw for 265 yards and a TD while the Denver RBBC had 140 yards on the ground to lead Denver to victory over Portland. Denver's defense held Portland to 204 yards until they struck for an 80 yard Melvin Driggers TD pass to Richard Robinson on their final drive. 

Renegades 16 Blazers 13 (OT)...Orlando and Florida have been battling for the Southeast division all season and this game certainly was a fight. Through 4 quarters, each team had 1 TD and 2 FGs, so we needed overtime. Orlando got the ball first in OT and punted then Florida went backwards before they punted. Orlando punted again and so did Florida, after also going backwards. The Renegades kept getting better field position thanks to the Blazers going backwards, and they were able to drive into FG range where Scott Mueller's 40 yard FG at the gun gave Orlando the win.

Federals 49 Bandits 43...Tough to be brief with this game. Dwayne Byrd got the start again for Tampa Bay and he finished with 491 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. Byrd had the Bandits out to a 30-7 lead in the 2nd qtr and the halftime score was 40-21 as Luis Dean caught all 3 Byrd TD passes as part of his 10 catch, 242 yard game. Tristan Arnold brought Washington back, throwing 5 TD passes and 446 yards, although 3 INTs hurt. The Bandits actually scored first in the 3rd qtr, extending their lead to 43-21 before the Federals scored the last 28 points the hard way, 3 TDs with 2 XP, a 2 point conversion to go with a pair of FGs. Byrd had the Bandits driving toward a score at the end of the game but the clock ran out on them as Washington holds on for the wild, come from behind win.

Wheels 34 Blitz 18...Gabriel Flanagan threw for 319 yards and 4 TDs to lead Detroit to their 7th straight win. This win was especially important as the Wheels are chasing the Blitz for the Midwest division title, and Detroit now finds themselves 1 game behind while also putting pressure on the wildcard teams.

Maulers 15 (NY) Stars 12 (OT)...New York threw every down again as Damien Oleary completed 42/65 for 360 yards and an INT. Albert Olson caught 9 for 158 yards but all of this passing didn't help the Stars cross the goal line as they settled for 4 Ed Jetton FGs today. Pittsburgh QB Paul Marcum didn't throw a TD pass either, but he completed 20/23 for 193 yards and he led a short TD drive after New York lost a fumble on the opening drive. The XP was no good but Brett Bowman made 3/4 FGs to help Pittsburgh upset New York.

Generals 20 Breakers 0...Don Ferguson threw for 348 yards and a TD to Kurt Cobain and the Generals defense pitched a shutout as New Jersey marches toward the East division title. Cobain caught 11 for 105 yards and the aforementioned TD, and he also led the Generals rushing attack with 80 yards. The defense forced no turnovers but they did force a punt after every drive except the last one, when Boston turned it over on downs. Good thing the Generals defense was so stingy given their red zone struggles and 2 missed FGs by former All Pro kicker Al Borland.

Steamer 31 VooDoo 9...George Marcil only completed 10/16 for 186 yards, but he threw 3 TD passes to 0 INTs, leading the Steamer to victory. The Shreveport defense intercepted Ellis Soza 3 times and held them to a pair of FGs in 2 red zone trips. New Orleans kept the ball 34 minutes, yet it was Shreveport controlling the game on the ground as Guillermo McDaniel ran for 117 yards and a TD.

Wranglers 16 Thunderbolts 13...Cleveland started John Crisp at QB again but the turnovers continued for the Thunderbolts as they lose their 5th in a row. Crisp threw 2 INTs and was just 1/3 in the red zone while Cleveland runners lost 2 fumbles. Arizona QB Brian Carmichael threw 2 TD passes, and his 4 yard TD pass to Adam McClure early in the 4th was the game winning TD.

Hornets 16 Outlaws 10...These long suffering franchises find themselves playing each other in a meaningful, late season game for the first time in awhile. Charlotte rookie RB Kenneth Olson only ran for 39 yards today but he caught 7 passes for 171 yards and a TD, including a 73 yard TD at the beginning of the 2nd qtr. Oklahoma tied it on a Gene Collins 25 yard TD run, then the Hornets out kicked the Outlaws 3 FGs to 1 the rest of the game. Charlotte keeps the pressure on Washington in the Atlantic while the Outlaws loss opens the door for the other wildcard contenders.

Bulls 34 Stars 10...Derek Joyce threw for 303 yards and 3 TD passes as Jacksonville got out to a 34-0 lead. WR William Morrison caught 6 passes for 147 yards and 2 TDs to pace the offense while the Bulls defense made life rough for Baltimore. The Stars only turned the ball over once but the running game produced 1 yard on 19 carries and Stephen Ponder completed just 14/33 passes, as the offense did nothing until they were down 34-0.

Sun 20 Invaders 10...Southern California QB Sean Ogden's day started out bad, but he would bounce back to throw for 303 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Sun to victory. Oakland got a FG on their opening drive, then an Ogden INT gave Oakland the ball near midfield. Andrew Moreno promptly threw a 48 yard TD pass to Donald Hart for a 10-0 lead. Ogden then led the Sun to TD drives of 75 and 91 yards, taking a 14-10 lead in the 2nd qtr. RB Matthew Tipps didn't score for the Sun but he had 194 combined yards on 57 rushing and 137 receiving, leading the team in both. The Sun defense kept the Invaders scoreless after the long TD pass and added a pair of 2nd half FGs for the win.

Panthers 30 Bell 29...These former playoff teams are struggling in 1996, but they had an exciting back and forth game today. Philadelphia had 467 offensive yards but only got in the red zone once, getting two long TD passes from Sidney Maggard and 5 Steve Matthews FGs to take a 29-17 lead with 3:39 to play. Will Allison then led Michigan to a TD at the 2 minute warning with a 13 yard pass to William Hutchings. The Panthers recovered the onside kick and Allison drove the offense toward the end zone again. With 0:12 left, Allison found Hutchings again for a 2 yard TD pass. The 2 point conversion was no good, but with 13 points the final 2 minutes, Michigan gets the come from behind victory.

Express 28 Showboats 24...Memphis started out slow before Erik McNamee led two long scoring drives in the 2nd qtr to take a 17-13 halftime lead. The first drive was a 1 play, 93 yard TD pass to Paul Davis and the second score was 43 yards to Thomas Ballard. Memphis continued the momentum in the 3rd qtr as McNamee found Mark Glenn for a 76 yard TD pass to extend the lead to 24-13. Los Angeles came back with a pair of David Tavarez 4th qtr TD passes for the come from behind win to put a damper on the Memphis playoff hopes.

Hawaiians 14 Gunslingers 10...There wasn't a whole lot of yards today, but once they got into the red zone, they scored. San Antonio got on the scoreboard first with a 53 yard FG in the 1st, then Phillip Wood ran in an 11 yard score in the 2nd to give Honolulu a 7-3 lead. RB Roy Johnson had 5 yards rushing on 5 carries today, but one resulted in a short TD in the 3rd as the Gunslingers retake the lead 10-7. RB Anthony Davis led the Hawaiians in rushing with 88 yards, and receiving with 78 yards on 7 catches. Davis caught a 19 yard TD pass from Edwin Clarkson late in the 3rd and the defense held firm in the 4th for a Hawaiians victory.

Week 12: Hampton 16 yards short of the record

 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.

Wee 11: Tony Dean Breaks All Time Passing Record

 Tony Dean became the all time passing leader during today's game at Oklahoma. I'll refer you to the Houston Chronicle if you want to read about Dean's pursuit of the record as team owner Cjfred has done a great job of describing it. A lot of times people like to throw out the greatest this or that, and often it's just talk but not in this case. Here are some of our all time passing leaders:

 

Whether you look at completion percentage, yards per attempt, sacks taken, TDs or QBR, Dean is at the top of the list of our all time great QBs, and only Hall of Famer Mario Valencia has thrown fewer interceptions. The stats back up CJ's boasts, all hail Tony Dean, the greatest USFL QB of all time. On top of all of Dean's on field accomplishments, he also routinely wins Jim Kelly look alike contests (see the Houston Chronicle for photo evidence of the resemblance).

There was a full slate of football games today, so let's get to the on field action.

Gamblers 21 Outlaws 16

The Tony Dean record was expected to happen today, but this game had a lot of importance to both teams in terms of the playoffs. Houston most likely will go, especially after today's win gives them some separation from the upstart Outlaws, and would most certainly be a wildcard should they collapse down the stretch. Oklahoma is a different story, as the loss has Memphis breathing down their neck for a wildcard spot. Moral victories are usually meaningless, but in this case, the close loss suggests that Oklahoma has closed the talent gap with the superior Gamblers, and even if the playoffs elude them this year, they have a solid foundation for the future. 

