Week 11: Washington and Orlando Clinch Playoff Spots

 Life is good at the top as the Washington Federals have clinched the Atlantic division while the Orlando Renegades clinch at least a wildcard, and should clinch the Southeast with either their next win or a Florida loss. Denver has won 7 in a row and have now tied Portland atop the West while the Georgia Force now have sole possession of the South thanks to their 3rd straight win. Michigan has a 2 game lead in the Midwest, San Jose and New Jersey enjoy 3 game leads while the defending champs, Houston have a 4 game lead on Memphis, plus a sweep so they win the Midwest with 1 more win or 1 Showboats loss. I'm not even attempting to analyze the wildcard race at this time, it's too jumbled. Best of luck down the stretch.

Gamblers 42 Showboats 26

Memphis really needed to win this game if they had any hopes of winning the division, and it would have really helped their wildcard chances. The Showboats cranked up the running game as Steve Ransome ran for 178 of Memphis' 221 yards and Ransome now leads the league by 333 yards (1,125 to 792). Memphis matched Houston score for score early, even leading 17-14 at one point, but Tony Dean and the interceptions of Norman Maldonado proved too much to overcome. Maldonado threw 3 INTs in all and the first 2 were converted into TDs by Tony Dean. Speaking of interceptions, Dean threw 4 last week in the loss to San Jose, but the 3 time MVP bounced back in a big way. Dean completed 20/31, 408 yards, 6 TDs and 0 INT, all while getting no support from the running game (20 carries, 25 yards). WR Jett Black caught 4 for 183 yards and 3 TDs while RB Lloyd Ellis caught 2 passes for 125 yards and a TD. Three of Dean's TD passes were of the long variety, hitting Jett Black for 75 and 79 yards plus a 68 yard score to Lloyd Ellis. 

Federals 17 Storm 12

This was a rematch of World Bowl XX and Federals players and fans would gladly trade today's win for a win back then. Since that is impossible, they had to settle for a revenge win, and Portland QB Melvin Driggers obliged. Driggers had the Storm poised to score on their opening drive but he threw an INT with Washington taking over at their own 9. Portland managed to still come away with points as James Danner sacked Scott Bieber in the end zone for a safety. After the free kick, Driggers was intercepted again only for Scott Bieber to return the favor with an INT of his own. This time Driggers completed the drive with a 26 yard TD pass to Jeffrey Frost and a 9-0 lead. Scott Bieber then threw another INT, leading to a Portland FG for a 12-0 advantage. Bieber finally got Washington on the scoreboard with a 21 yard pass to Oliver Jeter and a John Bazile FG made the halftime score 12-10 Portland.

Washington got the ball to start the 3rd, and Bieber led the Federals on a 10 play, 75 yard TD drive. James Dunn caught the 7 yard Bieber pass for the TD that gave Washington the lead for good, 17-12. Portland would miss a FG on their next drive, then suffered bad starting field position the rest of the game, punting twice, turning it over via INT, then turning it over on downs. 

Renegades 23 Thunderbolts 7

The Cleveland offense couldn't stay on the field and the Thunderbolts defense couldn't get off the field as unbeaten Orlando hogged the ball 42 minutes, out gaining Cleveland 449-162. Cleveland QB Tony Romo had a bad game, getting a 75 yard TD pass to Shane Looney late in the 4th, already trailing 20-0. Overall, Romo was 6/21, 96 yards, 1 TD and 3 INT, while also being sacked 3 times. Offensively for Orlando, Trey Lyons threw 2 early TD passes and Scott Mueller connected on 3/5 FG attempts as the Renegades controlled the game throughout. Lyons finished 33/47, 307 yards and 2 TDs while rookie RB Anthony Milan had a solid all around game. Milan didn't score, but he rushed for 91 yards on 16 carries and caught 8 passes for 88 yards to lead the team in both rushing and receiving. 

SaberCats 20 Steamer 15

I guess I'm a jinx, as last blog I praised Shreveport QB George Marcil then this week he throws an INT on the first play from scrimmage. That led to a San Jose FG and a quick 3-0 lead. In fact, FGs and INTs were the theme of the game as both Marcil and Jake Plummer threw 3 picks each. The scoring was nothing but FGs the first 40+ minutes, with San Jose kicking the first 2 for a 6-0 lead, then Shreveport booted the next 4 for a 12-6 lead. With 3:56 left in the 3rd, George Marcil was intercepted at his own 26 by William Jung, who returned it for a TD as San Jose took the lead 13-12. Ryan Clark ran in a 3 yard score early in the 4th to extend the lead to 20-12. Shreveport cut it to 5 thanks to a 58 yard Jeffrey Smith FG, but never threatened a TD thereafter and San Jose holds on for the ugly win for a pretty 10-1 record.

Gold 23 Wranglers 6

Arizona took the opening kickoff and appeared to score a TD, but replay review determined Patrick Douglas lost the ball before crossing the plane and Denver took over on their own 20 after recovering the ball in the end zone. That kind of killed any offensive momentum for the Wranglers and the Gold chipped away, eventually building a 17-0 lead. Ray Anderson had a 2 yard TD run in the 2nd and Robert Deacon added a FG for a 10-0 halftime lead. Denver got the ball to start the 3rd and Andrew Brewer led a 10 play, 75 yard TD drive, finding Douglas Crowley for the 19 yard score. The Gold offense was pretty much done after that, at least as far as yards are concerned. Denver scored 2 more FGs after taking over in Arizona territory, once on downs and once on an INT. Arizona added a late FG to give us the final score of 23-6.

Panthers 12 Bandits 6

Michigan was not great on offense but they took advantage of the opportunities presented to them and won the FG kicking contest 4-2. The Panthers had 282 yards of offense but they turned the ball over twice, converted just 1/12 on 3rd down and had to settle for FGs on all 4 red zone possessions. Tampa Bay had a worse offensive game though, except on 3rd down, where the Bandits converted 5/15. The running game never got going and the bad Antonio Martinez showed up, completing 18/39, 214 yards and 4 INTs. Three of his INTs came on the last 3 passes he threw. At least the kickers had a good game as Tampa's Edward Walter was 2/2, Michigan's Jonathan Ruch was 4/4 and Michigan punter Napoleon McQuaig had 6 of 7 punts inside the 20.

Generals 38 (NY) Stars 35 (OT)

It took 5 quarters to decide this game, and the box score provided some talking points. The first thing I noticed was 5 total TDs in the 4th quarter, then you see 1,001 combined yards, 7 combined INTs and a combined perfect red zone day, 5 TDs in 5 trips. The game started out strange as well, with Damien Oleary throwing an INT to set New Jersey up in Al Borland FG range. Don Ferguson must not have been ready though, as he gave it right back via INT. Damien Oleary then found his main man Albert Olson for a 52 yard TD and a 7-0 lead. Meanwhile, Ferguson threw INTs on the Generals second and third drives and New York took a 14-0 lead after a 2 yard "drive". Bull Dozer did the honors with a rushing TD. Ferguson finally settled down, throwing TD passes of 25 yards to David Koresh and 4 yards to Cody Schiavo to tie the game at 14. Inside the 2 minute warning, Oleary and Olson hooked up for another TD, this one covering 94 yards and New York took a 21-14 lead into halftime. 

Nobody scored in the 3rd and New Jersey got an 11 yard Ferguson TD pass to Duncan Meyer to tie the game at 21, then Sam Beckett took his only carry 30 yards for a TD to give the Generals the lead. Oleary immediately tied it with a 75 yard TD pass to Wayne Ryals. Ferguson then found Cody Schiavo for another TD at the 2 minute warning for a Generals lead that lasted 20 seconds. Oleary got the Stars down the field quickly and a 17 yard TD pass to William Hall sent the game to OT.

The extra session started with a New York punt, and New Jersey followed with a punt of their own. That punt pinned the Stars at their own 7 though, and a three and out gave the Generals great field position to start their drive. New Jersey gained just 20 yards before the clock started to get close to 0:00, but that was enough for Al Borland to snatch victory from the jaws of a tie with a 55 yard FG at the final gun.

For New York, Damien Oleary completed 24/46, 403 yards, 4 TD and 3 INT with Albert Olson padding his league leading receiving total with 8 catches, 228 yards and 2 scores. Generals QB Don Ferguson completed 50/77, 447 yards, 4 TD and 4 INT. David Koresh led New Jersey with 43 rushing yards and 104 receiving yards and a TD on 9 catches, but he got Waco-ed during the game, suffering a concussion that will sideline him 3 weeks.

Force 38 Hawaiians 28

Honolulu got the game started on the right foot with a 75 yard TD pass from Edwin Clarkson to Brian Vizcarra on the first play from scrimmage. Georgia answered with a FG, then Honolulu got a 3 yard TD run from Jeffrey Richins for a 13-3 lead after the XP was missed. The next score was unconventional. Georgia RB Thomas Sanchez fumbled twice today, losing 1, but both led directly to points for the Hawaiians. The first one came deep in Force territory, with OL Andrew Briggs recovering the ball in the end zone for a Honolulu safety, increasing their lead to 15-3. 

That was our halftime score, then Georgia got closer with a TD drive to start the 3rd. Thomas Jacobi connected with John Huynh for a 49 yard TD to pull within 15-10. Honolulu's answer was the same as their 2nd TD, a 3 yard Jeffrey Richins TD run and a missed XP to increase the lead to 21-10. Georgia would add 3 points to trail by 8 entering the 4th, which belonged to Thomas Jacobi. For the game, Jacobi completed 21/26, 426 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT, with 3 of the scores coming in the final 15 minutes, all on big plays. First came a 55 yard TD to Matthew Taylor, which tied the game after Shaun Sutton ran in the 2 point conversion. Next came an 84 yard score to Glen Hampton (6-143-1) for a 7 point lead with 3 minutes to play. Had Georgia lost today, Thomas Sanchez would be firmly in the doghouse. In addition to the earlier fumble for a safety, Sanchez ran 32 times for 36 yards all day, then in clock killing mode, he fumbled deep in his own end again. This time James Patterson fell on the loose ball in the end zone and the Hawaiians tie the game thanks to this generous gift. Jacobi had his back though, as he found Willard Brekke for a 75 yard TD to retake the lead. The Georgia defense then intercepted Edwin Clarkson and added the game clinching FG for their 3rd win in a row.

Express 34 Sun 17

Los Angeles came out of the gates strong, getting out to a 23-7 1st quarter lead and beating Southern California to take sole possession of the current #6 seed. David Tavarez got the party started with a 70 yard TD pass to Patrick Peavey in the first minute of the game, but the Sun tied it on a league record tying 110 yard kickoff return for a TD by Michael Johnson. Los Angeles would then add a FG before Tavarez found Gary Sappington for a 75 yard TD pass to give the Express a 17-7 lead. Juan Nichols would add a 4 yard TD run before the quarter ended, but the XP was no good. Gary Wiggins got the Sun within 23-14 before halftime with a 13 yard TD pass to Matthew Tipps. That's as close as Southern California would get as the Express scored 11 points in the 4th to seize control of the game. Juan Nichols rushed for 102 yards and 2 TDs while teammate Gary Sappington ran for 88, adding 87 receiving yards and a TD. David Tavarez threw for 359 and 2 TDs with Patrick Peavey catching 6 for 144 and a score.

Blitz 38 Wheels 28

This was like a basketball game where everybody makes a run. Detroit QB Gabriel Flanagan tossed a pair of 1st qtr TD passes for a 14-0 Wheels lead, then Kent Olden booted a pair of FGs, extending the lead to 20-0. Chicago then went on a run of their own before halftime, starting with a FG, then getting 2 Ronald Brown TD passes to make the halftime score 20-17 Detroit. The second half started and the Blitz picked up where they left off, scoring 21 more points in a row the hard way. Ronald Brown threw TD pass #3, then the defense sacked Flanagan in the end zone and Chicago now led 26-20. Evan Joseph added a FG before Ronald Brown's 4th TD pass, 2nd to Barry Dawson. They tried for 2 but failed, so they now led 35-20. Another Joseph FG extended it to 38-28 before Detroit backup QB Steve Abrego threw his first career TD pass. Abrego comes in from time to time, and his career stat line now reads 5/33, 35 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT. The win makes Chicago 6-5, tied with Detroit and Memphis, 1 game behind Los Angeles for the last wildcard spot.

Blazers 6 Stars 3 (OT)

Sometimes it seems like I'm a jinx, but not in the case of Florida's offense. I have been talking for the last few games about their extended TD drought, which was over 17 quarters heading into this game. Unfortunately for the Blazers, that streak continues as they go 4 quarters plus most of a 10 minute OT period without scoring a TD of any kind. Add it all together and it's been basically 22 quarters, 5 full games plus OT and the end of the Tampa Bay game, yet incredibly, Florida is 2-3 in this stretch of scoring futility. They beat Detroit with 5 FGs during the first full game of the streak, and today they limit Jon Snow and the Baltimore Stars to a single FG to win 6-3. The game winning OT FG was set up by a Carl Thornton fumble recovered by Florida. The Blazers offense went nowhere, but the recovery occurred within FG range. The Florida win takes some of the sting out of the TD drought, as does still being the top wildcard despite a 6-5 record. Baltimore falls to 5-6, but that is good for a 4 way tie for the #6 seed with Tampa Bay, Shreveport and Boston.

