Week Five featured the Atlantic Division going head to head while all 4 Central teams faced off against Pacific Division teams, with one of the biggest surprise results of the year to date.
PHI 14 BOS 29— At Friday’s presser Breakers coach Dick Coury said that he felt the key to the game was which team could run the ball effectively. The Breakers clearly focused on both their rush attack and shutting down the Stars’ running game, to great effect. Breakers RB Richard Crump had 101 yards on only 15 carries, including a 64 yard rumbler that put the Breakers up by 6 in the 2nd quarter. Meanwhile, Philly’s Kevlin Bryant was held to only 38 yards on 12 carries as the Breakers focused their defensive energy on the run game. Chuck Fusina was able to marshal the Stars through the air, to the tune of 222 yards and 2 TD’s, but it proved too little as Crump’s big day also allowed QB Johnny Walton to use play action effectively and lead the Breakers to a 15 point win on a sunny day in Boston.
NJ 23 WSH 17—The other Atlantic battle saw New Jersey head down I-95 to DC to face the Federals. It was a well-matched game throughout, with the Generals breaking out to a 16-0 lead only to watch Craig James and the Federals score 10 to bring themselves within one score. The killing blow for NJ came when Generals QB Bobby Scott hit wideout Mike Friede on a somewhat innocuous 11 yard slant, but when the CB and the Safety for the Feds both hit Friede simultaneously, the effect was that the two defenders fell to the ground and Friede remained standing, and running, for what would become an 83 yard TD to build New Jersey’s lead to 13. Craig James would get another TD late in the 4th, but it was too little for the Feds, who fell to 2-3 with the division loss.
OAK 17 CHI 24—It was another heartbreakingly close game for the Invaders as they fell to Chicago by 7. The Blitz were playing with backup QB Tim Koegel for a second week, and he showed some skills this week, passing for 259 yards and two TD’s, hitting both Wamon Buggs and Trumaine Johnson for scores. Oakland’s Fred Besana could only muster 191 yards passing, but was helped by a strong output from the tandem backs of Whittington and Smart, who combined for 146 yards. Oakland, after trailing the whole game, pulled within 7 at 12:47, but simply could not do anything right for the remainder of the 4th quarter, never mounting a serious scoring drive to challenge the Blitz in the 4th quarter. Oakland falls to 1-4 in the Sad Sack Pacific Division, while Chicago’s 3-2 record still keeps them in last place in the very tough Central.
DEN 10 TBY 36—It was another strong outing from John Reaves and the Tampa Bay Bandits as they left Denver in their dust with a 26 point victory. Denver had been the only team at .500 in the Pacific, but will have to settle for 2-3 and first in the division after this loss. The star of the game was Tampa wideout Willie Gillespie, whose 136 yards receiving included an 86 yard bomb from Reaves. Gary Anderson, the elusive Bandit back, also contributed with 123 yards on the ground as Tampa dominated in all phases of the game. Tampa remains undefeated at 5-0 atop the Central Division.
BIR 41 ARZ 20—It is safe to say that not many folks were laying down money on Arizona to defeat Birmingham. That was shrewd. While early in the third quarter the Wranglers were looking OK, scoring on their opening drive to pull within 3 at 17-14, the wheels fell off after that. 24 straight points by Birmingham over the next 15 minutes put the game away and left the 14,200 fans in attendance at Sun Devil Stadium with a let down feeling. The problem, it would seem, is the Wrangler’s absolute inability to win at the line of scrimmage. While they did get to Stallions QB 4 times for sacks, 3 of these were more about coverage than line play. Lane spent most of the day with a solid pocket, allowing him to complete 81% of his passes (18 of 22). And when the Stallions chose to run, they ran hard. Cornelius Quarles racked up 180 yards and 4 TD’s on the day. His backup averaged 6.1 yards a carry as well, on his way to 55 additional rush yards. So, a long day for the Wranglers, who are hoping that their matchup with Denver next week is a different story.
MGN 14 LA 21—This one was a shocker. After switching QB’s from Mike Rae to Tom Ramsey a week ago, the LA offense looked slightly better, but no one expected the Express to upend the red hot Panthers. And it was not just offense, this was an all-phases win. LA held the Panthers run game to a meager 29 yards on the day, and while Bobby Hebert racked up 285 yards in the air, he also threw 3 interceptions. Ramsey provided solid, if not spectacular, leadership of the LA offense, including a TD toss to TE Ricky Ellis to put the Express up for good. He was complemented by 70 yards from RB LaRue Harrington, subbing for the hamstrung Tony Boddie. The win was LA’s first of the season. They will go for their second against an equally 1-4 Oakland squad.
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