The game started out as a defensive struggle as the first score came on an Oklahoma FG midway through the 2nd. Houston has scored the 3rd most points in the league, but the Outlaws defense kept the champs off the scoreboard until the final minute or so of the first half. Tony Dean's 3 yard TD pass to Jim Dallas gave Houston the 7-3 halftime lead. 

Houston got the ball to start the second half and punted. Oklahoma was driving, getting a first and goal from the 8 before Thomas Snyder intercepted Robert Hill in the end zone. The Oklahoma sideline was screaming for a holding penalty on Snyder, and the game log says he got away with it, but the refs did see Charles Saner commit pass interference and the penalty negated the INT. Given new life, Robert Hill found Christopher Baker with a 1 yard TD pass to give the Outlaws the lead back, 10-7. That was our score until early in the 4th, when Houston RB Lloyd Ellis ran in a TD from 23 yards out. Two plays prior, Tony Dean broke the all time passing yardage mark on a 14 yard pass to Donald Turner and the TD made the score 14-10. A couple drives later, Oklahoma started at their own 3 following an excellent punt by A.J. Winehouse. Things went from bad to worse, as Hill threw an interception, setting up the Gamblers within inches of the goal line. One play later, Dean found Jett Black for the short TD pass, extending the lead to 21-10. Robert Hill would throw his 2nd TD pass to Christopher Baker to pull within 21-16 but the 2 point try failed. Oklahoma would get the ball one more time but they went 4 and out, turning it over on downs and allowing Houston to hold on for the win. 

Houston improves to 11-0, 3 games ahead of Oklahoma. The Outlaws are 8-3, currently good for the #6 seed.

Storm 12 Gold 7

A Denver victory would have given the Gold a 4 game lead with 5 to play, making it extremely difficult for the Storm to win the division. Portland still has their work cut out for them, trailing Denver by 2 games with 5 to play, but today's win was still very important. The defensive units for both teams were strong today as this game had just 368 combined yards. Andrew Brewer gave Denver a 7-0 lead with a 25 yard TD pass to Steven Riley. Denver's defense really held Portland down, allowing just 161 yards, but a Brewer INT gave the Storm the ball in FG range and Donald Atkins made the score 7-3 with a 50 yard FG. The Gold were inside their own 20 when Andrew Brewer threw a short pass to Brian Turner. Clifton Mabon jarred the ball loose and David Jaquez scooped it up and took it 10 yards for a defensive TD to give Portland a 10-7 lead. As the game clock went under 4 minutes to play, Denver was once again backed up in their own end when disaster struck. This time it was Henry Proctor bursting through the line to sack Brewer in the end zone for a safety. Portland wins the defensive struggle 12-7 to improve to 8-3 on the year, good for the #5 seed. Denver falls to 10-1, suffering their first loss of the season but still lead the West.

SaberCats 34 Bulls 13

It wasn't a pretty game by either team, but Jacksonville was sloppier as the loss dampened the Bulls playoff hopes. San Jose QB Jake Plummer threw 2 INTs, completed just 50% of his passes and was sacked 3 times. The SaberCats also committed 8 penalties and allowed Jacksonville 4 red zone trips. The San Jose defense allowed 307 total yards, but in the red zone they allowed the Bulls just 10 points from those 4 trips, intercepting Derek Joyce 4 times and sacking him twice. Jacksonville matched the SaberCats with 8 penalties and one of the INTs was returned for a TD by Charles Sermons. Jake Plummer did throw for 3 TDs among his 14 completions and that was enough to improve to 11-0 and clinch the Pacific. Jacksonville falls to 6-5, 2 games back of the wildcard, 3 in the division.

Steamer 38 Force 17

This was one of several games with playoff implications as Georgia needed to win to force a tie atop the South. Glen Hampton is having a historic season but it's not translating into wins as the Force were 4-6 coming in. Hampton caught 7 for 122 yards and a TD but the rest of Georgia's offense did very little. The Force led 10-7 after Hampton's TD catch but Shreveport went on a 31-0 run to seize control of the game. Scott Randall ran for 132 yards and a TD while George Marcil threw for 252 yards and 3 TDs. The Steamer defense contributed to the scoring when Mathew Fisher returned an INT 49 yards for a score. Shreveport converted 9/16 on 3rd down and held the ball for almost 40 minutes in improving to 6-5 and a 2 game lead on Georgia in the South.

Blazers 16 Renegades 6

Orlando started the season 0-2, suffering 4 turnovers in each loss. Since then, the Renegades have won 8 in a row, mainly thanks to better ball security. Today they hosted Florida and the league's leading rusher Robert Romero in a battle for first place in the Southeast. Orlando did a great job limiting Romero to 22 yards on 14 carries, but they allowed Stephen Hannah to take a handoff 66 yards for a TD that gave Florida a 7-0 lead. The rest of the game was all FGs as Florida led 13-3 at halftime. The second half saw 1 FG apiece and Florida wins to take sole possession of first with a 9-2 record. Orlando turned the ball over 3 times while not forcing any and the loss drops them to 8-3, good for the #6 seed at the moment.

Federals 19 Hornets 0

Washington is not having their best year, as a loss to Charlotte today would have seen the Federals and Hornets tied atop the Atlantic with identical 5-6 records. Federals QB Tristan Arnold dinked and dunked his way to completing 33/46, 193 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT and Washington finished with 260 total yards. The Federals defense was stingy today though, holding the Hornets to 173 yards and forcing 5 turnovers while keeping Charlotte off the scoreboard. The win improves Washington to 6-5, good for a 1.5 game lead on Pittsburgh and a 2 game lead on 4-7 Charlotte.

Generals 58 Breakers 0

Boston and their banged up offense traveled to New Jersey to face the Generals and it wasn't pretty. The injury report is full of mostly offensive players, but their defensive players had their pride hurt by Generals QB Don Ferguson. The Breakers could only muster 178 total yards as all of their FB/TE were injured and inactive, while they suffered 3 more serious injuries during the game. Defensively, Ferguson passes carved the Boston defense like a hot knife through butter. Ferguson is back ahead of the record pace for TDs in a season, throwing 6 today without an INT. In all, Ferguson completed 30/46, 507 yards, with Franklin Cherry catching 3 TD passes. Cherry caught 5 for 193 yards total while Duncan Meyer caught 7 for 136 scoreless yards. It wasn't all air yards for the Generals as David Koresh ran for 106 and Kurt Cobain ran for 63 and a TD. New Jersey improves to 10-1 and have their rematch with New York next week.

Blitz 30 Panthers 14

Chicago played a ball control game, hogging it for over 44 minutes of game action. That left just 15:39 for Michigan, and while the Panthers had 288 yards, 2 lost fumbles and 0/8 on 3rd down helped them lose their 5th straight game. The Blitz took an early 14-0 lead on a pair of Ronald Brown TD passes to Jason Rambo. Chicago would add a pair of FGs for a 20-0 halftime lead and extended it to 23-0 with a 3rd qtr FG. Michigan answered with a 75 yard TD pass from Will Allison to Harvey Williams, but it was too little too late. Rambo finished the game with 13 receptions and 109 yards while John Gates ran for 94. Ronald Brown finished 29/36, 244 yards and 3 TDs as the Blitz improve to 8-3, 2 games ahead of Detroit in the Midwest.

(NY) Stars 6 Thunderbolts 0

New York might have been looking ahead to next week's game against New Jersey, but whatever the reason, they had a bad game today against punchless Cleveland. The Thunderbolts are in a serious scoring drought, suffering their 3rd consecutive shutout today. They also failed to score in the second half 4 games ago, bringing the scoreless streak to 14 quarters and counting. New York held Cleveland to 128 total yards, sacking Tony Romo 3 times and intercepting him twice. New York kicked FGs in the 1st and 3rd quarters and those 6 points stood up for the win. New York improves to 9-2, but a win over New Jersey next week would complete the sweep, putting the Stars in 1st place.

Showboats 24 Hawaiians 21

Memphis needs to keep winning and get some help if they are going to make the playoffs and Erik McNamee had the Showboats ahead 10-0 at halftime with a short TD pass to Paul Davis. That TD was set up by an Edwin Clarkson  INT deep in Honolulu territory, giving Memphis an instant first and goal. Honolulu got the ball to start the second half but fumbled it away, allowing the Showboats another 1 play TD drive as McNamee found Mark Glenn for the 49 yard TD and a 17-0 lead. Clarkson brought the Hawaiians back with a pair of TD passes later in the 3rd. Midway through the 4th, McNamee threw his 3rd TD pass, second to Paul Davis as Memphis extended their lead to 24-14. Clarkson got Honolulu within 3 on a 34 yard TD pass to Anthony Davis, but that came with just 0:13 left and Memphis hangs on for victory.