Breakers 17 Outlaws 9

The old Ohio State coach Woody Hayes would have enjoyed this game, as it featured a lot of 3 yards and a cloud of dust. The first half was field goal or bust as Oklahoma kicked 2 FGs for a 6-0 halftime lead over Boston. On the first play of the second half, Boston erased the deficit as Adam Scales found Bob Carder for a 75 yard TD pass. The Breakers would extend the lead to 14-6 when Raymond Babbitt plunged into the end zone on a short run in the middle of the 3rd. The teams exchanged 4th quarter FGs, with Boston going first for a 17-6 lead before the Outlaws made it 17-9. Oklahoma tried to rally on a late drive but they ran out of time 30 yards short of the end zone and Boston hangs on for the win.

Invaders 19 Maulers 13

Oakland and Pittsburgh were both 4-6 coming into the game, yet both were still alive in the playoff race. Even after the game, Oakland is 2 games out while Pittsburgh is 1, although both are still considered long shots. The Pittsburgh defense did a good job, limiting the Invaders to 231 offensive yards and forcing Andrew Moreno into a subpar 16/36, 157 yard, 1 TD day. The Maulers also sacked Moreno twice and held them to 3/17 on 3rd down. Oakland played good defense as well, holding the Maulers to 277 yards and 4/16 on 3rd down. The difference in the game was Pittsburgh QB Will Allison and his 3 INTs. Each one gave Oakland good field position and a FG and forced the Maulers to go for a 4th down late while in FG range because they trailed by 6 instead of 3. 

Gunslingers 29 Bell 7

Philadelphia traveled to San Antonio and they don't want to remember the Alamo, as a bad first half put the Bell in a deep hole they couldn't climb out of. Offensively, Philadelphia missed a pair of FGs and had an INT in the first 30 minutes while the Bell defense allowed San Antonio to score on 5 of 6 first half possessions. Four of the five scores were FGs, so Philadelphia was only down 19-0, not insurmountable in a half. Well the 3rd quarter started and so did the punts for the Bell. The Gunslinger RBs were too much today, as Charlie Shanks caught Robert Fanelli's first TD pass and Randy Leger caught one in the 3rd to extend the lead to 26-0. Philadelphia finally got on the board with a Joseph Serio TD pass at the end of the 3rd, but it was too little, too late. San Antonio had big games from QB Robert Fanelli (377 yards, 2 TD), RB Charlie Shanks and RB Randy Leger. Shanks led the Gunslingers in rushing (51 yards) and receiving (6-92-1) while Leger had a combined 116 yards with a receiving TD. 

Hornets 9 Stallions 8

By all rights, Birmingham should have won this game, as they out gained Charlotte 352-137, won the turnover battle 2-1, had 2 red zone possessions to none for the Hornets and an almost 36-24 edge in time of possession. Birmingham's defense scored first, tackling RB Henry Young in the end zone for a safety. The first half stayed 2-0 Stallions until Javier Gill kicked a 51 yard FG as the half expired and the Hornets led 3-2 at halftime. Birmingham K Gonzalo Burgess had a bad first half, missing a 38 yard try wide left and a 45 yard kick wide right. The Stallions got the ball to start the 3rd and quickly advanced down the field for a Walter Lemay 1 yard TD run for an 8-3 lead. It might have been a little early to go for 2, but given the struggles of Burgess plus the prospect of a 7 point lead, I can't argue. Fans can though, as they only care that it failed, leaving the score 8-3. Burgess had a chance to increase the lead but he was wide right on a 38 yard try, then Charlotte added 3 to get within 8-6. Javier Gill made a 3rd FG, a 52 yard kick with 0:39 to play and the Hornets steal a win from the Stallions.

Bulls 26 VooDoo 3

New Orleans is 2-0 against Birmingham but they aren't on the schedule and the VooDoo played like they expected to lose. Joseph Jones threw an INT on the opening drive and Derek Joyce gave Jacksonville a quick lead with a 13 yard TD pass to William Morrison. New Orleans would punt on their next 6 drives while the Bulls scored on their first 4 drives for a 19-0 lead. The XP was no good after the first Joyce TD pass, making the score 6-0, then the next 2 scores were FGs. Joyce threw his 2nd TD pass to Steven Riley for 31 yards, then coming out of halftime, he found Tyron Bailey with a 5 yard TD pass for a 26-0 lead after 35 minutes of play. That was pretty much it, as Derek Joyce would be intercepted but nothing came of it, then the rest of the half was all punts save for a shutout avoiding FG for the VooDoo and the drive that ended when the clock ran out.

Week 10: Champs Lose, Washington/Orlando 10-0

 Ten games are in the books for 1995, and the last 2 undefeated teams reside in the National Conference. It's been quite some time since a National Conference team won the World Bowl, is this the year the streak ends? Our defending champions Houston finally lost a game, and it might hurt come playoff seeding time as San Jose now owns the tiebreaker over the Gamblers. Both teams have 3 game division leads with 6 to go, and should be fighting for home field advantage and a BYE with the winner of the West. Portland currently leads the West, and their 9-1 record matches Houston and San Jose, but the Storm are being pushed hard by the Denver Gold. Denver is 8-2 and the Gold have a 2 game lead on the field for the top wildcard spot. Speaking of playoffs, we'll likely have a division or 2 clinched next week. Washington and Orlando won this week to improve to 10-0 and both teams have a 5 game division lead. 

Washington and Orlando aren't the only teams with big division leads as San Jose, Houston, and New Jersey all have 3 game leads with 6 to go. What we might lack in division drama we gain in wildcard drama. In the American Conference I'm assuming the West will have both Portland and Denver make the playoffs, which would leave 4 teams fighting for the last wildcard. In the National Conference we have 9 teams either 5-5 or 4-6, and 3 of those teams will make the playoffs, as one will win the South division.

SaberCats 23 Gamblers 16

This game almost was a battle of the unbeaten, but there was still a lot on the line as the result of this game could go a long way toward determining home field advantage and/or BYE weeks. In terms of yards per game, these are the 2nd and 3rd best offenses in the league, yet the defenses made the most big plays today. San Jose took an early 3-0 lead thanks to good field position following a Tony Dean INT. Dean bounced back with a 77 yard TD pass to Anthony Fulks, then the Gamblers added a FG following a Jake Plummer INT for a 10-3 lead. Later in the 2nd, another Dean INT led to another San Jose FG and the Gamblers led 10-6 at the half.

San Jose got the ball to start the 3rd quarter and got a FG, then the defense forced a Houston three and out. Jake Plummer then found Dave McEntee with a 20 yard TD and a 16-10 SaberCats lead. Houston would get a FG toward the end of the 3rd and another FG with 3:57 left in the 4th to tie the game at 16. San Jose would be forced to punt at the 2 minute warning, giving Tony Dean a chance to win the game. Dean's 2nd pass of the drive was intercepted by Geoffrey Kessler and returned 39 yards for the eventual game winning TD. Dean was left with plenty of time to tie the game, but after the Gamblers crossed midfield, Dean threw INT #4 and San Jose hangs on for victory. 

Federals 9 Invaders 7

Oakland got the ball first and drove 75 yards in 14 plays, taking 8:39 off the clock and taking an early 7-0 lead on Frederick Barron's 3 yard TD run. The Invaders defense gave up 314 yards to Washington, but they did keep the Federals out of the end zone all game. Unfortunately for Oakland, they would only gain 90 yards of offense the rest of the game. Scott Bieber didn't throw a TD pass, but he did complete 20/26 for 215 yards, leading the Federals offense to 5 FG tries. John Bazile made 3 of them and Washington gets a narrow 9-7 victory to remain undefeated.

Renegades 20 Maulers 6

Pittsburgh played tough, but their offense just couldn't score enough and the Renegades offense controlled the ball for nearly 37 minutes as they wore down the Maulers defense. Orlando led 6-0 on a pair of Scott Mueller FGs before the Renegades recovered a fumble at the Pittsburgh 20, then a penalty took the ball down to the 5. It took 1 play for Trey Lyons to find Jason Amen for the 5 yard TD and a 13-0 lead. Orlando got the ball to start the 3rd, and Lyons had the Renegades poised to pad their lead, but he was intercepted in the end zone by Stephen Ray Vaughan. Will Allison drove Pittsburgh to a FG, cutting the deficit to 13-3, but Lyons answered. Orlando drove deep into Maulers territory again, but this time Lyons finished the drive by completing a pass in the end zone to a teammate. Roger Bostic caught the 1 yard toss and the Renegades had the momentum back and held on for victory.

Storm 35 Hornets 10

Melvin Driggers completed 30/44, 316 yards and 3 TDs to lead Portland to the win over Charlotte. RB Jeffrey Frost had 130 combined yards, and while he didn't score, he led the Storm RBBC with 42 yards and led the Receiver by committee with 88 yards on 7 catches. WR Richard Robinson caught 7 for 74 yards and all 3 Driggers TD passes and FB David Smith had a pair of rushing scores. The Storm defense held Charlotte to 232 total yards and forced 3 turnovers, including 2 Robert Ament INTs.

Panthers 20 Blazers 3

The Florida offensive slump continued today as the Blazers have now gone more than 17 quarters without a TD of any kind. Michigan forced 2 turnovers, allowed 168 total yards, held Florida to 1/12 on 3rd down and sacked Sidney Maggard 4 times. The Panthers had 360 offensive yards and converted 9/18 3rd downs, yet only scored 20 points. Larry Henderson threw 2 TD passes to Harvey Williams and Lawrence Schroeder rushed for 122 yards as 20 points was more than enough for the win today.

Gold 38 Express 14

Los Angeles literally fumbled away their chance to tie for the top wildcard spot today. The Express lost 3 fumbles in the first half that led to 14 Denver points and prevented 2 scoring chances. The first lost fumble gave Denver the ball just outside the red zone and Andrew Brewer found Douglas Crowley for a 3 yard TD pass. Denver started their next drive deep in their own territory after an excellent punt and Brewer led a 12 play, 95 yard scoring drive, finishing it off with another TD pass to Crowley. The next drive saw the Express enter FG range but their 2nd fumble stopped that drive and Brewer took just 1 play to score again. Vincent Rodriguez was the recipient of the 76 yard TD pass to give the Gold a 21-0 lead. Los Angeles had just crossed midfield after the 2 minute warning when fumble #3 stopped that drive and Denver holds the 21-0 lead at the half. 

Denver got the ball to start the 3rd, and Brewer led a 10 play, 75 yard drive that ended in the 3rd TD between Brewer and Crowley. Later in the 3rd, David Tavarez finally got the Express on the board with a TD pass to Martin Salas, but the ensuing kickoff was returned 103 yards by Jerry Murphy and the Gold now led 35-7. Andrew Brewer finished with 289 passing yards and 4 TDs, producing a pair of 100 yard receivers. Douglas Crowley caught 9 for 128 yards and 3 TDs while Vincent Rodriguez caught 4 for 110 and a TD.

Generals 40 Breakers 12

New Jersey wasn't sharp offensively, yet they still scored 40 based on sheer volume of plays from scrimmage. Don Ferguson completed 35/57, 403 yards, 4 TD and 2 INT but once the Generals got into the red zone, flip a coin. They had 5 chances inside the Boston 20 and scored all 5 times, but 3 were FGs. David Koresh had a combined 185 yards, leading New Jersey in rushing yards (75) and receiving yards (8-110). The Generals defense was sharp however, as they limited Boston to 136 total yards, 1/16 on 3rd down and the Breakers only TD came when John Briggs returned a fumble 38 yards. 

Force 28 Sun 22 (OT)

Georgia and Southern California needed almost 5 quarters to decide this game as a ho-hum first 3 and a half quarters turned into an exciting end to regulation and OT. Georgia had 423 offensive yards, with 247 coming in the first half as the Force led 14-3 thanks to a pair of Thomas Jacobi TD passes. The rest of the game was pretty much 3 and out except for 2 long, important drives I'll get to in a bit. Southern California got a FG in the 3rd to cut it to 14-6 then the Sun really shined in the 4th. They got a 2 yard Gary Wiggins TD pass to Mark Littlejohn to cut it to 14-12 as the 2 point try failed. William Ferguson then made a 52 yard FG inside the 2 minute warning to give the Sun a 15-14 lead, their first lead since 3-0. Thomas Jacobi then got Georgia down the field in a hurry, throwing a 13 yard TD pass to Willard Brekke and Thomas Sanchez ran in the 2 point try as the Force now led 22-15. Wiggins liked what he saw from Jacobi and decided to emulate him, getting the Sun the tying TD with the quickness, finding Jonathan Sapp for a 75 yard TD. We headed to OT where Southern California got the ball first and punted. The Sun forced a 3 and out but would miss a 46 yard FG on their second possession and it looked like we might have a tie. Georgia took over on their own 35 with exactly 1:00 to play, and Thomas Jacobi connected with Glen Hampton for the walk off 65 yard TD pass. 

