The 4 Pacific teams flew east to play the 4 Atlantic teams, and to win 2 of 4, while the teams of the Central Division battled for playoff position in week 10 play.
OAK 3 BOS 27—If Boston is going to get back in the playoff hunt, they will need to win the games that they are favored to win. That is exactly what they did against the 3-6 Oakland Invaders. After trading field goals in the first quarter, Boston took the game over. For the day they held Oakland to 189 total yards of offense and 2 of 11 on 3rd down. On the other side of the ball Oakland had no answer for the wily Johnny Walton, who threw for 326 yards and 2 scores. The win put Boston 2 games over .500 and back in the thick of playoff consideration.
LA 24 NJ 37—In another West flies East matchup, New Jersey got back to .500 at 5-5 with a 13 point victory over an overmatched LA Express. Hershel Walker had one of his best games of the year against the beleaguered Express defense, rushing for 159 yards and 3 scores. Bobby Scott added 2 scores of his own as NJ scored 27 unanswered points after letting LA out to a 1st quarter 14-0 lead. Tom Ramsey, the Express signal caller, tried his best, throwing for 4017 yards and 3 scores, but the inability of the LA defense to keep Walker and Scott in check was the end of any chance they had to snatch a win.
DEN 19 WSH 16—Denver wins are rarely pretty, and once again the Pacific Division leader slogged out another tough win, edging out the Federals on a late-game field goal and sending Washington to a 2-8 record. The star of the game was Harry Sydney, who carried the ball 20 times for 131 yards and the Gold’s only touchdown. Mike Hohensee, making his second start under center for the Feds, was at times capable, but made too many mistakes on key downs to keep Washington’s offense on the field. With the win, Denver moves to 2 games over .500 at 6-4.
ARZ 37 PHI 10—This one goes down as one of the surprises of the season. After losing their first 6 games, the Wranglers have started to figure things out, and shocked every one of the 43,500 in Philly’s Veteran’s Stadium by dominating the Stars. The Stars managed only 200 total yards, including a paltry 54 yards rushing against a defense that had been one of the league’s weakest all season. On the other side, the Stars usually staunch D gave up 146 yards rushing, including 29 yards to Wrangler QB Alan Risher. Risher also threw for 268 and 2 scores as the Wranglers improved to 4-6 and may actually make a run at Denver for the Pacific Division.
CHI 5 TBY 20—As the Pacific teams flew east to play the Atlantic teams, the 4 Central Division teams faced off in intradivisional games. Tampa hosted the reeling Chicago Blitz, and proved once again that they are the favorite for the title this year, holding Chicago to a field goal and a safety (on a debatable holding call in the Tampa endzone) as the Bandits won easily. Chicago’s defense played well against John Reaves and the Bandit Ball offense, holding Reaves to only 229 yards passing, but giving up scores to Eric Truvillion and Lewis Gilbert. Add in a couple of Zenon Andrusyshyn kicks and Tampa walks away with a solid 15 point victory.
BIR 14 MGN 29—Birmingham needed to keep pace with Tampa after a loss last week, but the Pontiac Silverdome is not the place to try that, as the Michigan Defense stymied the Stallions all day. Bobby Lane was held to only 104 yards passing, and while Cornelius Quarles found his yards, it did not lead to enough scoring to keep pace with the Panthers. Bobby Hebert was efficient with the ball throwing for 3 scores and no interceptions on the way to the victory. Michigan held Birmingham scoreless in the second half, changing a 14-13 halftime deficit into a solid 29-14 victory. That score moves both teams to 6-4 and right in the mix for a wildcard spot behind the surging Tampa Bay Bandits.
Comments