Wheels 17 Wranglers 7

Detroit wins their 5th game in a row today to remain 2 games out of a playoff spot. The Wheels got out to a 7-0 lead on a Gabriel Flanagan 22 yard pass to James Fischer but Brian Carmichael answered quickly for Arizona. Carmichael found William Haubert with a 76 yard TD pass, tying the game at 7. Kent Olden made a 32 yard FG to close out the 1st qtr scoring and Flanagan made it 17-7 with a 19 yard TD pass to Matthew Houston. The second half was pretty much a punt fest. Flanagan threw a harmless INT in the 3rd qtr while Carmichael threw one on the last 2 Wranglers drive, but neither team came close to scoring. 

Bell 20 VooDoo 9

Each team scored twice in the first half, New Orleans kicked a pair of FGs while Philadelphia kicked 1 and Sidney Maggard threw a 75 yard TD pass to Craig Hines as the Bell led at the half, 10-6. The score remained the same until early in the 4th, when Maggard found Hines again, this time being a 9 yard score, giving the Bell a 17-6 lead. Hines finished with 6 catches, 143 yards and those 2 TDs and Philadelphia hangs on for the win, improving to 6-5, 2 games out of a playoff spot.

Express 20 Gunslingers 6

San Antonio welcomed RB Charlie Shanks back to the lineup and he responded with 108 rushing yards, but the rest of the Gunslingers offense fired blanks. QB Robert Fanelli only threw for 145 yards and was intercepted 3 times. David Tavarez wasn't much better, throwing for 233 yards and 2 INTs. While the Gunslingers ran the ball more effectively than the Express, San Antonio only produced 6 points while Los Angeles RB Gary Sappington had 2 rushing TDs as Los Angeles gets the win.

Sun 30 Bandits 23

Tampa Bay suffered their 6th one score loss today despite rookie QB Nicholas Irvine having his best game so far as a pro. Southern California QB Sean Ogden threw 2 early TD passes to help the Sun get out to a 17-3 lead midway through the 2nd qtr. Tampa Bay cut it to 17-6 by halftime and got within 7 points in the 4th qtr. Three FGs in the 3rd, 2 by the Sun had made the score 23-9 at the beginning of the 4th when Irvine found Earl Noble with a 68 yard TD pass. Michael Johnson's 34 yard TD run sealed the win for Southern California, as the Sun led 30-16 with 3:10 to play. Irvine would throw another TD pass with just over a minute to play, but the onside kick failed, allowing Southern California to run out the clock. Sean Ogden completed 31/45, 363 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT while James Brough caught 9 for 153 yards and a TD for Southern California. Irvine completed 23/43, 317 yards and 2 TDs, 0 INTs. 

Maulers 16 Stars 13

Stephen Ponder gave Baltimore a 7-0 lead with a 9 yard pass to John Gardea. Baltimore would add a FG before a Ronald Smith TD run got Pittsburgh within 10-7 by halftime. The Stars extended the lead to 13-7 with a FG but Pittsburgh K Brett Bowman booted 3 FGs, the last as time expired to give the Maulers the 16-13 win over Baltimore. Stars QB Stephen Ponder finished the game completing 14/14. The last time any QB had a 100% completion rate throwing more than 10 passes was 1981. It was done 5 times that season, 3 by Cleveland's Chester Dougherty, who completed 27/27 at Denver. 

Invaders 9 Stallions 6 (OT)

Looking at this box score sort of reminds me of yesterday's real life Green Bay/Cincinnati OT debacle, with all the wasted victory opportunities. This game saw no TDs though, and we were tied at 6 late in the 4th. Birmingham had a chance to take the lead inside the 2 minute warning, but the 49 yard FG try was wide left. Andrew Moreno then drove Oakland just outside the red zone when a 3rd down pass got the Invaders down to the 5 yard line. Donald Hart coughed up the ball however, and the Stallions fell on the loose ball. Time was running out, yet Birmingham threw the ball anyway, with Norman Maldonado being intercepted. Moreno completed a pass to the Stallions 33 but the clock ran out before a FG could be kicked. 

Extra football would be played, with Oakland getting the ball first. Moreno was intercepted, giving Birmingham the ball at the edge of FG range. The Stallions moved it closer but the 30 yard potential game winner went wide left. Oakland had another chance and Moreno drove the Invaders into FG range. Lawrence Linville was good from 31 yards out as Oakland wins in the final minute of overtime.

Week 10: I'm Running Out Of Things To Say About Glen Hampton

 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. 

Week 9: Generals Lose 1st Game, Oakland Wins 1st Game

 Week 9 found four teams trying for 9-0 and one team looking for their first win. It wasn't easy for any of the unbeaten, as San Jose's 13 point win was the widest margin among them. Southern California made a QB switch and came within a missed 2 point conversion from sending the champs to OT. Speaking of OT, Denver needed it to get past Chicago to maintain their perfect record. New Jersey was looking to beat New York to take control of the East, but the Stars had other ideas. The anticipated shootout never materialized as neither QB topped 300 yards, but New York held the Generals scoreless in the second half, winning the game and creating a division race. 

Oakland was 0-8 coming into this game against Glen Hampton and Georgia's aerial assault and the Invaders offense had scored 56 total points all year, 7 per game. So of course Oakland explodes for 45 points and holds Hampton to "just" 117 yards, his second lowest output of the season. Lawrence Linville tied a league record with 8 made FGs and the Invaders win means every team in the league has now won at least 1 game. Oklahoma used to be one of the last teams to drop the zero from their win column, but not this year. The Outlaws shutout Cleveland to win their 6th in a row and would be challenging for the division if Houston ever loses. The Gamblers have a 2 game lead on them, while Denver enjoys a 3 game lead, San Jose 4 in their respective divisions. Chicago and Washington also have 2 game leads, Shreveport and New Jersey have 1 game leads while the Southeast is a 3 way race, with Orlando and Florida tied at the top, 1 game ahead of Jacksonville. 

Gamblers 28 Sun 26

Southern California finally listened to all the media and fans clamoring for Sean Ogden to start, and they gave the undefeated champs everything they had. Ogden hasn't seen action in awhile, and he didn't get warmed up until the second half, but he kept the Sun in the game with help from the defense. Tony Dean led Houston down the field on their opening possession for a 7-0 lead, but the Gamblers offense wouldn't score again until the 3rd quarter. Meanwhile, Ogden led the Sun to a pair of FGs before Christopher Do pulled the sack trifecta for Houston. Do sacked Ogden at the 5 yard line, causing a fumble which rolled into the end zone. Do fell on the loose ball for a TD and a 14-6 halftime lead for the Gamblers. 

The second half saw alternating scores, with Southern California going first on a 54 yard Ogden TD pass to Brian Dow. Tony Dean would answer with a short TD pass to Jim Dallas before Ogden answered back with an 11 yard TD pass to Matthew Tripp. That made the score 21-20 Houston entering the 4th, and the Gamblers extended it to 28-20 on a short Dean TD pass to Francisco Snow. Ogden then found Mark Littlejohn with a 67 yard TD pass, making the score 28-26. The 2 point try failed and the Sun kicked away with 3:35 to play. Tony Dean and the Gamblers offense bled the remaining clock, holding on for the slim 2 point win.

Ogden was 27/38, 337 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT and 4 sacks, spreading the ball to 8 different receivers. Tony Dean also threw 3 TDs, but was intercepted twice, and also completed 27/38 like Ogden. WR Jett Black led the skill players with 6 receptions, 143 yards and a TD. 

Gold 23 Blitz 20 (OT)

Chicago traveled to Denver for a game between division leaders. Ronald Brown got the Blitz out to a 7-0 lead thanks to a 27 yard TD pass to his favorite target, Ian Gordon. Andrew Brewer brought the Gold offense down the field to tie the game on a 6 yard TD pass to Steven Riley. Ronald Brown threw an interception on the next drive, allowing Brewer and Riley to hook up again, this time for a 23 yard score. Denver took a 14-7 lead into the 2nd quarter, but Chicago took the lead by halftime with a FG and a 2nd Brown to Gordon TD pass. The 3rd quarter saw an exchange of FGs, and Denver tied the game at 20 with a FG early in the 4th. Neither offense came close to scoring and we were headed for extra football. Chicago got the ball first in overtime and punted, while Denver also punted their first drive. Ronald Brown then threw another INT, allowing Denver to take over at the Chicago 41. A few plays and 23 yards later, Robert Deacon made a 35 yard FG for the win as Denver improves to 9-0.