Gary Wiggins completed 32/53, 390 yards and 2 TDs for Southern California while Thomas Jacobi completed 24/34, 324 yards and 4 TDs for Georgia. Jacobi's favorite target was Glen Hampton, who caught 6 for 158 yards and 2 TDs while RB Thomas Sanchez had a combined 134 yards (80 rushing, 54 receiving). 

Steamer 27 Hawaiians 7

QB play makes or breaks a lot of teams, and sometimes, efficiency is better than volume. RB Anthony Davis rushed for 112 yards and a TD on just 10 carries while Edwin Clarkson threw 48 passes with 0 TD and 5 INTs. For Shreveport, George Marcil doesn't post gaudy yardage or TD totals, as his 14 total TD passes rank 14th and he is 18th in yardage. What Marcil does do well is be efficient, as his 74.4 completion percentage is tops in the league and his 2 INTs for the season is the lowest among the top 35 QBs in the league. Marcil is also 6th in QBR, ahead of New Jersey's Don Ferguson, who leads the league in passing yards and TDs. Today, Marcil completed 27/31, 247 yards and 2 TDs, both to David Shafer as Shreveport wins to keep pace with Georgia atop the South.

Stars 32 Bell 30 (OT)

The first half was a kicking contest with Fred Boyce making 3 FGs for Baltimore as the Stars led 9-3. In the 3rd qtr, Jon Snow fired 2 TD passes to Herman Hayes, sandwiching a short Joseph Serio TD pass to Jamie Epperson. Baltimore led 23-10 at this point, but Philadelphia added a FG and a Jamie Epperson TD run to pull within 23-20 as the 4th quarter began. Jon Snow's 3rd TD pass extended the Stars lead to 10 but Philadelphia got a 58 yard Serio TD pass to Daniel Franks inside the 2 minute warning to get within 30-27. The onside kick was successful and the Bell sent it to OT with a FG at the end of regulation. In the extra session, each team punted, with Philadelphia getting pinned inside their own 10. All Pro DE Jacob Hills sacked Joseph Serio in the end zone for a walk off safety 2 plays later.

Outlaws 17 Showboats 13

Memphis was without USFL leading rusher Steve Ransome who was nursing a foot injury, but the Showboats still got out to a 10-0 lead on a FG and an Erik McNamee TD run. Four of Oklahoma's 5 first half drives went nowhere, but they got a FG on their one successful drive, and then Memphis started to turn the ball over. The turnovers didn't result in points for the Outlaws, but they did keep Memphis at 10 points and the Showboats led 10-3 at the half. The second half started with 3 and outs for each team, then John Crisp led Oklahoma on a 12 play, 80 yard TD drive. Crisp ended the drive with a 5 yard score to Steve Haywood. Norman Maldonado answered that score by throwing his 2nd INT of the game as the Showboats advanced toward FG range. Once again, Oklahoma couldn't capitalize and midway through the 4th, Memphis took the lead on a short Gary Ridgeway FG. Each team then punted before Oklahoma began a drive at their own 33 with 3:07 to play. The Outlaws had only 2 good offensive drives up to this point, but John Crisp picked a good time for scoring drive #3. Crisp didn't throw for a ton of yards today, 184, but he did complete 27/31 and threw 2 TD passes, the 2nd came on this drive as he found Mark Johnson for a 3 yard TD. Memphis had 1:15 to score the game winning TD, but once they neared midfield, the Outlaws defense sacked Maldonado on 3 consecutive plays to seal the come from behind win.

Wheels 9 Bulls 3

Some games provide so much action it seems I write a short novel about them, while other games, I have to dig deep to find something to write about. This game between Detroit and Jacksonville falls in the latter category as they scored zero TDs, combined for 510 yards and 6 combined red zone trips producing just 3 FGs. Jacksonville took the opening kickoff and drove for a FG but Derek Joyce threw INTs the next 2 drives, leading to a pair of Detroit FGs and the Wheels led 6-3 at the half. The best chance for a TD came in the 3rd qtr when Detroit forced the Bulls to punt from deep in their own end and a 16 yard return set the Wheels up at the Jacksonville 34. Gabriel Flanagan got as close as 1st and goal at the 3, but 2 runs and a pass all lost a few inches and another FG put Detroit up 6. Jacksonville's 5 second half drives ended with a punt, downs, punt, fumble, and downs. Detroit wins ugly, but it's still a win that keeps them in playoff contention.

Blitz 24 Wranglers 6

The first half of this game looked like the Wheels/Bulls game above as each team managed just 3 points but Chicago owned the second half to win going away 24-6. Arizona has fallen back to earth after a 4-1 start as the Wranglers lost their 5th in a row to fall to 4-6 on the season. Arizona has a lot of talented players thanks to the high picks the franchise has had the last decade plus, but as we see in the NFL, it takes awhile for downtrodden franchises to shed the habits of losing (see Bengals, Cincinnati), and start learning how to win. The Wranglers got the ball to start the 3rd and Brian Carmichael led the offense to a FG and a 6-3 lead. If the Arizona defense had an answer for Chicago RB John Gates, the game could have had a different outcome, but Gates owned the 2nd half. Ronald Brown found Gates with a 34 yard TD pass as Chicago took the lead back 10-6. Brown and Gates liked that so much, they did it again on the other end of the field in the 4th quarter as the Blitz take a 17-6 lead on another 34 yard Brown to Gates TD. With just over 7 minutes to play, Arizona went for it on 4th down on their next drive, but failed and Gates put the exclamation point on the game with a 5 yard TD run. Ronald Brown finished 24/31, 274 yards and 2 TDs while John Gates had a combined 197 yards and 3 TDs. On the ground, Gates was 14-58 and a TD, adding 7 catches for 139 yards and 2 TDs. 

Bandits 20 (NY) Stars 15

New York still has the top 2 players in the league for total yards, RB William Hall and WR Albert Olson. Early in the season, Hall was racking up yards as a runner and receiver, but recently, his yardage has come mostly from return yardage. It seems defenses are willing to let Albert Olson get his while stopping everyone else, and that held true today. Damien Oleary completed 28/44, 308 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT, and most of the yards flowed through Olson, who caught 9 for 166 yards. The first half saw nothing but FGs as the Stars led 6-3, but Antonio Martinez found Garry Fowler for a 73 yard TD pass in the 3rd to give the Bandits a 10-6 lead. New York cut the deficit to 10-9 with a FG before Martinez struck again early in the 4th. Martinez fired his 2nd TD pass, this one 4 yards to Darren Cotton for an 8 point lead. Damien Oleary got New York into the end zone with under 3 minutes to play on a short TD pass to Gerald Benjamin, but the 2 point try failed and the Stars trailed 17-15. Tampa Bay has a top 5 WR of their own in Luis Dean, and while Dean didn't score today, he caught 10 passes for 177 yards and he recovered the onside kick to save the game for the Bandits. 

Thunderbolts 30 Gunslingers 17

QB Tony Romo gets a lot of the blame in the media for Cleveland's rough start to 1995, mostly for 3 horrific games where he posted a 1/10 TD/INT ratio. Romo and the offense have regressed from 1994, when they were ranked 11th, but a case can be made to place a lot of blame on the Thunderbolts defense. Cleveland gave up 255.6 ypg in 1994, good for 3rd best in the league but so far in 1995, they give up 367.4 ypg which is 24th. The blame game will have to wait at least a week as Romo had his best game of the season, completing 24/28, 305 yards, 2 TD and 0 INT as Cleveland led 27-0 after 3. The Thunderbolts did allow 343 offensive yards, but kept San Antonio out of the end zone until the last half of the 4th when they had a 30-3 lead. That's when Robert Fanelli did his best Blake Bortles garbage time imitation, helping his fantasy owners with 2 late TD passes. 

VooDoo 16 Stallions 3

It was 37 degrees in Birmingham, so you'd think the indoor team from New Orleans would struggle. The VooDoo did struggle gaining yards as they only had 191 today while allowing the Stallions 305. Each team had red zone struggles, as Birmingham got there just once, getting no points while New Orleans got 10 points from 4 trips and 3rd downs were almost an automatic punt. New Orleans converted just 2/15 on 3rd down while Birmingham was 3/17, plus the Stallions went 1/6 on 4th downs. That's not even the worst of the ugliness from the Stallions offense as 3's were wild. Willie Benge threw 3 INTs and was sacked 3 times, while the Stallions also lost 3 of 6 total fumbles. Enough negativity though. Joseph Jones threw a 1st qtr TD pass to David Barfield and Emil Porter booted 3 FGs as the VooDoo took a 16-0 halftime lead and coasted to victory.

Week 9: Rivalry Week For The Unbeaten

 Defending champs Houston have fought with the Memphis Showboats the last decade for supremacy in the Southwest and in the playoffs. If Memphis had any hopes of winning the division, they needed a win over 8-0 Houston to do it. They played an exciting game with several lead changes, and while the Houston win doesn't guarantee a division crown, it does make the road much harder for the Showboats. Washington is also unbeaten, and they faced their main rival Baltimore. Much like Houston/Memphis, the Federals and Stars have been battling it out the last decade for Atlantic division supremacy. Not so much this season, as the Stars have had it rough, and the Washington win today gives them a season sweep of the Stars and a 5 game lead with 7 to play. Orlando is our 3rd undefeated team, and while their rivalry with Jacksonville isn't as memorable as the other 2, they still had to beat a division foe to reach 9-0. Florida has ruled the Southeast recently, but the Renegades have a 4 game lead over the Blazers. It's getting to that point of the season where most every game is important as the playoff field starts to take shape, let's see what happened Week 9.

Gamblers 36 Showboats 30

If football games were scripted for TV, they would look a lot like this game. We had 6 lead changes, 799 total yards, 66 total points and the outcome was in doubt until the final minute. In the first quarter, Houston took a 3-0 lead, then Norman Maldonado threw a TD pass to Steve Ransome for a 7-3 Memphis lead after the 1st qtr. Houston came back in the 2nd with a FG and a Tony Dean TD pass to Anthony Fulks to take a 13-7 lead. The Showboats answered with an Erik McNamee 4 yard TD run to take the lead 14-13, then added 7 more on a Steve Ransome 61 yard TD run. Tony Dean got the Gamblers within 21-20 at the half with a 52 yard TD pass to Jett Black.

The 3rd quarter saw just one score, a Tony Dean 2 yard TD pass to Ozzie Newsome to give Houston the lead 27-21. The next 3 scores were by Memphis in the 4th quarter, all Gary Ridgeway FGs, with the 3rd giving the Showboats a 30-27 lead with 1:27 to play. It didn't take Tony Dean long to bring the Gamblers back as he found Jett Black for a 75 yard catch and run TD to give Houston the lead back. Memphis had time to score, but Maldonado was sacked 3 times on the final drive, the last one for a safety and Houston recovered the onside free kick to seal the victory that keeps them undefeated.

Tony Dean completed 26/31, 394 yards and 4 TDs and Jett Black caught 8 for 200 yards and 2 scores for the Gamblers. Steve Ransome led Memphis with 162 combined yards (135 rushing) and 2 TDs.

Federals 32 Stars 9

One week after Baltimore QB Jon Snow tied a league record with 10 TD passes in a game, he almost tied another, albeit dubious record. Four QBs in league history have thrown 8 INTs in a game, and Jon Snow tried to tie it, but he only threw 7 today. The Baltimore defense only allowed Washington 165 offensive yards, but all of those short fields led to 6 John Bazile FGs, a Robert Trammell 3 yard TD run and a 3 yard Scott Bieber TD pass to James Dunn. Trammell, playing on a sore foot, was the offensive star of this game, getting a combined 114 yards and that rushing TD.

Renegades 27 Bulls 9

The Orlando defense intercepted Derek Joyce on 2 of the first 3 drives, turning those into 10 points for an early lead. Jacksonville got a FG at the end of the first half but Anthony Milan ripped off a 75 yard TD run on the first play of the 3rd quarter to seize momentum and a 17-3 lead. Milan also caught one of Trey Lyons 2 TD passes as he finished with 141 rushing yards and a TD to go with 29 receiving yards and a TD. Barring an injury, Milan will be in the running for OROY. Lyons tossed his 2nd TD pass at the end of the 3rd to give the Renegades a 24-6 lead heading into the uneventful 4th and Orlando moves to 9-0.

SaberCats 27 Express 16

Los Angeles got on the board first with a FG, then were driving for more points when David Tavarez was sacked and lost a fumble, leaving the score 3-0 Express. Rodney Richardson gave San Jose the lead with a 2 yard TD run but Tavarez got it right back for L.A. with a 29 yard TD pass to Patrick Peavey. Rodney Richardson struck again, catching a Jake Plummer pass and taking it 65 yards for the go ahead TD as the SaberCats now led 14-10. Inside the 2 minute warning, Jake Plummer found David Hartwig for a 28 yard TD and a 21-10 halftime lead. The second half saw the defenses settle down as each team scored just 2 FGs and San Jose holds on for the win that gives them a 2 game advantage on the Express. Neither QB was very efficient, as Tavarez completed 24/49 with 2 INTs and while Jake Plummer threw 2 TDs and 0 INT, he only completed 13/37 passes. 

Storm 20 Wranglers 13

Melvin Driggers threw for 298 yards and a TD and got help from Jeffrey Frost (108 combined yards and a rushing TD) and Richard Robinson (8 catches, 116 yards) as Portland defeats Arizona to maintain their slim division lead. Portland had nearly 400 yards of offense while allowing the Wranglers just 163, and keeping their offense out of the end zone. The Storm allowed just 2 red zone FGs, with Arizona's lone TD coming on a 99 yard kickoff return by William Haubert after Portland went up 20-3. Arizona would add a FG early in the 4th to pull within 20-13, but their last 2 drives went three and out and the Storm hold on for the win.

Wheels 16 Panthers 15

This Midwest division battle featured struggling offenses and 4 lead changes. Detroit got the ball first and punted, and Michigan punted it back after their first possession. Gabriel Flanagan then led the Wheels on a FG drive that took over 7 minutes off the clock and gave Detroit a 3-0 lead. Larry Henderson and the Michigan offense responded with a 14 play, 75 yard TD drive that ended when Henderson found Harvey Williams with a short TD pass. Gabriel Flanagan answered that with a TD pass to Thomas Love and Detroit had a 10-7 halftime lead. Michigan scored 5 points in the 3rd with a sack of Flanagan for a safety and a FG for a 12-10 lead. That lead was extended to 15-10 early in the 4th with another FG. Detroit then saw Flanagan throw an INT but Michigan fumbled it right back, allowing Flanagan to move the Wheels into FG position and they found themselves down 2 with almost 11 minutes to play. Henderson drove Michigan to the Wheels 35, but they opted to play field position and punted. Detroit couldn't move the ball and punted it back, giving the Panthers a chance to run out the clock. They went three and out though, and Flanagan got the Wheels in position for a 52 yard FG attempt at the gun. Kent Olden was good from 52 yards and Detroit keeps their division title hopes alive with the come from ahead, then behind win.

Generals 41 Hornets 20

Charlotte hung with New Jersey for the first 28 minutes but New Jersey broke a 10-10 tie in the final minute of the first half and scored 17 more in the 3rd quarter for a 24-0 run that basically won the game for the Generals. Don Ferguson completed 28/38 for 351 yards and 5 TDs to lead the New Jersey offense, with help from David Koresh and Duncan Meyer. Koresh ran 17 times for 57 yards and caught 5 for 137 yards and a TD while Duncan Meyer had 88 receiving yards and 3 TDs. Charlotte won the 4th quarter, but the 24-0 run made that a moot point.

Force 20 Blazers 12

Coming into the game, Florida was on a streak of 9 and a half quarters without scoring a TD. The Blazers last TD came with 6:41 left in the 3rd quarter against Tampa Bay in Week 6, then they scored 3 FGs in the 4th, 5 more FGs in Week 7's 15-0 win and 1 FG in last week's loss to Orlando. Their first score today was also a FG that gave Florida a 3-0 lead before Georgia QB Thomas Jacobi fired a 42 yard TD pass to Glenn Hampton gave the Force a 7-3 lead. Georgia added a FG for a 10-3 lead before Florida kicked 2 more FGs in the final 2 minutes of the first half to trail 10-9 at the break. Yet another Blazers FG gave them a 12-10 lead heading into the 4th, but they were done scoring, FGs or otherwise. Georgia took the lead 13-12 on a FG, then Jacobi fired his 2nd TD pass, this one 28 yards to Willard Brekke and the Force led 20-12 with 9:45 to play. Florida's last 3 drives ended on a punt, turnover on downs, and downs again as the Blazers have now gone over 13 quarters without a TD. Georgia keeps a share of first in the South, and their 4-5 record also has the Force in the thick of the wildcard, as it seems the whole conference is 4-5.

Steamer 23 VooDoo 3

The New Orleans defense couldn't Stump the Schwab today as Shreveport RB Milton Schwab ran for 168 yards, including an 80 yard TD run as the Steamer win to keep pace with Georgia atop the South. The VooDoo didn't turn the ball over today and they had 4 drives where they did not punt. Unfortunately, 2 of those "drives" were just a single play at the end of both halves and a third was a missed FG, leaving just 1 scoring drive. The New Orleans defense kept Georgia's passing game in check as George Marcil had 130 yards passing on 20 completions, but the Force running game was too much when the offense had trouble moving the ball. 

Gold 34 Invaders 7

Denver came into the game on a 4 game winning streak, but the last 2 wins have been by just 3 points, including an OT win over Oakland 2 weeks ago. Oakland was also hot coming into the game, winning 4 of 5 so something had to give. Early in the game, it looked like we'd have another close game between these 2 teams as Oakland took the opening kickoff and drove to the edge of the red zone, but the 41 yard FG try was wide left. The Invaders 2nd drive lasted 12 plays, covering 80 yards and Frederick Barron's 4 yard TD run gave Oakland a 7-0 lead. Denver answered that score in 1 play as Andrew Brewer found Gary Cortez for a 75 yard catch and run TD, then the Gold defense forced Oakland punts the rest of the game. Robert Deacon booted FGs in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, Fredrick Whidden had a 2 yard TD run and Brewer threw TD passes in the 3rd and 4th as the Gold score 34 unanswered points to win going away. Andrew Brewer completed 21/29, 363 yards and 3 TDs, 2 to Gary Cortez, who caught 6 for 174 in all. Fredrick Whidden chipped in 122 rushing yards and the aforementioned TD as Denver stays 1 game behind Portland in the West and 1 game ahead of the other wildcard contenders.

Blitz 18 Thunderbolts 16

Chicago and Cleveland played an even, back and forth game that might have played out differently if Evan Joseph made a couple of XP kicks. Cleveland scored first on a Tony Romo 44 yard TD pass to Evan Hershey and the XP was good for a 7-0 lead. Chicago answered with a 4 yard Ronald Brown TD pass to Keith McGhee but the XP was wide right, and the Thunderbolts now lead 7-6. Carlos Reed's 56 yard FG in the final minute of the 1st half extended the Cleveland lead to 10-6 and Chicago seemed willing to run out the clock and head into halftime. Dale Davis had other ideas to run out the clock, like racing 83 yards for a TD and the Blitz took a 12-10 lead into the break after this XP try was also wide right. In the second half, Cleveland kicked a FG to retake the lead 13-12, then Chicago went on a 13 play, 8:26 drive that ended with a FG and the Blitz now led 15-13. Cleveland takes over with 7:02 to play, and they took over 5 minutes off the clock and another FG gives the Thunderbolts a 16-15 lead. If Chicago makes their earlier XP kicks, Cleveland wouldn't have been able to settle for 3, as they would have been trailing by 4. Chicago got the ball with 1:52 left and took all of that time off the clock and Evan Joseph won the game with a 30 yard FG as time expired.

(NY) Stars 16 Breakers 13

The New York Triplets production has been going down in recent weeks, though they are still dangerous offensive weapons. RB William Hall had 151 combined yards, 86 rushing and 65 receiving, and Albert Olson caught 4 for 92 and a TD as he continues to lead the USFL in receiving yards/TDs. The offenses of both teams combined for 629 yards, mostly on 1st and 2nd downs as they also combined to convert just 5/27 3rd downs, and we had a FG kicking contest for 3 and a half quarters. New York led 9-6 when Damien Oleary connected with Olson for a 64 yard TD pass to give New York a 16-6 lead with 6:23 to play. Boston responded with a 17 play, 75 yard TD drive when Adam Scales passed the last 2 yards to Bob Carder to get the Breakers back within 3. The onside kick failed and New York ran the final 2 minutes off the clock for the victory.

Maulers 24 Bell 17

Twenty seems to be Pittsburgh's magic number this season as the Maulers are now 4-0 when scoring at least 20 points and 0-5 when they don't. Philadelphia took the opening drive 75 yards and Joseph Serio's 15 yard TD pass to Craig Hines gave the Bell an early 7-0 lead. Pittsburgh QB Will Allison then threw an INT which led to a Bell FG for a 10-0 Philadelphia lead. Pittsburgh trimmed the deficit to 10-3 before Philadelphia committed a pair of turnovers. The fumble wasn't costly but the interception was as Will Allison converted that into a 19 yard TD pass to Glenn Lajoie to tie the game at 10. Joseph Serio bounced back with a 13 play, 75 yard TD drive capped off with an 11 yard scoring pass to Charles Hunt and the Bell led at the half 17-10. 

The second half was a different story as Pittsburgh shut down the Bell offense while Will Allison threw TD passes in the 3rd and 4th for a come from behind victory for the Maulers. Allison finished 23/31, 309 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT and the leading receiver was WR Arthur Thompson, who caught 4 for 104 yards and the game winning TD. 

Hawaiians 26 Sun 16

Honolulu scored TDs on their first 2 possessions for a 13-3 lead then held on for the win through a mistake filled 4th quarter. The Hawaiians went 75 yards in 11 plays on the opening possession, with Edwin Clarkson's 2 yard TD pass to Anthony Graves giving Honolulu a 7-0 lead. Southern California QB Gary Wiggins answered with a 16 play, 72 yard drive that took nearly half the quarter but resulted in a FG. Clarkson then found Michael Argueta for a 75 yard TD and a 13-3 lead after the XP was missed. Honolulu added a FG to go up 16-3 before Wiggins led a TD drive toward the end of the first half. Matthew Tipps caught the 23 yard TD pass from Wiggins and the Sun now trailed 16-10 with 1:34 before halftime. Honolulu punted, as did the Sun and Honolulu had the ball 80 yards away with 38 seconds left in the half. Clarkson found Argueta for a 73 yard pass for a first and goal at the 7. Anthony Graves only caught 2 passes for 9 yards today, but both were scores as his 7 yard reception enabled Honolulu to enjoy a 23-10 halftime lead. The second half was a FG kicking contest, then the turnovers started in the 4th quarter. The Sun had 2 INTs and a turnover on downs in the final 15 minutes while Honolulu lost a fumble and also turned it over on downs, with the end result being a Hawaiians win that breaks their 6 game losing streak.

Gunslingers 20 Outlaws 9

San Antonio QB Robert Fanelli completed 26/34, 262 yards and 2 TDs to Eugene Bufkin as the Gunslingers defeat Oklahoma. Charlie Shanks rushed for 91 yards to lead the Gunslingers RBBC that had 145 yards, but Shanks also fumbled twice, losing one. San Antonio WR Michael Stott led the team in receiving but also lost a fumble as the Gunslingers had the only turnovers of the game. They didn't hurt too bad though, as the San Antonio defense held the Outlaws to 229 offensive yards and 0/13 on 3rd down. Neither offense enjoyed getting in the red zone as Oklahoma got 2 FGs from 3 trips while San Antonio had a TD in 2 trips. 

Stallions 27 Bandits 0

Today was a great day for Birmingham while Tampa Bay would like to forget this game ever happened. We'll start with the good...Birmingham had 410 offensive yards, converted 14/20 3rd downs, scored 2 TDs and a FG in 3 red zone trips and they held the ball 45:46. Francis Schultz ran for 110 yards and Willie Benge completed 30/36, 282 yards and 3 TDs, all in the first half. Oh, the Stallions were also 2/2 on 4th down. Tampa Bay's game was all bad, as the offense couldn't stay on the field. The Bandits rushed for 15 yards on 7 carries and the bad Antonio Martinez played today, as he completed just 13/31, 147 yards and 2 INTs. His 2nd INT came with 10:55 left in the 3rd quarter, and the Bandits offense would run just 9 offensive plays the rest of the game on 3 three and out drives.     

 

 

Week 8: Down to 3 Unbeatens

We almost made it to a possible 9-0 vs 9-0 game in a couple weeks but Denver beat San Jose to give the SaberCats their first loss of 1995. It should still be an entertaining game when they host Houston, but at most just one team will be undefeated. Houston, Orlando, and Washington all won to keep the zero in the loss column and the Federals enjoy a 4 game lead on Baltimore. Could Baltimore be getting their mojo back? One week after a comeback win over New Jersey, the Stars hang 73 on Charlotte and find themselves 4-4, right in the middle of the wildcard race. A lot of other things happened in Week 8 and the playoff races should be exciting, so let's check out the action.