SaberCats 19 Hawaiians 3

Neither offense was particularly sharp today, especially in the red zone. San Jose got there twice, kicking a pair of FGs while Honolulu failed to score on 3 red zone possessions. The first two were missed FGs while the third was late in the game, down double digits. David Owen did make a 49 yard FG for the Hawaiians in the first half, cutting the SaberCats lead in half, 6-3. The 3rd quarter saw the game's only TD as Jake Plummer found Harold Marshall with an 80 yard TD pass for a 13-3 lead. San Jose would pad that lead with a pair of FGs and go on to win the game.

(NY) Stars 24 New Jersey 17

Everyone thought we'd have a ton of passing yards in this game, but neither QB topped 300 yards. WR Albert Olson still had a big game, more on him later. New Jersey got out to the fast start, taking a 17-3 lead late in the 2nd qtr, thanks to a pair of Don Ferguson TD passes. The Stars cut the deficit to 17-6 with a FG at the end of the first half, then out scored New Jersey 10-0 in the 3rd to get within 1. For most of the game, the Generals defense did a good job limiting Albert Olson and his big plays, but Damien Oleary found Olson for an 85 yard catch and run TD with just over 6 minutes to play, and an Oleary pass was good for the 2 point conversion as the Stars took their first lead 24-17. New York continued to hold New Jersey scoreless in the second half, winning the game to hand the Generals their first loss of the season. More importantly for New York, the win puts them just 1 game behind New Jersey in the East.

Renegades 26 Stars 3

Orlando continues to be the hottest team in the league if you don't count the undefeated teams, and the Renegades beat Baltimore for their 7th straight win. Orlando racked up 417 yards, making 6 red zone trips, but just 2 went for TDs as they had to settle for FGs 4 times. The Renegades defense limited Baltimore to just 166 yards to mitigate the red zone failures and 2 lost fumbles. QB Trey Lyons threw for 267 yards and 2 TDs to lead the victorious Orlando offense.

Blazers 31 Bandits 14

Florida's RBBC ran for 255 yards, Willie Graham threw for 3 TDs and the offense was on the field for 42 minutes as the Blazers get a divisional win and remain tied atop the Southeast with Orlando. RB Robert Romero led the RBBC with 161 yards and a TD, pushing the league's leading rusher over 1,000 yards already. It's not quite a record pace but Romero is on pace for one of the top 10 rushing seasons in league history. The Blazers defense intercepted rookie QB Nicholas Irvine 3 times and allowed 0/11 3rd down conversions. Irvine did throw a pair of TDs to Garry Fowler after Florida had a 31-0 lead for some garbage time fantasy points. 

Outlaws 33 Thunderbolts 0

Oklahoma won their 6th game in a row with both an offensive outburst and a strong defensive effort. I've been writing this blog for awhile, and I hardly ever mention the Oklahoma offense, especially before this season. I usually wrote about what other offenses did to their defense, but this team has completely turned their fortunes around. The newest craze in Oklahoma is giraffe dolls dressed as Outlaws, in honor of ArmoredGiraffe, the man responsible for the franchise fortune reversal. They were all over the stadium today, and perhaps that played a part in Tony Romo's horrible game. Romo completed 9/25, 41 yards, 3 INTs and 3 sacks for minus 30 yards. The running game was productive for Cleveland, but Romo's ineffectiveness resulted in no red zone trips and a paltry 1/13 on 3rd down.

Offensively, Robert Lee ran for 117 yards and a TD while Robert Hill completed 25/35, 375 yards and 2 TDs. The Outlaws also had a pair of 100 yard WRs today, Craig Icenhour (3-107-1) and Steve Haywood (5-103). 

Storm 33 Wranglers 7

The Portland offense moved the ball but missed a pair of FGs and suffered an INT as they floundered around for most of the first half before finally scoring with a FG. Arizona had trouble moving the ball most of the game, finishing with 169 total yards, but Brian Carmichael gave the Wranglers a 7-0 2nd quarter lead, driving Arizona 77 yards in 10 plays. David Miesner got the score with a 10 yard TD run. Portland got their FG inside the 2 minute warning, and a lost Wranglers fumble gave the ball back to the Storm. Melvin Driggers then found Richard Robinson  for a 16 yard TD pass to take a 10-7 halftime lead. That momentum carried over into the second half, as Driggers threw 3 more TD passes, including a 74 yard TD to Richard Robinson. Driggers finished with 312 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT with Robinson catching 4 for 114 yards and 2 scores. The win makes Portland 6-3, currently good for the #6 seed. The Storm trail the Gold by 3 games in the West with 7 to play.

Federals 17 Steamer 10

Two weeks in with Tristan Arnold at QB, and the passing offense still isn't clicking for Washington. The Federals hosted South division leaders Shreveport and the defenses controlled the game, ultimately deciding it. Washington scored first on a Timothy McVeigh 9 yard TD run for a 7-0 lead in the 2nd qtr. The Steamer tied the game thanks to Herbert Young's 5 yard TD run, and took the lead into halftime with a FG. Washington would tie the game with a 3rd qtr FG, then the Federals defense produced the eventual game winning play. Jeffery Welch intercepted George Marcil, returning it 19 yards for a TD and a 17-10 Washington lead. Neither offense had any scoring chances the rest of the game as Washington holds on for the win.

Invaders 45 Force 21

In a score nobody saw coming, Oakland nearly doubled their season point total today, exploding for 45 points. The Invaders could have scored a lot more points as Lawrence Linville converted all 8 of his FG attempts, tying a league record achieved 4 times previous. Georgia scored first on a Thomas Jacobi 32 yard TD pass to Daniel Franks, then Oakland scored 24 unanswered points on a FG and 3 Andrew Moreno TD passes. Georgia cut it to 24-14 on a Thomas Sanchez 8 yard TD run before Oakland closed out the first half with 2 more FGs for a 30-14 lead at the break. Oakland was now finished scoring TDs today, but the Invaders scored on every possession the entire game except their last one. Linville kicked 5 more FGs in the second half as Oakland built their lead up to 45-14. Jacobi finished the scoring with a garbage time TD to Frederick Sharp, marking the first game this season that Glen Hampton didn't score. Hampton was held to his second lowest output of the season, 117 yards, and he has now gone over 100 yards in 10 consecutive games dating back to last season. Oakland got 195 total yards from RB Dale Wild, 130 rushing on 30 carries. Ronald McDevitt added 65 yards on 16 carries to help the Invaders control the ball over 43 and a half minutes. Andrew Moreno completed 22/28, 334 yards and 3 TDs, spreading the ball around to 9 different receivers.

Bulls 24 Express 14

Jacksonville got a 30 yard Derek Joyce TD pass to Albert Bergstrom on their opening drive, then Tyron Bailey had a 37 yard TD run early in the 2nd quarter for a 14-0 lead. Los Angeles had to punt on their first 5 drives before getting a FG as the first half expired to make the score 17-3, as Jacksonville kicked a FG with 1:10 to go in the half. Los Angeles would cut it to 17-6 in the 3rd, but a pair of fumbles were costly. The first fumble thwarted a promising drive while the second provided the Bulls with an instant red zone opportunity. Joyce threw his 2nd TD pass to extend the lead to 24-6. David Tavarez tried to bring the Express back, but a pair of INTs killed any comeback hopes. Tyron Bailey and Jason Grande were a nice 1-2 punch on the ground today, combining for 31 carries, 180 yards and a TD.

Showboats 13 Panthers 9

Memphis and Michigan are having disappointing seasons by their standards and they faced off today to determine which team's playoff chances take another hit. This game matched their seasons in many respects, as they combined for 6 turnovers, all INTs, and a combined 5/25 on 3rd down. Memphis QB Erik McNamee's 3 yard TD pass to Robert Richey was the only first half score, but the Showboats could have had more. Memphis missed a FG and McNamee was intercepted in the end zone inside the 2 minute warning. Michigan got on the board early in the 3rd when McNamee stepped out of the back of the end zone dropping back to pass. That goes in the books as a "team sack" and the Panthers now trailed 7-2. Will Allison then led Michigan to a TD, a 6 yard pass to Harvey Williams and the Panthers had the lead 9-7. McNamee would find Thomas Ballard for a 10 yard TD pass midway through the 4th to give Memphis the lead back at 13-9 after the 2 point try failed. The Memphis defense held and the Showboats improve to 5-4. 