Gamblers 48 Blitz 20

Tony Dean and the Gamblers offense got out to a 24-0 lead and the leaky defense gave up a lot of yards, but never let Chicago get closer than 13 the rest of the game. Tony Dean threw for 357 yards and 5 TDs, with Hugh Chance catching 7 for 170 yards and 2 scores. Chicago was able to run for 214 yards with John Gates leading the way with 148 and a TD, but Houston ran the ball almost as well. The Gamblers rushed for 231 yards, but they had 5 more carries than the Blitz for a slightly lower yards per carry. Houston was led on the ground by Lloyd Ellis, who had 143 yards and a TD on only 9 carries. Donald Turner did the heavy lifting, carrying 16 times for 62 yards and adding 83 yards and a TD on 7 catches. Houston's next 3 games are against Memphis, San Jose, and Memphis again. It's party time.

Federals 26 Force 13

Washington got out to a 10-0 lead after 1 quarter on a John Bazile FG and a short James Dunn TD run. The 2nd quarter belonged to Georgia as Thomas Jacobi fired 2 TD passes, but just 1 XP was good as the Force led 13-10 at the half. Washington struggled on offense all game long, especially Robert Trammell and the running game. Trammell rushed 25 times for 17 yards, with 2 yards on 3 catches. It was revealed after the game he had a serious foot injury, so that was a likely factor in his performance. The 3rd quarter saw just a John Bazile FG and we were knotted at 13 for the 4th. The Federals defense did a great job of shutting down the Georgia offense after their 2nd quarter outburst, and they forced a fumble toward the end of the 4th. Scott Bieber immediately found James Larson for the game winning 38 yard TD. Georgia's next 2 drives were 4 and outs, turnover on downs, and Bazile added a FG after each one for the final margin as Washington remains unbeaten.

Renegades 17 Blazers 3

Orlando got 287 yards and a TD from QB Trey Lyons and the Renegades defense held Florida to exactly 200 as they win for the eighth time in eight tries. Orlando got a FG on their opening drive, then had a 15 play, 83 yard drive for a TD that took nearly half the 2nd quarter. Rookie RB Anthony Milan capped that drive with a 1 yard TD run to give the Renegades a 10-0 lead they would hold until mid 4th quarter. That's when the Blazers finally got on the scoreboard with a FG, but Lyons answered on the next drive with a 35 yard TD pass to Jesse Carr and Florida's final 2 drives ended on downs.

Gold 25 SaberCats 22

Denver and San Jose are serious playoff contenders, and the TV networks can only hope January football is full of games like this. We had 5 lead changes, 778 offensive yards and 10 scoring plays. San Jose dominated the action, possessing the ball for 36:36, had 26 first downs to 8 for the Gold, out gained Denver 421 to 357, had 4 red zone trips to 1 for Denver, and converted 7/18 3rd downs while Denver was 3/12. Denver won the game however, by forcing FGs instead of allowing TDs while also hitting big plays on offense. Jake Plummer was 25/42, 357 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT with 3 sacks allowed, while the yards were spread out among several players. Andrew Brewer was just 14/25, 269 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT while his favorite target was once again Douglas Crowley, who caught 4 for 196 yards and all 3 Brewer TD passes. 

San Jose scored first for a 3-0 lead before Denver scored 2 TDs to take a 14-3 lead after 1. The 2nd qtr belonged to San Jose, as they scored 13 unanswered points for a 16-14 halftime lead. Each team kicked a FG in the 3rd, with Denver going first to retake the lead, but of course the SaberCats FG gave it back and San Jose led after 3, 19-17. That lead was increased to 22-17 with under 5 minutes to play, but Brewer to Crowley TD #3 on the next drive gave Denver a 23-22 lead and Fredrick Whidden ran it in for 2 points. Plummer had plenty of time to drive for the tie or win, and the SaberCats had a 1st and goal from the 9. Plummer completed a pass down to the 2, but the Gold were flagged for pass interference, so they opted to accept the penalty to make it first and goal from the 2. On first down, Plummer was sacked by Walter Pearson, second down David Squires sacked him. Now they faced 3rd and goal from the 20 and Jerry Hyder got the game clinching INT for Denver, handing San Jose their first loss of the season.

Storm 38 Hawaiians 6

Portland and Honolulu continued going opposite directions today as the Storm win handily for their 5th straight win, while the Hawaiians lost their 6th straight after a 2-0 start. Honolulu did not turn the ball over, but the Portland defense was stingy with the yards, allowing 245 on the day. The Hawaiians defense did a good job against the Storm running game but they had no answer for Melvin Driggers on this day. Driggers finished 33/39, 436 yards and 5 TDs, 2 to Richard Robinson. Jeffrey Frost didn't score today but he had a combined 180 yards to help set up his teammates. Frost had 61 rushing yards to lead the committee and he led the receivers with 119 yards on 5 catches. 

Panthers 12 Thunderbolts 3

Michigan continued to be the toughest team in the league to score against, as they've allowed just 84 points in 8 games, 21 less than 2nd place San Jose and Washington. Offensively, the Panthers still need some work, especially in the red zone. Michigan out gained Cleveland 319-210, but only converted 1/15 3rd downs and were 0/4 in the red zone, settling for FGs each time. The Panthers defense intercepted Tony Romo 4 times, and a few more games like this and the MFN Romo might follow his real life namesake into the announcing booth. Neither team could crack the end zone, but the 4 red zone FGs by Michigan were more than enough to beat the Thunderbolts today.

Generals 48 Maulers 7

The last 3 games for Pittsburgh have been close, one score games, and they've won the last 2 where the game script was a tale of 2 halves. New Jersey still leads the East, but the Generals were pretty salty about giving up a 17 point lead and losing to Baltimore last week and they took it out on the Maulers today. Defensively they held Will Allison to 17/37, 140 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT and sacked him 4 times, shutting the Maulers out until the 4th quarter when they had a 38-0 lead. Offensively, New Jersey had it working today, except on 3rd down, where they converted just 3/12. RB David Koresh ran for 109 yards and caught 9 passes for 55 more yards and 3 TDs. Don Ferguson threw 6 TDs in all against 1 INT, completing 37/54 for 362 yards. WR Duncan Meyer caught 5 for 137 yards and 2 scores to lead the receivers.

Steamer 10 Stallions 7

Shreveport had 2 long drives in the first half, one ending on a Jeffrey Morris 2 yard TD run and the other with a FG as the Steamer took a 10-0 lead into halftime. Birmingham came out of the locker room and it seemed like they had the ball the entire 3rd quarter, as they took the second half kickoff and drove 75 yards in 15 plays, taking 9:10 off the clock. Willie Benge got the short TD pass to Joseph Oliver and the Stallions trailed 10-7. The end of the game saw bad FG kicking as Birmingham's Gonzalo Burgess was wide left on a potential 37 yard tying FG and Shreveport's Jeffrey Smith was wide right from 44 on the next drive. Time was running out at this point, but Benge had Birmingham in FG range again, albeit a 54 yard try, and Burgess was short. Shreveport ran the last 1:12 off the clock for the victory that ties them for first in the South with Georgia.

Express 20 Sun 6

Los Angeles demoralized Southern California early, then the defense ended a late rally for the division victory. David Tavarez led the Express on a 15 play, 75 yard game opening drive that ended with a short TD pass to Corey Gibbons. That drive took 9:03 off the clock, then the Los Angeles defense got Tavarez the ball back with an INT. Juan Nichols had a short TD run for a 14-0 Express lead. The defense intercepted Gary Wiggins again on the second drive and turned that into 3 points for a 17-0 lead. Fast forward to the 4th and the Express now led 20-6 but Wiggins had the Sun inside the red zone, looking to cut the deficit. Interception #3 happened though, and Los Angeles wins.

Showboats 32 Outlaws 16

The first half of this game was tight, as Memphis kicked 2 FGs for an early 6-0 lead before Oklahoma tied it on a short John Crisp TD pass to Clarence Murphy and a missed XP. The Showboats got 3 before half for a 9-6 lead at the break, which was no break since the coach spent the entire time chewing rear ends. Whatever was said, it worked as Norman Maldonado throws 3 TD passes in the half, including 2 long ones to Thomas Ballard covering 76 and 82 yards. In all, Memphis went on a 26-0 run after the Outlaws tied the game at 6 before Oklahoma scored 10 late points for a closer final margin. Maldonado finished 25/41, 417 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT and Thomas Ballard caught 3 for 193 yards and 2 scores. RB Steve Ransome didn't score but he had a combined 221 yards, rushing for 164 and catching 3 for 57 yards. Memphis gets division rival Houston 2 of the next 3 weeks.

Stars 73 Hornets 10

Baltimore struggled early in the season, but if they rebound to make the playoffs, last weeks come from behind win against New Jersey is the likely catalyst. Jon Snow was on a roll to end that game and that continued against Charlotte today as he ties a regular season league record with 10 TD passes. 

  The above is the list of QBs who have thrown 9 or 10 TD passes in a single game. The overall record I don't like to speak about, because Birmingham's David Schmitt threw 11 against my Generals in the 1985 playoffs. Back to today, and Jon Snow completed 34/40, 685 yards, 10 TD passes and 0 INT. John Warkentin caught 8 for 326 yards and 4 TDs and Glenn Sprinkle caught 8 for 170 and 3 scores. The only possible negative is bad blood between these division rivals as Snow kept throwing in the 4th qtr, getting 5 TDs after already being ahead 38-7 after 3.

Bandits 33 Bulls 7

I think if given a choice, Tampa Bay would like to see this Antonio Martinez every week. Martinez seems to have some Brett Favre in him, with his big arm trying to force passes and getting some picked off, yet still capable of going off for a ton of yards. Martinez was 21/35, 231 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT, and having a productive running game took some pressure off as well. Charles Granier ran for 71 yards to lead the bandits RBBC that gained 179, and that success was the key to victory. Derek Joyce matched Martinez yard for yard but the Bulls ran for just 24 yards and Tampa Bay went on a 26-0 run after Jacksonville tied the game at 7.

Breakers 17 VooDoo 7

Each team punted on their opening drive before each team's second drive combined to take 17:21 off the clock. New Orleans started their second drive on their own 10, and Joseph Jones led an 18 play, 90 yard scoring drive that took 11:10 off the clock. The 18th play was a 3 yard Jones TD pass to Charles Danielson for a 7-0 New Orleans lead. Boston and Adam Scales answered with an 11 play, 74 yard TD drive that took 6:11 off the clock. RB Ralph Harris finished the drive with a 5 yard TD run. The first half would end 7-7, then Adam Scales threw a 7 yard TD pass to Emanuel Adams on the first drive of the second half for a 14-7 Breakers lead. New Orleans had chances to tie, but Joseph Jones threw two 4th qtr INTs in Breakers territory and Boston hangs on to even their record at 4-4.

Bell 13 (NY) Stars 9

I have spent some time talking about the New York playmakers, and deservedly so, but Philadelphia has some of their own. Scoring was at a premium today, but yards were plenty as New York QB Damien Oleary completed 30/43, 279 yards, Albert Olson caught 10 for 92 yards and RB William Hall had a combined 105 yards, but the Bell defense came up big in the red zone, allowing just 2 FGs and forcing a fumble in the Stars 3 trips. That fumble was huge, as it came with 1:09 left as the Stars were closing in on the potential game winning TD. Philadelphia trailed 9-3 at the half, but Joseph Serio gave Philadelphia the lead in the 3rd when he found Craig Hines for a 35 yard TD. A FG early in the 4th extended the lead to 13-9, forcing New York to get the ball in the end zone on their last minute fumble drive. RB Jamie Epperson led the Bell offense with 157 combined yards, 76 rushing and 81 receiving.

Invaders 20 Wranglers 7

Arizona got the ball first and drove 75 yards in 11 plays with Robert Woolford getting a short TD run for a 7-0 Wranglers lead. Andrew Moreno led Oakland on a 75 yard drive and they answered the score with a Ronald McDevitt 2 yard run. Oakland then intercepted Brian Carmichael and the Invaders took the lead on Frederick Barron's 1 yard TD run. A 2nd qtr FG gave Oakland a 17-7 lead, then the Arizona defense settled down, allowing just 3 points the rest of the game that was set up by a lost fumble. Officially, Arizona had 4 turnovers, a pair of INTs in the first half and a pair of lost fumbles in the second, but they also turned it over on downs twice in the 4th.