Maulers 17 Gunslingers 17 (OT)

San Antonio got the ball first, driving 75 yards in 7 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Robert Fanelli's 18 yard TD pass to Micheal Stott. Pittsburgh had seen enough of Paul Marcum under center, so they opted for former Bandit Thomas Lawson. His first drive of the game was a 13 play, 75 yard scoring drive, ending on a 1 yard Ronald Smith TD run. Fanelli then led the Gunslingers on a 10 play, 80 yard TD drive. RB Roy Johnson got the 1 yard TD run, and he finished the day with 111 rushing yards in place of injured starter Charlie Shanks. Three drives in and it was 14-7 San Antonio. Thomas Lawson would tie the game with an 8 yard TD pass to Nelson Vazquez inside the 2 minute warning. Pittsburgh got the ball to start the second half, going on a time consuming FG drive that took nearly 8 minutes off the clock. San Antonio would tie the game with a FG just before the 2 minute warning, and Pittsburgh had a chance to win at the end of regulation but the 51 yard FG try went wide right. 

Pittsburgh got the ball to start overtime and went three and out, as did San Antonio. Pittsburgh followed that up with another three and out, then San Antonio actually put a decent drive together, getting a first down in the red zone. With time running out in the extra session, the Gunslingers opted to try the game winning kick right away. The 35 yard FG was wide right and we had this season's first tie after the clock hit 0:00.

Bell 23 Hornets 21

The first quarter was wild, with each team scoring a pair of TDs for a 14-14 score. Charlotte scored first on a short William Bonner TD run, then Sidney Maggard answered for Philadelphia with a 4 yard TD pass to James Jones. Charlotte retook the lead on a David Delgadillo 4 yard TD run before Timothy Roquemore tied it on a short TD run for the Bell. Philadelphia kicker Steve Matthews made a 41 yard FG in the 2nd quarter to break the tie and a 56 yard FG in the 3rd for a 20-14 lead after 3 quarters of play. Just before the 2 minute warning, Jeremy McDonald threw a 23 yard TD pass to Edward Meister and the XP gave Charlotte a 21-20 lead. Philadelphia then drove into FG range and Matthews was good from 52 yards out as time expired to give Philadelphia the win.

Wheels 31 Breakers 13

Detroit got 292 yards passing and 4 TDs from Gabriel Flanagan while the Wheels defense intercepted 3 passes, had 2 sacks, and held Boston to 195 total yards. Detroit RB James Fischer had a double triple, rushing for 103 yards and catching 5 for 122. Gabriel Flanagan's first TD pass gave Detroit an early 7-0 lead, then Boston tied it on a 44 yard Larry Henderson TD pass to Anthony Wade. Flanagan broke the game open with 3 TD passes in the 2nd qtr, the last 2 going to Thomas Barrera. The Breakers chipped away, getting within 28-13 early in the 3rd, but that's as close as they would get as Detroit wins their 3rd in a row. 

VooDoo 13 Stallions 3

New Orleans got on the scoreboard first, culminating a 5 play, 91 yard drive with a 52 yard Ellis Soza TD pass to John Gill. That 7-0 VooDoo lead stood up until the 4th as both offenses punted a few times, Birmingham lost 2 fumbles and Soza threw an INT. Birmingham finally scored on a 45 yard FG only to see New Orleans answer with their own FG to lead 10-3 late in the 4th. Birmingham needed a TD so they went for it on a 4th and 2 from their own 33. They turned it over on downs and New Orleans added another FG to put the game away. 

 

Week 8: Footballs Flying Through the Air In Georgia

 Going to try to make this a quick blog this week, we'll see how that goes. Washington switched QBs for their game against New Jersey, and while it didn't result in a win, the defense once again gave Don Ferguson fits. They held the former league leading passer to just 1 TD today, giving him 31 on the season which is just off the record pace. Ferguson entered the week leading the USFL in passing, but he was passed by both Damien Oleary and Thomas Jacobi after today's action. Oleary's New York Stars played Jacobi's Georgia Force today, and they combined for 131 passes and 1,236 passing yards. Of course Glen Hampton and Albert Olson got theirs. Olson has 1,425 receiving yards already, a pace that would have him barely breaking last year's record of 2,835. Hampton has been even better, with 1,812 yards and 16 TDs at the halfway point. Our four unbeaten teams remained so, and New Jersey was the only one to have to sweat the outcome as Houston, Denver, and San Jose all won by big margins. Normally I start with the unbeaten teams, but how can I not start with the Stars/Force aerial show?

(NY) Stars 38 Force 30

This game was a fantasy football player's dream unless you had any RB not named William Hall. Georgia ran the ball just 9 times for 28 yards while New York passed every down except for 3 kneeldowns to end the game. Georgia got out to the fast start, taking a 21-3 lead early in the 2nd qtr thanks to 3 Thomas Jacobi TD passes to Glen Hampton. New York would come back to go on a 20-3 run which included a pair of Damien Oleary TD passes to Albert Olson. That made the score 24-23 Georgia after 3 quarters, but the Stars took the lead on the 3rd Oleary to Olson TD pass. They went for 2 and failed, but still led 29-24. Georgia would retake the lead with Jacobi's 4th TD pass, this one to Henry Young. The 2 point try failed, but the Force now led 30-29. Stop me if you've heard this before, but Damien Oleary found Albert Olson for a TD pass as New York retakes the lead 35-30 after yet another failed 2 point try. They would add a FG inside the 2 minute warning and hang on for the victory.

Stats time. Georgia QB Thomas Jacobi completed 36/52, 472 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT. WR Glen Hampton caught 10 for 272 yards and 3 TDs, with nobody else approaching 100 yards. New York QB Damien Oleary completed 55/79, 764 yards, the 2nd highest single game total in regular season history, trailing only the 836 put up by Les Lacy for Oakland against Georgia way back in 1980. If post season games are included, Oleary's total is 3rd best as the 796 yards of David Schmitt in the 1985 playoffs would be 2nd. That gives me PTSD as the former Birmingham QB lit up my New Jersey defense that day with 11 TD passes in a 79-19 destruction. The 55 completions are 3rd most in history behind William Mauriello's 58 for Michigan in 1992 and the 57 of San Antonio's Walter Jackson in 1986. Oleary also threw 4 TD passes and 4 INTs, and managed to avoid being sacked. WR Albert Olson caught 11for 319 yards and 4 TDs to lead New York. RB William Hall had zero rushing attempts but caught 9 for 123 yards and FB Nathaniel Allen caught 10 for 104.

New York faces another potential shootout game next week as they face New Jersey for the first time this season. 

Generals 16 Federals 12

Washington finally moved away from Scott Bieber as QB, something current New Jersey QB Don Ferguson had been waiting on during his time with the Federals. Ferguson moved on to the Generals, taking the job away from now Pittsburgh QB Paul Marcum and leading his new team to some success. The last 3 years, New Jersey has had a chance to get back to the World Bowl for the 7th time, only to be thwarted each time by Washington. The Federals started former Los Angeles QB Tristan Arnold, hoping to jump start their stagnant offense. It didn't really work as they could not crack the end zone, settling for 4 FGs today. Arnold played turnover free football though, a good sign going forward as Washington hopes to hold onto their division lead. The Generals had their worst offensive performance of the season, but Ferguson was able to throw a TD pass and managed to lead some FG drives when he wasn't throwing one of his 3 INTs. That was just enough to squeak by Washington and remain undefeated at 8-0. 

Gamblers 30 Stars 9

The champs struggled out of the gate, with Tony Dean being intercepted on the first play from scrimmage and Baltimore kicking a pair of FGs for an early 6-3 lead. Dean threw 2 INTs in all and the Gamblers also lost 2 fumbles, which kept the game closer than it probably should have been. Houston had over 500 yards of offense to just 177 for Baltimore, yet the Stars were within 14 until midway through the 3rd. Houston was aggressive trying for big plays today, as Tony Dean had 4 TD passes and 403 yards on just 19 completions. RB Donald Turner was the offensive star with 213 combined yards, including 130 receiving with a TD. Rookie WR Jim Dallas gets a mention, catching 3 for 123 and a score. 

SaberCats 51 Sun 0

This game was a tale of 2 QBs, one good and one bad. First the bad, because unless I'm missing something, I'm worried we could have a possible tanking situation. Southern California QB Harold Angulo has been bad all season, but he was especially bad today, completing just 7/28 to his own team and 5 INTs to the San Jose defense. Those 7 completions grossed 36 yards, but Angulo lost 35 yards on 4 sacks, for a net of 1 passing yard all game. Jake Plummer was good but not great today, completing 22/31, 300 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. The SaberCats also had 234 rushing yards, led by David Hartwig's 123 and a TD. RB Rodney Richardson ran for 69 yards and led the team in receiving, catching 3 for 104 yards, scoring a TD on the ground and through the air. San Jose enjoys a 4 game division lead with 8 to play.

Gold 45 VooDoo 7

New Orleans got out to an instant 7-0 lead as Harry Charles returned the opening kickoff 103 yards for a TD. That's as good as it got for the VooDoo however, as Ellis Soza tossed 3 INTs and led the offense to zero points today. On the other side, Denver had been winning with defense and a strong running game, relegating QB Andrew Brewer to "game manager" status. Brewer has been a prolific passer in previous seasons and he must have taken the game manager stuff personally because he had his best game of the season today. Brewer finished 27/33, 428 yards and 3 TDs, connecting with Steven Riley 9 times for 188 yards and leading the offense to a perfect 5/5 in the red zone.

Renegades 51 Bandits 13

Orlando racked up 30 first downs and held the ball 44:30 in a dominant win over division rival Tampa Bay. The Renegades have now won 6 in a row after an 0-2 start and are beginning to look a lot like last year's playoff version. Trey Lyons did throw 2 INTs, but made up for it with 5 TD passes and 384 yards, while getting 184 yards of help from the running game. Orlando led 38-0 at the half as they scored on their first 6 possessions and the defense intercepted rookie Nicholas Irvine 4 times, twice in each half.

Blazers 16 Bulls 10

The winner of this Southeast division clash would stay tied for first with Orlando while the loser would be out of the playoffs if the season ended today. Jacksonville Derek Joyce only had one of his passes hit the ground, but completed just 12/15 for 57 yards and 2 INTs as their offense was truly dink and dunk with a long play of just 10 yards. Florida RB Robert Romero had 6 runs of at least 10 yards, gaining 120 yards on 19 carries to increase his league leading rushing total to 861 yards. The Blazers ran for 235 as a team and Ronald Kirby's 5 yard TD run on the opening drive gave Florida an early 7-0 lead. Fast forward to the 4th quarter and 3 FGs later Florida leads 16-0. On the ensuing kickoff, John Orozco took it 104 yards for a TD, cutting the lead to 16-7. A FG would trim the lead to 16-10 with 8:13 to go, but Jacksonville never saw the ball again. Florida took the kickoff and methodically drove 81 yards in 16 plays, draining the clock to 0:00 and getting the win.

Blitz 32 Bell 17

Good things happen when you don't turn the ball over and this game was no exception. Chicago played turnover free football, getting 3 rushing TDs and intercepting Philadelphia QB Sidney Maggard 3 times. The first half was a struggle as the Blitz kicked 3 FGs to lead 9-7 before breaking out in the second half. Ronald Brown completed 25/34 and 264 yards for the Blitz while John Gates ran for 132 yards and 2 TDs. The win improves Chicago's record to 6-2.

Outlaws 17 Maulers 10

Oklahoma out gained Pittsburgh 403-190, getting out to a 17-3 lead and pitching a second half shutout to win their 5th game in a row. The Outlaws weren't without mistakes as they suffered 2 turnovers and K Eric Chandler missed 3/4 FG tries. QB Robert Hill led the Oklahoma offense, throwing for 285 yards, 2 TD and an INT on 25/34 passing, with the yards spread among 8 different receivers. This win improves Oklahoma to 6-2, good for the top wildcard spot currently.

Wheels 17 Storm 13

Portland got out to a 10-0 lead in the first half but Detroit won the 3rd quarter 17-3 and a scoreless 4th made that stand up as the Wheels pull the upset. The box score shows a relatively even yardage game and Portland forced 3 turnovers to just 2 by their offense. The Storm got zero points from those 3 turnovers however, while Detroit got 10 points from the 2 their defense forced. Portland falls to 5-3, giving hope to the American Conference teams sitting at 3-5 and 4-4.

Steamer 13 Stallions 3

With Georgia losing the shootout to New York, this game was for first place in the South. Shreveport RB Scott Randall ran for 106 yards while George Marcil completed 26/29 for 188 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT to lead the Steamer to victory in this defensive struggle. Norman Maldonado threw 3 INTs as Birmingham was held out of the end zone and converted just 1/11 3rd downs. The win improves Shreveport to 4-4.

Showboats 13 Hornets 0

Scoring was down across the league as we had 7 games where neither team cracked 20 points. Erik McNamee tossed a 30 yard TD pass to Jeremy Wheatley in the 1st quarter and the Memphis defense made that stand up, allowing Charlotte just 158 yards of offense and 2/17 on 3rd down. No skill player produced a stat line worth mentioning.

Breakers 26 Panthers 24

This game was played inside the Silverdome, so weather doesn't explain 9 turnovers, including 6 lost fumbles. The teams also combined for 11 penalties and only 2 red zone TDs to show for 5 trips. The first half ended in a 3-3 tie before Boston came out scorching in the 3rd quarter. The Breakers got a FG and a pair of Larry Henderson TD passes to Anthony Wade to take a 20-3 lead. Michigan cut it to 20-10 on a Will Allison TD pass before a Boston FG closed out the 3rd quarter scoring. Michigan DE Jeffrey Marker finally got a chance to hit his ex teammate Larry Henderson for real, and he sacked him in the end zone, jarring the ball loose and falling on it for the TD sack trifecta, making the score 23-17 Boston. In the middle of the 4th, Will Allison's 2nd TD pass, a 12 yard toss to Billy Sim tied the game at 23 and the XP gave the Panthers a 1 point lead. Boston then punted but recovered a Michigan fumble in the red zone. Three straight runs lost yardage but Curtis Zuniga made a 41 yard FG to give Boston the lead again. There was a holding penalty though, negating the kick, then a false start on the rekick forced Boston to punt instead. The Breakers defense forced a three and out, then Henderson completed a pass to get in FG range. Curtis Zuniga was good from 51 yards out, no penalties, as Boston wins the game of hot potato.

Express 30 Hawaiians 10

Edwin Clarkson replaced the struggling Derek Henry at QB for Honolulu, and while Clarkson didn't turn the ball over and completed 24/33, he only threw for 144 yards and a TD. David Tavarez completed 25/28, 236 yards and 2 TDs to lead Los Angeles to victory. Express RB Gary Sappington didn't score, but he led the team in rushing (63 yards) and receiving (60 yards), helping the offense convert 6/13 on 3rd down. Los Angeles improves to 4-4. 

Thunderbolts 10 Invaders 6

Oakland scored a FG in the 1st quarter and a FG in the 4th, but did little else in between. The Invaders had 194 total yards, converting just 3/14 3rd downs and scoring just 3 points on 2 red zone trips. Cleveland had a balanced offense, rushing and passing for 102 yards each for 204 combined yards. Tony Romo threw just 14 passes today, completing 8, but one went 57 yards for a TD to Ferdinand Lee. That score and an earlier FG gave Cleveland enough points to secure the win, improving their record to 4-4. 

Gunslingers 34 Wranglers 7

San Antonio and Robert Fanelli had their best offensive game of the season, racking up 507 offensive yards as the Gunslingers broke open a low scoring game in the 3rd quarter. San Antonio took an early 3-0 lead before Brian Carmichael's 49 yard TD pass to William Haubert put Arizona in the lead 7-3. In the 2nd qtr, Carmichael was sacked in the end zone for a safety, trimming Arizona's lead to 7-5, which they took into halftime. San Antonio came out gunslinging in the second half with Fanelli connecting with Eugene Bufkin for a 74 yard TD pass, then following it up with a 14 yard TD toss to Micheal Stott. That turned a 7-5 deficit into a 19-7 lead, and the Gunslingers followed that up with back to back 90+ yard TD drives, putting the game away. Eugene Bufkin capped the scoring with an 82 yard TD pass from Robert Fanelli and Bufkin finished with 5 catches, 222 yards and 2 scores.

Week 7: Glen Hampton Lapping the Field

 Georgia WR Glen Hampton is literally lapping the field in terms of receiving yardage and keeping defensive coordinators up at night trying to figure out how to slow him down. Every week Hampton puts up at least 100 yards and for the 4th time in 7 games he went over 200 yards today, catching 10 passes for 245 yards and 3 TDs. His season totals through 7 games are numbers most WR would be proud of over a full 16 game season: 53 receptions, 1,540 yards and 13 TDs. To put it in further perspective, Hampton's yardage is at least double of every WR in the league except 4. Harvey Williams of Michigan is 5th in receiving yards with 772, barely over half of Hampton's total, and the lead on 2nd place is 434 yards. Albert Olson of New York is the 2nd leading receiver, and the current record holder and his Stars are going down to Georgia to play the Force in Week 8. The defensive backs had better be ready because there will be a lot of passes thrown in that game.