Wheels 21 Gunslingers 17

Detroit got the ball first and drove 75 yards in 11 plays, taking 8:09 off the clock as Carlton Allen's 1 yard TD run gave the Wheels a 7-0 lead. Four punts later and it was San Antonio's turn for a long drive, going 88 yards in 13 plays, taking 7:50 off the clock. They tied the game on an 8 yard TD pass to Charlie Shanks. A Gabriel Flanagan fumble on a sack gave the Gunslingers an immediate first and goal situation and Randy Leger finished this drive with a 1 yard TD run. Detroit tied it in the 3rd on a 90 yard catch and run TD pass to Carlton Allen before San Antonio took another 7:12 off the clock with a 14 play, 57 yard FG drive to give the Gunslingers a 17-14 lead. Gabriel Flanagan then threw what turned out to be a meaningless INT as San Antonio punted it back still leading. Some punts happened, then Fanelli threw an INT to give Detroit the ball 16 yards away from paydirt. Three plays later, Carlton Allen scored his 3rd TD, 2nd rushing to give Detroit the lead. The Gunslingers had plenty of time left, but turned it over on downs and the Wheels ran out the clock for the victory. 

 

Week 7: The Champs and 3 Others Still Undefeated

 Now that every team has a win this season, we can concentrate on which team will be the last to lose. Defending Champion Houston are now 7-0 after winning a shootout against New York. The San Jose SaberCats are also 7-0 after today's victory over Birmingham, and they host the Gamblers in Week 10. The Washington Federals have been the best National Conference team the last 2+ seasons, and they struggled against a feisty Arizona team, but they survive to go 7-0. Orlando has not won 10 or more games since finishing 11-5 in 1988, but the Renegades beat the Blitz today to run their record to 7-0 and double digit wins seem just a matter of time.

Gamblers 43 (NY) Stars 31

Houston has been struggling on defense lately, so it wasn't a good time to face the dangerous triplets of New York. The Gamblers really focused on stopping Oleary and Olson as they allowed the Stars to rush for 239 yards on 24 carries as a team, with William Hall gaining 181 yards and 1 of 2 New York rushing scores. Hall also returned a kickoff 102 yards for a score. Albert Olson got his in the passing game, catching 8 for 128 and a TD, but overall, Oleary and the passing game struggled. Oleary finished 22/51, 185 yards, 1 TD and 5 INTs. Predictably, Tony Dean and the Gamblers offense made them pay as Dean completed 31/47, 384 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. Hugh Chance caught 6 for 151 yards and a TD to lead the receivers while RB Donald Turner had a combined 143 yards (87 rushing) and a rushing TD as Houston got out to a 17-0 lead and never let the Stars get closer than 10 the rest of the game.

SaberCats 48 Stallions 13

San Jose continues to look like one of, if not the best team in the league, especially these last 5 weeks. QB Jake Plummer is 2nd in passing yards to New Jersey's Don Ferguson, but Plummer has 76 less completions and a stellar QBR of 143.09. The #2 in QBR is Tony Dean at 120.55. Plummer's TD/INT ratio is 24/3 and his YPC is 2.5 yards better than anyone else at 11.48. Today, Birmingham tried to keep up, and the Stallions had 333 offensive yards, but Plummer and the SaberCats scored early and often en route to another blowout win. San Jose "only" ran for 130 yards but they had 3 TDs on the ground, 2 by David Hartwig, and he led the RBBC with 64 yards. Hartwig also caught 3 passes for 84 yards, giving him a combined 148, but the story today was Plummer and Mark Hsu. Plummer completed 22/32, 441 yards and 3 TDs, 2 to Mark Hsu, who hauled in 5 for 148 yards in all. 

Federals 13 Wranglers 3

Arizona is no longer one of the worst teams in the league, but the Wranglers have a way to go before they're ready to play with the big boys. There is no shame in losing to Denver, Portland, or Washington, and defensively, Arizona hung with the Federals, holding them to 284 total yards and 13 points. Offensively was a different story as the Washington defense stifled the Wranglers, allowing just 146 total yards. Washington had a lot of grind it out drives, as veteran QB Scott Bieber completed 25/33, 204 yards and a TD to Matthew Cuevas, while the running game gained just 2.5 ypc on 36 rushes. Five of Arizona's 9 drives were 3 and out and the Federals win the defensive struggle.

Renegades 33 Blitz 14

Orlando QB Trey Lyons completed 28/40, 285 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT to lead the Renegades to their 7th victory of the season. WR Roger Bostic caught 6 passes for 115 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Renegades skill players. Defensively, Orlando allowed Ronald Brown 2 TD passes to his favorite receiver Ian Gordon, but they also intercepted Brown 4 times. Orlando led 24-7 at the half and the Blitz could not get closer than 13 the rest of the game.

Storm 52 Sun 13

Portland did a lot of great things today, but ball security wasn't one of them, neither was punting. The Storm never punted, as every drive ended with either a score, a turnover, or the end of a half. It's probably a good thing for Southern California that Melvin Driggers threw 4 INTs and Jose Moses lost a fumble, otherwise Portland would have scored 80 or more. The Sun actually scored first, taking advantage of a short field after interception #1 with a Mark Littlejohn 4 yard TD run. Portland scored the next 28, thanks to 3 Driggers TD passes, 2 to Richard Robinson, and a rushing TD. Driggers finished the game 32/41, 476 yards, 5 TDs and 4 INTs. The Storm rushed for 244 yards as a team to give them 720 total yards today, while allowing the Sun 94. Portland's defense forced no turnovers but allowed just 2/15 on 3rd down and sacked Gary Wiggins 5 times. Jeffrey Frost had a monster game with a double triple. Frost ran 16 times for 135 yards and a TD, adding 10 catches for 224 yards and a TD. Frost's 359 total yards are the 2nd most in the league in 1995, 90 yards behind the 449 New York's Albert Olson put up earlier. 

Panthers 20 Outlaws 3

Michigan pretty much won this game in the 2nd quarter. Oklahoma scored a FG on the opening drive for a 3-0 lead, then we saw several punts, and Michigan started a 2nd qtr drive from just outside their own goal line. Nine plays and 100 yards later, Larry Henderson found Kevin Terry for a 21 yard TD pass to take the lead for good. Michigan All Pro LB Miguel Lamar then intercepted John Crisp to set up a 10 yard Walter Simmons TD run and a 14-3 lead. Jonathan Ruch added a pair of FGs in the second half and the Panthers defense took care of the rest as Michigan increased their Midwest lead to 2 games.

Stars 37 Generals 34

Baltimore is having a rough 1995 and New jersey started this game like they wanted to bury the Stars, jumping out to a 24-7 lead thanks to a pair of Don Ferguson TD passes and a Kurt Cobain TD run. Jon Snow brought Baltimore back with a 63 yard TD pass to John Warkentin before Al Borland's 2nd FG gave New Jersey a 27-14 halftime lead. In the second half, Jon Snow led a 23-0 Stars run with 3 TD passes to take a 10 point 4th quarter lead. Ferguson got the Generals within 3 on a 75 yard catch and run TD pass to Kurt Cobain, but New Jersey's last 2 drives were turnover on downs as Baltimore hangs on for the come from behind win. Jon Snow completed 23/44, 351 yards, 5 TDs and 2 INTs. John Warkentin announced his presence with authority, catching 8 balls for 258 yards and 3 TDs. For New Jersey, both RBs were productive as Kurt Cobain rushed for 79 yards and a TD while catching 4 for 105 and another TD. David Koresh ran for 67 yards, with 99 receiving yards and a TD on 10 receptions. Don Ferguson leads the league in passing yards, completions, and attempts while being sacked just twice. Today, Ferguson was 36/60, 348 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT. 

Force 38 VooDoo 9

Thomas Jacobi passed for 331 yards and 4 TDs to lead Georgia to a division win against New Orleans to give the Force sole possession of first. Glen Hampton caught 7 passes for 182 yards and 2 TDs to pace the Georgia skill players. New Orleans QB Joseph Jones threw a pair of 2nd qtr INTs that Jacobi cashed in for TDs to put the VooDoo in a 21-3 hole they couldn't get out of. The lack of a productive running game did New Orleans no favors.

Blazers 15 Wheels 0

Florida won despite a sluggish offense thanks to their stingy defense and 5 Gerald Harmon FGs to improve to 5-2. The Blazers are 2 games behind Orlando in the Southeast, but with a bunch of teams lumped together at 3-4, they have a 2 game lead for the top wildcard. Florida QB Sidney Maggard completed 17/20 but for just 122 yards as the Blazers converted only 3/18 3rd downs. Defensively, they forced a lot of incomplete passes as Detroit QBs combined for 21/51, 164 yards and 2 INTs and allowed no 3rd down conversions in 14 tries. The Wheels are falling off for Detroit as they lose their 3rd in a row.

Express 13 Hawaiians 10

Justin Montgomery intercepted a David Tavarez pass and returned it 26 yards for a TD to give Honolulu an early 7-0 lead. At the beginning of the 2nd, Edwin Clarkson had the Hawaiians on the doorstep of a TD with a 1st and goal from the 1, but an INT 2 plays later killed that drive and Los Angeles chipped away with a pair of FGs. Honolulu added a FG for a 10-6 halftime lead. The second half was a field position game and the Express defense forced a 3 and out after a punt pinned Honolulu deep in their own end. David Tavarez took advantage of the short field, finding Juan Nichols for the eventual game winning TD. 

Gold 23 Invaders 20 (OT)

Oakland got out to an early 7-0 lead thanks to a Michael Bethea 3 yard TD run, then the teams exchanged FGs as the Invaders now led 10-3. Denver QB Andrew Brewer then threw an INT to set up Oakland at the Gold 32 yard line. It took 4 plays for Andrew Moreno to find Juan Morgan with an 8 yard TD pass and the Invaders now enjoyed a 17-3 lead. Denver cut the lead to 17-10 on a 1 yard Ray Anderson TD run, and that was it for the scoring until the 4th. Oakland got a FG early in the 4th for a 20-10 lead, then Andrew Brewer found Douglas Crowley for a 19 yard TD pass to get the Gold within 3. Crowley finished with 134 receiving yards on the day in addition to that TD, and has developed into Brewer's favorite target. Denver K Robert Deacon made a 34 yard FG in the final minute to send the game to OT, then Deacon made a 37 yard FG on Denver's 2nd OT possession and the Gold escape with a division win.

Showboats 23 Gunslingers 12

Memphis got 110 yards rushing and 3 TDs from Steve Ransome as the Showboats get a come from behind division win. Ransome's first TD gave Memphis an early 7-0 lead, then we had nothing but FGs until the 4th. There were 5 FGs kicked in the first 3 quarters, with San Antonio's Benjamin Regalado nailing 4 to give the Gunslingers a 12-10 lead entering the 4th. Ransome then took matters into his own hands, getting TD runs of 15 yards to give Memphis a 16-12 lead and a 2 yard TD inside the 2 minute warning to put the game out of reach.

Breakers 20 Bell 10

Boston played their most complete game of the season and turned the East into a 4 team jumble as a result. The Breakers were the only East team to win this week, and Boston joins New York and Philadelphia at 3-4, 1 game behind New Jersey. Boston did allow the Bell to run for over 6 yards a carry but Philadelphia only ran 14 times, while offensively, the Breakers RBBC ran 47 times for 211 yards and a TD. The passing yards were almost even, as were the completions, but while Boston's Adam Scales only needed 25 passes to get 20 completions, Joseph Serio was an inefficient 21/41 with 2 INTs and 2 sacks. Boston's defense allowed just 2/11 on 3rd down and 0/3 on 4th, 3 total points in 3 red zone trips, and the only TD for Philadelphia came on a 105 yard kickoff return by Faustino Dixon. That KO return cut the lead to 13-10 Boston, but early in the 4th, Raymond Caviness ripped off a 50 yard TD run to put the lead back to 10 points and the Bell turned it over on downs their last 3 drives.

Bulls 23 Steamer 20

I think each team's defense got stuck in traffic and arrived late because the first 6 drives of the game produced points, then the defenses took over and limited the scoring in the second half. Shreveport got the ball first and quickly jumped out 7-0 on a 67 yard George Marcil TD pass to Richard Funkhouser. Derek Joyce tied the game for Jacksonville on the Bulls opening drive with a 2 yard TD pass to Tyron Bailey. George Marcil answered with a 1 yard TD pass to David Shafer and a 14-7 Steamer lead three drives in. Jacksonville answered with a FG, Shreveport added a FG, then another Jacksonville FG and the Steamer led 17-13 at the half. The defenses started to settle in toward the end of the first half and that continued into the 3rd quarter. Derek Joyce was able to get the Bulls the lead late in the 3rd with an 11 yard TD pass to Anthony Holland, but he threw an INT early in the 4th to allow Shreveport to tie the game at 20 with a FG. George Marcil drove the Steamer into FG range but Jeffrey Smith was wide right on the 44 yard try and we remained tied with less than 5 minutes to play. Derek Joyce and the Bulls took over and used most of the remaining clock to drive to the edge of Neal Williams FG range. Williams put the 52 yard kick through the uprights as time expired to give Jacksonville the victory.