Don Ferguson of New Jersey only threw 3 TD passes today, but his 30 for the season is still ahead of the record pace. Tony Dean is 2nd in TD passes with 19 and has the best QBR in the league at 112.29, less than half a point ahead of Ferguson. Florida's Robert Romero is our leading rusher with 741 yards. That's not a record pace but he is on pace for over 1,600 rushing yards, which has happened just 9 times in league history. Rushing TDs are hard to come by unless you are San Jose. David Hartwig leads the league with 6 TDs and teammate Rodney Richardson is tied for 2nd with 3 scores. 

Looking at the standings, the 7-0 teams all have at least a 2 game division lead with San Jose enjoying a 4 game lead. The unbeaten teams remain San Jose, Denver, Houston, and New Jersey, and the 5-2 Chicago Blitz also have a 2 game division lead. Washington has a 1 game lead in the Atlantic while the Southeast and South divisions have 3 way ties at the top. The wildcard races have a little separation as well, with 5-2 being the current threshold to get in. That's great news for the Oklahoma Outlaws, who are riding their defense to a 5-2 record and if they can keep the winning up, they would make their first playoff appearance since 1981. Oklahoma still has to play Houston twice, but none of their other opponents are over .500.

With more than half the season still to go, the 1996 story has a lot that's yet to be written, and our standings could look quite different as we wind down. In the mean time, let's look at Week 7 action.

Gamblers 27 Showboats 24

Memphis really needed to beat Houston to avoid a 4 game division deficit, and the Showboats played with intensity today. Erik McNamee got Memphis out to a 7-0 lead in the 1st with a 41 yard TD pass to Mark Glenn and the Showboats defense held Houston scoreless the first 15 minutes. You can't keep Tony Dean down long and he led the Gamblers to a FG and a TD with a 7 yard pass to Jett Black for a 10-7 lead. An exchange of FGs made the halftime score 13-10 Houston. Memphis got the ball to start the 3rd but Steve Ransome lost a fumble, allowing Houston to tack on a FG, extending the lead to 16-10. Erik McNamee bounced back with a 50 yard TD pass to Thomas Ballard to retake the lead 17-16. Houston fumbled the ball away on their next drive, allowing McNamee to throw his 3rd TD pass, a 6 yard toss to William Fey. As the 3rd quarter wound down, Memphis had a 24-16 lead and had Houston pinned at their own 5 following a punt. Tony Dean then led the champs on an 11 play, 95 yard TD drive, finding Francisco Russell with a 2 yard TD pass. Donald Turner ran in the 2 point conversion, tying the game at 24 early in the 4th. Fast forward to just before the 2 minute warning and Houston had the ball just outside of the red zone. Tony Dean threw an INT, killing the scoring chance. Memphis punted and Houston punted, pinning the Showboats at their own 7 with just over a minute to play. With their season on the line, Memphis opted to try and win now rather than play for OT, and the first pass got them out of the hole. The second pass was intercepted however, and SLB Kevin Bowen gave the Gamblers the ball at the Memphis 34. Three Tony Dean completions later, Earl Castro came on to boot the game winning 37 yard FG to keep Houston undefeated.

SaberCats 20 Gunslingers 3

San Jose didn't play their best offensive game today, but they did just enough to win comfortably as the SaberCats defense was in lockdown mode. Each QB threw an interception on their team's opening drive and each team kicked a 1st quarter FG for an early 3-3 tie. Jake Plummer's 40 yard TD pass to Mark Hsu gave San Jose the lead for good early in the 2nd quarter. The defense forced San Antonio to punt on all but 2 drives following their FG, one was the end of the first half, the other a turnover on downs. Midway through the 3rd, San Jose went up 2 scores with a FG, then put the game away for good on a Rodney Richardson TD with under 5 minutes to play. It's a good thing for San Jose their defense was so stout as the offense converted just 1/14 3rd downs. 

Gold 31 Panthers 12

Denver's RBBC was without Eric Younker again, but the others stepped up, rushing for 173 yards on 47 carries. Brian Turner ran for 93 yards while Ray Anderson and Peter White had first half TD runs as the Gold built a 14-3 lead. Michigan had scored first with a FG before those rushing TDs and they had another FG to close out the first half scoring to trail 14-6 at the break. We had a scoreless 3rd quarter before Robert Deacon's 45 yard FG extended the lead to 17-6. Michigan came right back as Will Allison found Harvey Williams for a 75 yard TD. The 2 point try failed and the Panthers were now down just 5 at 17-12. Denver QB Andrew Brewer's stats are way down as Denver has switched to a more run-centric offense, but Brewer can still sling the ball when he needs to. Brewer completed 14/20 for 213 yards and 2 TD passes in the 4th quarter as the Gold pulled away to win by 19. Steven Riley did not catch any TD passes but he accounted for most of Brewer's yards, catching 7 for 164 yards.

Generals 27 VooDoo 6

New Orleans is in rebuilding mode and had to go on the road to face the league's most prolific offense in New Jersey. The Generals did what the Generals do, although the 27 points were just the 2nd time they've been held below 37 points this year. Don Ferguson threw 3 TD passes and the offensive star this week was WR Eric Davis. It seems each week the Generals have a different skill player lead the team in yardage, and that makes ownership very happy. Davis caught 4 passes for 144 yards and a TD, fitting as he wears #44 on his uniform. Ferguson finished the game completing 40/57, 458 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT. Two of the scores came in the second half to open up a close game, as the Generals led just 10-0 at the half. 

Blitz 23 Thunderbolts 20 (OT)

Chicago and Cleveland needed extra time to decide a winner in a back and forth divisional game. Cleveland got on the board first with a FG, but a lost fumble later in the 1st quarter set up Chicago with a short field inside the red zone. The Blitz had to settle for a game tying FG though, and the 1st qtr ended 3-3. Early in the 2nd, Ronald Brown found Ian Gordon for a 6 yard TD pass for a brief 10-3 lead. Cleveland matched that score with a 38 yard Tony Romo TD pass to Matthew Martin. Chicago would add a FG in the final minute of the first half to take a 13-10 lead into halftime. 

The 3rd quarter was scoreless and early in the 4th, Cleveland retook the lead on Tony Romo's 2nd TD pass, a 9 yard toss to Ferdinand Lee. Fast forward to just over 3 minutes to play and the Blitz take over on their own 20 yard line. Ronald Brown capped off the 11 play, 80 yard drive with a 6 yard TD pass to Darren McElyea to give Chicago a 20-17 lead with 0:46 on the clock. Tony Romo then got the Thunderbolts down the field quickly with 2 long pass plays and Carlos Reed sent the game to OT with a 29 yard FG as regulation time expired. 

Chicago got the ball first in overtime but was forced to punt. Jose King intercepted Romo on Cleveland's possession, giving the ball back to the Blitz at midfield. A few plays later, Evan Joseph split the uprights on a 47 yard FG to give Chicago the win and sole possession of first in the Midwest.

Renegades 41 Sun 3

It looks like Orlando is over their early season turnover woes as the Renegades win their 5th in a row after an 0-2 start with a lopsided victory over Southern California. Trey Lyons completed 22/29, 311 yards and 4 TDs, 2 to Jesse Carr. In all, Carr caught 6 for 119 yards and RB Anthony Milan ran for 107 to lead the Orlando skill players. The Renegades converted 9/14 3rd downs and scored on all 6 red zone trips (4 TD, 2 FG). Defensively, they intercepted Harold Angulo twice, allowed 3/12 on 3rd down and held the Sun to a FG in their lone red zone trip. 

Bulls 27 (NY) Stars 7

New York had another game where they hardly ran, rushing 4 times for 1 yard. Despite the lack of rushing attempts New York fumbled the ball away twice while QB Damien Oleary threw 2 INTs among his 51 pass attempts. Albert Olson still got his of course (5-148) and Oleary finished with 321 yards in the air, but he was also sacked twice. Jacksonville didn't turn the ball over at all and QB Derek Joyce completed 33/45, 244 yards and 3 TDs. Leon Gutierrez caught one of the TDs among his 9 catches for 124 yards while Jason Grande chipped in 95 rushing yards to help lead the Bulls to victory, keeping them in the 3 way tie atop the Southeast.