Thunderbolts 24 Bandits 17

Tampa Bay needs more consistent play from QB Antonio Martinez, good or bad, so they can decide if he is the guy to lead their offense in the future. So far in his short career, Martinez's play can best be described as mercurial as one drive he can look like Mario Valencia, the next he'll look like real life Jameis Winston. The good Martinez began this game leading a 4 play, 74 yard TD drive, ending it with a 16 yard TD pass to Earle Noble for an early 7-0 lead. Tony Romo answered on the next drive for Cleveland with a 46 yard TD pass to Shane Looney. Early in the 2nd qtr, Jameis Winston came in, I mean Martinez threw an INT deep in his own end and Romo cashed in with his 2nd TD pass to continue the Thunderbolts scoring run. Martinez bounced back on the next drive but was let down by his kicker who was wide right on a 34 yard try. Cleveland would add a FG to take a 17-7 halftime lead they increased to 24-7 early in the 4th thanks to an Evan Hershey 1 yard TD run. That score was set up by you guessed it, a Martinez INT. Fast forward to 6:13 left to play and the Bandits have the ball still trailing 24-7. The good Martinez is back and he leads a FG drive to get within 14 points, and the ensuing onside kick is recovered by Tampa Bay. Martinez then drives the Bandits to a TD with a 12 yard pass to Garry Fowler. There are still 3:03 on the clock, but the Bandits try another onside kick anyway, and this was also successful. Martinez trots back on the field for his third "drive" within a drive and got the offense in FG range, but needing a TD to tie, they went for it on 4th and failed. Cleveland ran out the remaining clock en route to victory.

Maulers 20 Hornets 17

Pittsburgh got the scoring underway with a Ronald Smith 1 yard TD run but the XP was no good, so the lead was 6-0. The Maulers played 3 and a half quarters of great defense, forcing 4 turnovers in total. Will Allison capitalized on 2 of those with TD passes in the first half to extend the Pittsburgh lead to 20-0. From that point to the middle of the 4th was mostly punts with Charlotte finally getting on the scoreboard with a FG. Robert Ament finally got Charlotte into the end zone with 4 minutes to play on a 5 yard pass to Henry Young. They decided to go for 2 and failed, so the score was 20-9. The onside kick failed but the Hornets defense forced a 3 and out to get the ball back to Ament and the offense. Ament found Jake Peralta for a 46 yard TD and this time Ament converted the 2 point try to get the Hornets within 20-17. The onside kick was successful this time but Ament couldn't move the offense and they turned it over on downs as the Maulers hang on by the skin of their teeth for their 2nd straight win.

 

Week 6: Every Team Has a Win

 We still have the same 4 teams without a loss: San Jose, Houston, Orlando, and Washington, but we now have no teams with zero wins. New Orleans came into this week 0-5, but 3 of those losses were by a combined 6 points, including an OT loss so they were due for some breaks. The crazy part is that despite their 1-5 record, the VooDoo are just 1 game out of first place in the South. In fact we have 3 divisions where just 2 games or less separate first and last and only Washington has more than a 2 game lead. I'm going to try to make this blog short and sweet.

Gamblers 31 Bell 22

Houston's defense got shredded for over 400 yards by an East division team for the second week in a row, but just like last week, Tony Dean and some timely turnovers save the day for the Gamblers. Philadelphia got 119 rushing yards from Jamie Epperson and rushing TDs from Timothy Roquemore and Robert Cooper to compliment Joseph Serio's 308 passing yards. Serio didn't pass for any TDs however, and he was responsible for both turnovers, tossing an INT and losing a fumble. Houston ran the ball effectively, just not very often as Tony Dean did the heavy lifting today. Dean finished 30/38, 389 yards and 4 TDs. 

SaberCats 25 Sun 3

San Jose opted for a run heavy/defensive game plan today and it worked, as Jake Plummer threw for just 171 yards today. RB David Hartwig led San Jose with 95 rushing yards and 56 receiving yards but the story was the SaberCats defense. They harassed Gary Wiggins all day long, allowing him to complete just 1/3 of his passes, 11/33 for 88 yards, 3 INTs and 2 sacks, with only one Southern California drive covering more than 21 yards.

Federals 20 Bulls 13

Jacksonville was just 1-4 coming into this game against 5-0 Washington, but the upstart Bulls hung with the Federals, never trailing by more than 7 points. The Bulls defense frustrated Bieber and the Federals in the first half, as Jacksonville led 6-3 at the break. Bieber finally got the offense moving a bit in the second half, finding Ronald Matthews for a TD pass to take the lead. Derek Joyce got the lead back for the Bulls with a TD pass of his own, aided by a short field after a Bieber INT. James Dunn would catch Bieber's 2nd TD pass early in the 4th to give Washington the lead for good and the Federals defense made sure Jacksonville had no more scoring opportunities.

Renegades 31 Wheels 24

Orlando leads the Southeast and the Renegades traveled to the Motor City to face the Midwest leading Detroit Wheels. Gabriel Flanagan threw 3 TDs for Detroit today and his first one gave the Wheels a 7-0 lead. Orlando came back with a FG before Flanagan's 2nd TD pass made the score 14-3 Detroit. Trey Lyons then found Donald Young for a 25 yard TD to cut the lead to 14-10. The alternating scores continued with Flanagan's 3rd TD pass and another Lyons to Young TD and the halftime score was 21-17 Detroit. The defenses settled down in the second half and the Renegades stopped following the alternating scoring script with Trey Lyons' 3rd TD pass to finally take the lead 24-21. Detroit tied it with a FG and Orlando's Roger Radke had a short TD run inside the 2 minute warning for a 31-24 Renegades lead. Flanagan had the Wheels in Orlando territory, but an INT stopped that drive and the Renegades stay unbeaten.

Storm 59 Express 10

Sorry mwd65, last week in the blog, I said your team was flying under the radar then this game happened. Melvin Driggers threw for 425 yards and 6 TD passes, and the Storm converted all 5 red zone opportunities into TDs. WR Richard Robinson caught 9 passes for 213 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Portland skill players. The Portland defense intercepted David Tavarez 3 times, with Mark Sumner taking his INT to the house for 6 points, and Tavarez was sacked twice. 

Panthers 29 Gunslingers 10

San Antonio led at the half 10-6 but the Michigan defense shut down the Gunslingers offense in the second half while the Panthers offense scored on all but 1 possession the final 30 minutes. Larry Henderson didn't have a great statistical game, completing 27/40 for 272 yards but the important stat was zero turnovers. Henderson threw a TD pass in the 3rd quarter, William Hutchings capped the scoring with an 8 yard TD run, and Jonathan Ruch booted 5 FGs to help Michigan win and gain sole possession of first in the Midwest.

Force 23 Steamer 16

Division games in the South are more important so far than other division games because the 4 South teams are just 1-13 against non South teams. Georgia scored 2 TDs and a FG their first 3 possessions to take a 16-3 lead and the Force led at halftime 16-6. Both Georgia TDs were scored by RB Shaun Sutton and he finished the game with 90 rushing yards, 2 TDs and another 63 yards on 3 catches to lead the Force skill players. George Marcil led Shreveport to a FG in the 3rd and his TD pass early in the 4th to Richard Wise tied the game at 16. As the game wound down, Georgia forced Shreveport into mistakes as the Steamer's last 3 drives ended INT, punt, fumble. Just inside the 2 minute warning, Thomas Jacobi threw a 68 yard TD pass to Glen Hampton and Georgia wins, forcing a tie atop the South between these 2 teams.

VooDoo 19 Stallions 13

The other 2 South teams faced off in New Orleans, where the VooDoo were searching for their first victory of the season. RB Thomas Thomas had 105 combined yards and his rushing TD on the game's opening drive gave New Orleans the early 7-0 lead. The VooDoo eextended the lead to 13-0 with a pair of Emil Porter 2nd qtr FGs. Birmingham fought back in the 3rd with a FG and a 73 yard Willie Benge TD pass to Theodore Turner to get within 16-10 as the 4th started as New Orleans got 3 in between Stallions scores. Birmingham cut it to 16-13 before New Orleans ended the scoring with a FG in the final 2 minutes. The VooDoo out gained the Stallions 334-200, held Birmingham without a 3rd down conversion in 9 tries, and sacked Benge 4 times. Both teams are just 1-5 but also just 1 game out of first place.

Generals 38 Outlaws 16

New Jersey is the last division leader I'm writing about mainly because the East division is listed at the bottom and they aren't undefeated. Don Ferguson and the Generals had the turnover bug continue to follow them, as Ferguson threw 3 INTs and David Koresh lost 2 fumbles. Ferguson and Koresh more than made up for their lack of ball handling with otherwise big games as Ferguson completed 35/50, 528 yards and 4 TDs, producing three 100 yard receivers. One of those was Koresh, who caught 10 for 146 yards to go with 46 rushing yards, although he did not score. Fellow RB Kurt Cobain led the team in rushing despite about half as many carries as The Waco Wacko. Cobain smelled like TDs today, rushing for 52 yards and 1 score while catching 9 passes for 105 yards and 2 more scores. 

Gold 48 Wranglers 6

Time to take a look at games involving teams that would be in the wildcard race, if we were worried about such things now. The Denver Gold are used to being discussed in relation to the playoffs while the Arizona Wranglers are not. Denver pretty much could do no wrong today as they rack up 573 yards of offense while limiting the Wranglers to 187. Andrew Brewer completed 24/28 for 376 yards and 4 TDs, with Douglas Crowley catching 2 of the scores among his 9 for 247. Denver only led 14-3 at halftime, but the Gold scored 17 points each in the 3rd and 4th to win going away. 

Showboats 34 Breakers 14

Boston QB Adam Scales had a solid game with better ball security than his counterpart Norman Maldonado, but the Breakers running game was beat on both sides of the ball. Boston ran 27 times for 44 yards while Memphis ran less, 22 times, but gained 150. Showboats RB Steve Ransome had a double triple, rushing for 110 yards and a TD and catching 5 for 151 yards. RB Erik McNamee ran for 40 yards and 2 scores and added a 3rd TD receiving. Maldonado threw for 416 yards and that TD in between his 4 INTs and Memphis won easily by jumping out to a 21-0 lead and having all but 1 turnover occur after the game was in hand.

Blazers 23 Bandits 6

Florida and Tampa Bay didn't create a ton of offensive fireworks, but Sidney Maggard threw 2 TD passes and Gerald Harmon booted 3 FGs in a battle for the current top wildcard spot. Bandits QB Antonio Martinez threw 2 more INTs today on 15/31 passing for just 127 yards and 1/12 on 3rd downs. Tampa Bay did a good job defensively, keeping the Blazers under 300 yards and they trailed just 7-3 at the half, and 7-6 after striking first in the second half. Sidney Maggard then threw a TD pass to Richard Carstens for a 14-6 lead, then the FGs started as Florida ended the game on a 16-0 run for the division win.

Blitz 24 Thunderbolts 13

Chicago had three 75 yard first half drives but just 10 points to show for it, and their TD "drive" was a 75 yard Ronald Brown TD pass to Ian Gordon. Cleveland scored first with a FG, and they closed the half with a FG to trail 10-6 at the half. Tony Romo gave Cleveland the lead in the 3rd with a 12 yard TD pass to Matthew Martin, then gave Chicago the lead with a pick six to Sammy Montz. RB Dale Davis put the final nail in the coffin with a 71 yard TD run as the Blitz win a division game.

(NY) Stars 36 Hornets 3

New York QB Damien Oleary completed 20/26 for 530 yards and 4 TDs, all to Albert Olson, who caught 7 in all for 449 yards. New York forced 2 turnovers and held Charlotte under 200 yards. At 3-3, New York is in a good position for a playoff run, especially with their talented, big game skill players. 

Maulers 23 Stars 20 (OT)

This game was a tale of two halves, turnovers, and free football. Jon Snow led Baltimore to TDs on the Stars first 2 drives and FGs on the next two for a 20-0 halftime lead. The Stars were winning the turnover battle 2-0 at this point. The second half was all Pittsburgh, as Snow threw 4 INTs and Fred Boyce missed a FG and Will Allison capitalized. Allison had an 81 yard TD pass to Arthur Thompson, then an 80 yard TD pass to Ronald Smith added to an earlier 3rd qtr FG and Pittsburgh found themselves down 20-17 after the horrible start. Snow's last INT of the 4th led to a short field for the Maulers and Brett Bowman tied it with a short FG as the regulation clock expired. The Maulers got the ball to start OT and were forced to punt. Jon Snow then threw his 5th INT of the day and shortly after, Bowman booted the ball through the uprights to give Pittsburgh a divisional win.

Invaders 27 Hawaiians 18

Oakland and Honolulu have been going opposite directions and that trend continued today. The Hawaiians sorely miss RB Anthony Davis and the good play of their defense from the first 2 weeks of the season. Without the threat of Davis, both QB Derek Henry and his replacement Edwin Clarkson haven't been able to pick up the slack. Clarkson had a decent game today, 28/42, 268 yards and a TD but he was also sacked 4 times. When Oakland had the ball, Honolulu didn't stop them, giving up 420 yards. Andrew Moreno completed 23/34, 335 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT, with RB Ronald McDevitt catching 8 for 233 yards and a TD. Fredrick Barron's 28 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter gave the Invaders a 27-7 lead, and had the game well in hand. Honolulu got a late TD and 2 point conversion to get within 9 points, and even recovered the onside kick. The Hawaiians still needed two scores though, and time expired before they could get the first one. Oakland has now won 3 in a row while Honolulu has dropped 4 straight.

 

Week 5: The Beat Rolls On

Gamblers 31 Generals 19

New Jersey does not have fond memories playing Houston as the Gamblers have given the Generals 2 of their 4 World Bowl losses. Today, Houston comes into the game 4-0 and defending champs, so New Jersey had their work cut out for themselves. One thing the Generals needed to do was move the ball offensively. They gained 410 yards, so check. Another thing they needed to do was prevent big plays from the Houston offense. They allowed 277 total yards and just 157 through the air, sacking Dean twice and intercepting him twice, check. The last thing they needed to do was hold onto the ball. Don Ferguson threw 3 INTs and David Koresh lost a fumble, New Jersey, we have a problem. Especially big problem when all 4 turnovers occurred in Generals territory and Houston made them pay with TDs after each. Three of the 4 came in the last 17 minutes to turn a 14-13 Houston lead into a 31-13 lead and the champs remain undefeated.

Federals 34 Stars 10

Washington and Baltimore have been battling each other for years, but the Federals made a statement that the Atlantic is theirs. We still have a lot of football left, but Washington already has a 3 game lead and today's victory over the Stars in their pocket. Scott Bieber led Washington to a TD on their opening possession, finding Ronald Matthews for the 45 yard score. The Federals defense intercepted Jon Snow, and Bieber made them pay with his 2nd TD pass, 17 yards to Robert Trammell. Washington had the running game working as Trammell had 76 yards on the ground and James Dunn had 67 and a 1st qtr TD run to give the Federals a 21-0 lead. Jon Snow then got Baltimore on the scoreboard, but 21-7 would be as close as they would get. Bieber threw 3 TD passes in all, finding Andrew Favela in the 3rd to extend the Federals lead to 31-7. 

SaberCats 39 VooDoo 6

New Orleans is having a rough season, so seeing the red hot SaberCats next on the schedule wasn't well received. The VooDoo had some good news, bad news in this game. The good news is they held San Jose under 40 points and 500 yards after they averaged 60.5 points and 706 yards the last 2 games. The bad news is San Jose drove for TDs on each of their first 3 possessions, putting the VooDoo in a 21-0 hole they couldn't climb out of. Jake Plummer finished 22/32, 288 yards and 4 TDs with Mark Hsu catching 3 passes for 3 TDs and 108 yards. San Jose ended up running the ball quite a bit after the big lead, finishing with 174 yards on 37 carries. The SaberCats defense made life rough for Joseph Jones, intercepting him twice and allowing just 12/31 passing.

Renegades 23 Steamer 20 (OT)

Orlando and Shreveport played a full 5 quarters and every drive but 1 ended with a kick. The only drive of the game not to end with a kick was the drive that ended the first half, as all other drives ended with either a punt, FG, or XP. It was a back and forth game with similar stats on both sides of the box score. Shreveport took the opening kickoff and kicked a FG while Orlando matched that on their opening drive. George Marcil got the lead back on the next drive with a 2 yard TD to Richard Wise and the rest of the half was punts, except the last drive which ended when the clock expired. Orlando got a FG on their first second half drive, then Trey Lyons threw a 5 yard TD pass to Jason Amen as the Renegades took a 13-10 lead early in the 4th. Marcil then brought the Steamer down the field, connecting with David Shafer for a 31 yard TD as Shreveport took the lead right back. At the 2 minute warning, Trey Lyons threw his 2nd TD pass, a 1 yard toss to Jesse Carr as the Renegades retake the lead 20-17. Plenty of time for George Marcil to drive down the field, and he did just that. The Steamer had a 1st and goal from the 5 inside a minute to play but 2 of 3 passes were incomplete and the 3rd was a short gain, so with time running out, they had to settle for a FG and overtime. Shreveport got the ball to start OT but punted, in fact the Steamer punted 3 times in the extra session, with Orlando getting slightly better field position each time. Lyons managed to get the Renegades into FG range before time ran out in OT and Scott Mueller's 49 yard kick split the uprights as Orlando remains undefeated by the slimmest of margins.

Blitz 26 Blazers 20 (OT)

Chicago has played 4 one score games and their 5th game was decided by 9 points, so the Blitz are always in the game. In week 1, they spotted Jacksonville 16 points before going on a 20-0 run to steal victory. Today they play their 2nd Southeast division foe and enjoyed a similar result. Florida got a Sidney Maggard 44 yard TD pass to Richard Carstens on their opening drive for a 7-0 lead and a FG later in the 1st extended it to 10-0. Ronald Brown then got Chicago on the board with a 2 yard TD pass to David Karim but Florida would add a FG for a 13-7 halftime lead. Blazers RB Robert Romero had a 3 yard TD run late in the 3rd to give Florida a 20-7 lead entering the 4th. Ronald Brown tossed his 2nd TD pass and Evan Joseph made FGs of 52 and 57 yards, leaving us tied at 20 at the end of regulation. Chicago won the toss and ended it quickly, with a 75 yard catch and run TD pass from Brown to Ian Gordon and the Blitz send the crowd home happy.

Thunderbolts 9 Wheels 6 (OT)

Not much to say about this game, other than both teams gained over 300 yards, had at least 19 first downs and couldn't put the ball in the end zone. The individual stats were spread out so nobody had an outstanding game in that respect. Detroit got the ball first and had a good drive but Kent Olden was wide right on the FG attempt, and that miss would loom large. The end of regulation came and the score was 6-6, so they played OT, where the punts continued. Cleveland was getting the better field position, and had the Wheels pinned inside their own 10 after the Thunderbolts second punt in OT. Gabriel Flanagan threw an INT as Detroit approached midfield, and that was all Cleveland needed to kick the game winning FG in the final minute of OT.

Storm 20 Panthers 6

Michigan QB Larry Henderson only threw 1 INT, but it came early and deep in his own end, allowing Portland to take a quick 7-0 lead on an 8 yard "drive". Melvin Driggers capped that mini drive with a 1 yard TD pass to Grady Babin, and Driggers would add another scoring toss later in the 1st as the Storm led 14-3 after a quarter. The Panthers defense stiffened after that, limiting Portland to just 2 FGs the rest of the game, but the Storm defense never allowed Michigan to get into the red zone, let alone the end zone. Portland had trouble putting the game away though, as Driggers threw 2 4th quarter INTs after the defense forced 4 and outs in the final quarter. The second INT came after Portland drained the clock under 2 minutes though and the Storm get the win.

Bell 28 Force 21

Philadelphia scored the first 5 times they had the ball, although only one score was a TD. The Bell kicked FGs on their first 2 drives before Thomas Jacobi got Georgia on the scoreboard with a short TD and a 7-6 lead. Jamie Epperson had a 12 yard run on the next drive and Philadelphia led at the half 13-7. The Bell got the ball to start the second half and scored a FG, then added another FG following a Jacobi INT to lead 19-7. Georgia got back within 5 when Shaun Sutton recovered his own fumble and advanced to the end zone for a TD. Philadelphia had a scoring opportunity on their 6th drive but the 56 yard FG try was wide left. Jacobi had the Force poised to score in the 4th, but interception #2 halted that drive and 3 plays later, Joseph Serio found Andres Freeman for a back breaking 97 yard TD pass. Thomas Jacobi got Georgia closer with a TD pass inside the 2 minute warning to trail 26-21 but the onside kick failed. Georgia's defense forced a quick punt, but the offense was pinned at their 3 yard line and Horace Duchene sacked Jacobi in the end zone to seal the win for the Bell.

Breakers 14 Maulers 7

Pittsburgh nearly doubled the yardage of Boston, out gaining them 400-202, running for 235 yards and getting 3 red zone trips to none for the Breakers. So how did Pittsburgh lose? Tough luck and timely red zone defense by Boston. The Breakers had a pair of first half FGs and led 6-0 as the clock wound down before halftime. Pittsburgh was driving for a score with a 1st and goal from the 1, but 2 incomplete passes and a dive into the line had the Maulers facing a 4th and goal. They opted to try for a TD but Will Allison's pass was knocked down, and the Breakers held that 6-0 lead at the break. Ronald Smith led the Pittsburgh ball carriers with 134 yards and Arthur Thompson chipped in 72, and his 16 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter gave the Maulers a 7-6 lead. Pittsburgh would miss a FG on the next drive, then Boston pinned the Maulers at their own 1 with a punt. Allison was intercepted in his own end zone for a Boston TD by Carlos Wilson, then Ralph Harris ran in the 2 point conversion and the Breakers now led 14-7. Will Allison had one last chance to send the game to OT and he got the Maulers to the Boston 10 yard line in the final minute, but Anthony Dyer intercepted him to stop the scoring threat and give the Breakers the win.

Bulls 23 Bandits 10

Tampa Bay opted to start Thomas Lawson at QB instead of the struggling Antonio Martinez, but he only completed 50% of his passes and threw 3 INTs. Martinez also saw brief action and was 0/4 with an INT. The Bandits also lost a fumble and allowed 2 sacks while Jacksonville QB Derek Joyce completed 38/47, 257 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Tyron Bailey ran for a TD and Neal Williams booted 3 FGs as the Bulls get the division win.

Wranglers 27 Sun 17

Brian Carmichael completed 18/23 with 2 TD passes and the Wranglers RBBC gained 158 yards on 45 carries as Arizona gets their 4th win of the season. The Wranglers led 24-3 after 3 quarters before the Sun made it close with 2 TDs in the final 4 minutes. Southern California out gained Arizona 328-295, but they lost the turnover battle 2-1, converted just 3/13 on 3rd down, and allowed 3 sacks. Gary Wiggins had 322 passing yards in the loss.

Gold 38 Hawaiians 12

Edwin Clarkson started under center for the second consecutive game, and he wasn't bad, completing 32/44, 211 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT, but until the Hawaiians stop someone on defense, who plays QB doesn't matter. Denver didn't torch Honolulu like San Jose did, but Andrew Brewer completed 18/20, 296 yards and 4 TDs to lead the Gold to victory. Brewer had help from RB Fredrick Whidden, who had a double triple, rushing for 117 yards on 24 carries and catching 2 TD passes among his 5 for 129 yards. Denver led 28-0 at the half before going into cruise control in the second half.

Invaders 17 Hornets 10

This was a 3-3 game for the first 44:55 of the game until Dennis Baird's 1 yard TD run 5 seconds before the start of the 4th gave Charlotte a 10-3 lead over Oakland. Early in the 4th, Andrew Moreno tied the game on a 49 yard pass to Rodney Hawkins then his 80 yard TD pass to Juan Morgan with 1:17 left broke the tie. Charlotte had plenty of time to tie, but Robert Ament threw an INT on the first play to seal the win for Oakland.

Express 34 Stallions 9

Half of the league has 2 or 3 wins this season, and of the 7 teams 4-1 or 5-0, Los Angeles is the one flying under the radar. They lost Week 1 by a single point, and have now won 4 in a row after taking care of Birmingham today. David Tavarez only threw for 194 yards, but he completed 19/25 with 3 TDs and 0 INT and converted all 3 red zone trips into TDs. The Express defense allowed 8/17 3rd down conversions, but only allowed Willie Benge to complete 16/32, intercepting him 4 times. Los Angeles set the tone for this game by grabbing an instant 7-0 lead, thanks to Raymond Straight's 99 yard return of the opening kickoff.

Showboats 30 (NY) Stars 9

Coming into this game, New York had one of the league's leading offensive triplets as QB Damien Oleary had been on fire, along with RB William Hall and WR Albert Olson, while Memphis QB Norman Maldonado had been struggling, with 6 TDs and 10 INT. Those trends ended today however, as Maldonado played turnover free football and got support from his running game and defense as the Showboats snap a 2 game losing streak. RB Steve Ransome ran for 115 yards and a TD, fellow RB Erik McNamee ran for 63 yards and a TD while Maldonado finished 27/45, 255 yards and a TD. For New York, Albert Olson had an average game, catching 7 for 85 yards, but overall, Oleary had a mediocre game, completing 23/43, 206 yards, 1 INT and 2 sacks. William Hall was completely shut down to the tune of 1 rushing yard on 5 carries and his 4 receptions netted all of 19 yards.

Gunslingers 6 Outlaws 3

San Antonio won the FG contest 2-1 as Benjamin Regalado made both of his FG tries while Oklahoma kicker Eric Chandler was just 1/3. Defense ruled the day as the teams combined for 308 yards and 5 turnovers, along with 4/30 on 3rd down. Each team only had 2 drives cover more than 30 yards and I feel like a school kid using extra words for my 500 word essay, as this game didn't provide much to write home about.