Blazers 20 Maulers 17

Florida and Pittsburgh played a hard fought back and forth game that almost went to OT. The first half didn't see much scoring as Florida won the kicking contest 2-1 for a 6-3 halftime lead. Paul Marcum and Pittsburgh got the second half off to a fast start with a 75 yard TD pass to Arthur Thompson on the first play to take a 10-6 lead. Florida QB Willie Graham threw just 19 passes all day, but he completed 15, including a pair of TD passes to Douglas Jordan. The first one gave the Blazers a 13-10 lead, the second extended it to 20-10 as the 3rd quarter came to a close. Pittsburgh got within 20-17 on a Chad Magana 9 yard TD run midway through the 4th. As the regulation clock was winding down, Pittsburgh was trying to get within FG range and they got close enough for Brett Bowman to try a 52 yard kick. It sailed wide right and Florida hangs on for the win. Blazers RB Robert Romero led the team with 107 rushing yards and 62 receiving.

Hornets 23 Federals 17

Usually when reporters ask questions about who starts at QB, coaches get cute (see current day Matt Nagy) and say we are looking at all of our options. CrazyRazor took a different approach, announcing that Tristan Arnold will get the start at New Jersey next week after watching Scott Bieber stink up the joint again. Bieber threw 2 INTs and converted just 1/14 3rd downs in a lackluster performance. Charlotte QB Jeremy McDonald got the Hornets the 7-0 lead in the 2nd qtr with a 22 yard TD pass to Edward Meister and a pair of Javier Gill FGs gave them a 13-0 halftime lead. Jayson Shepherd got Washington within 13-7 on a 71 yard TD run but McDonald got those points back at the end of the 3rd with a 5 yard TD pass to Randall Liles. Bieber did lead a late rally, leading the Federals to a FG and a 79 yard TD pass to Matthew Cuevas, but 20-17 would be as close as they would get. It's not all gloom and doom in Washington as despite the loss, they are still in sole possession of first in the Atlantic.

Storm 26 Invaders 22

Portland started out fast, jumping out to a 17-0 1st quarter lead on division rival Oakland. The FG was first, followed by a 6 yard TD run by Jeffrey Frost and a Melvin Driggers 17 yard TD pass to Jose Moses. Oakland is winless on the season and most teams in their position would fold up and coast the rest of the game, losing by a lopsided score. The Invaders fought back however, getting within 17-6 before the Storm closed out the first half with a FG for a 20-6 lead. Oakland went on a second half run, scoring 10 points in the 3rd on a Lawrence Linville FG and a 57 yard Andrew Moreno TD pass to Charles Brockman. The Invaders scoring run continued in the 4th with 2 more Linville FGs and Oakland found themselves winning 22-20 with less than 7 minutes to play. The Oakland defense forced a punt but Moreno was intercepted. The Oakland defense held again and the Invaders went into clock killing mode on offense. RB Dale Wild ran for 117 yards, but he coughed up the football inside the 2 minute warning, setting up Portland at the end of FG range. Melvin Driggers was thinking TD though, and he drove the Storm down the short field, finding Richard Robinson for an 8 yard TD pass. The 2 point conversion failed but Portland had the lead back 26-22. Oakland went backwards, turning it over on downs and Portland hangs on for the win to improve to 5-2.

Outlaws 17 Express 11

For some reason, Oklahoma benched Carlos Williams, letting Robert Hill get the start under center. The Outlaws have had trouble scoring but so have their opponents, as their 5th ranked scoring defense had them at 4-2 coming into today. Hill didn't set the world on fire, completing 15/30 for 196 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT, and Los Angeles out gained Oklahoma 285-251. In fact, the Express ran the ball better and won the turnover battle 2-1, yet this year, Oklahoma just finds ways to win. Hill's TD passes came in the first half and the Outlaws led 14-3 at the break. Los Angeles scored a TD and a 2 point conversion in the 3rd to pull within 14-11. Oklahoma extended it to 17-11 with an early 4th qtr FG and that was it for the scoring chances as both defenses stood strong. 

Force 45 Stallions 27

There were a lot of footballs flying through the air at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium as Georgia WR Glen Hampton continued his assault on the record book with 10 catches, 245 yards and 3 TDs. Force QB Thomas Jacobi found Hampton for two scores in the first quarter for a quick 14-0 lead, then after a Stanley Gordon 3 yard run for Birmingham, fired his 3rd TD pass of the quarter to Daniel Franks for a 21-7 lead after 15 minutes. Georgia scored the first 10 points of the 2nd qtr with a FG and the 3rd Jacobi to Hampton TD pass but Birmingham scored the next 10 to trail at the half 31-17. Birmingham got within 7 in the 3rd quarter before the Force answered with 2 TDs to put the game away. Birmingham QB Norman Maldonado completed 38/54, 374 yards 2 TD, 1 INT while Francis Schultz led the Stallions in rushing yards (59) and receiving (6-102). Georgia QB Thomas Jacobi completed 31/47, 526 yards and 5 TDs, with Louis Gonzalez helping Hampton out with 8 catches, 115 yards and a TD. The win makes both teams 3-4, tied for first in the South with Shreveport.

Wranglers 14 Steamer 11

Speaking of Shreveport, they would have had sole possession of first place if they could have won against Arizona today. The Steamer out gained the Wranglers 323-263, ran the ball for 1 more yard per carry (4.17-3.19), turnovers were even and they had the time of possession advantage. While Shreveport moved the ball more consistently, it didn't translate into many points. On the other side, Arizona had a lot of drives go nowhere, but they did have a 9 play, 91 yard TD drive that ended with a Brian Carmichael 5 yard TD pass to Rodney Hawkins for a 7-0 lead. The next time Arizona had the ball, Carmichael found Elias Williams for a 63 yard TD. Shreveport got a FG to trail at the half 14-3 and a 4th qtr George Marcil TD pass to Martin Haley. They went for 2 and converted, trailing 14-11 with plenty of time to play. With 3:36 to go, Shreveport faced a 4th and 16 from the Arizona 33, and rather than try a 50/51 yard game tying FG, they opted to punt. The strategy seemed to work somewhat when they got the ball back but George Marcil was intercepted on the first play and Arizona ran the remaining clock to preserve the win.

Bell 20 Breakers 15

This game featured 756 total yards, 5 turnovers, 7 red zone trips with just 2 TDs and a combined 3/21 on 3rd down. Boston got the scoring underway with a pair of FGs but Philadelphia answered with a pair of Sidney Maggard TD passes for a 14-6 lead. The Breakers got within 14-9 with a FG late in the 2nd quarter but Philadelphia answered with a pair of 4th qtr FGs to take a 20-9 lead with 3:22 to play. Larry Henderson brought Boston within 20-15 with a late TD pass to George Cade. The 2 point conversion failed but the onside kick did not, and Boston had a chance to win. Henderson had the Breakers down to the Philadelphia 4 yard line with 0:22 left, but a completion in the field of play failed to reach the end zone and having no timeouts, the game clock hit 0:00 before Boston could put the ball in the end zone. Jamie Epperson ran for 104 yards and caught a TD pass for Philadelphia while teammate Craig Hines caught the other TD, leading the Bell with 138 receiving yards.

Wheels 12 Hawaiians 0

Detroit didn't play their best game, but Honolulu's offense looked lifeless without Anthony Davis as the Wheels win a battle of attrition 12-0. Detroit had 331 yards to just 148 for the Hawaiians, but the Wheels turned the ball over 4 times, and scored just 1 TD in 4 red zone trips. That was a 12 yard Gabriel Flanagan TD pass to Matthew Houston and Detroit led 7-0 at the half. The score stayed 7-0 until midway through the 4th, when Willie Haygood sacked backup QB Edwin Clarkson in the end zone for a safety. Honolulu attempted an onside kick that failed, and the short field allowed Detroit to add 3 points, giving us our final score of 12-0. 

Stars 12 Bandits 7

It's been a tough year for both Baltimore and Tampa Bay, as each are going through transition phases searching for their QB of the future. Bandits owner Mcarovil is a Cleveland Browns fan, and surely he is having PTSD watching his Tampa Bay team cycle through QBs like the Browns did before Baker Mayfield. The current QB is rookie Nicholas Irvine, who is going through the typical rookie growing pains. Irvine did throw a TD pass today, finishing 23/42 for 179 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Baltimore replaced long time starter with veteran Stephen Ponder, and the results haven't been good. Irvine and the Bandits got the lone TD of the game, but Ponder led 4 FG drives as Fred Boyce kicked the Stars to their first victory of the season.