SCORES
WSH 17 PHI 34 The Stars double up on the Federals on Bryant’s 130 yards.
PIT 14 BIR 48 Cribbs and a resurgent Cliff Stoudt are too much for the Maulers.
CHI 34 MEM 23 Blair Kiel subs for an injured Evans and leads Chicago to the win.
HOU 22 JAX 30 George Adams runs wild against a depleted Houston defense.
MGN 10 TBY 31 A huge turn of events as Tampa shuts down the mighty Panthers.
BYES: ARZ, DEN, LA, OAK
GAME OF THE WEEK
While the Tampa Bay-Michigan game was a huge shocker, it was not particularly close, so we chose to favor the Breakers’ 7-point win against the Generals. It was a game Boston needed to have, after several tough losses, and a game New Jersey was primed to lose after a week of turmoil. Both teams were coming off their bye weeks, and interim head coach Joe Mazur had his Generals ready to play. New Jersey came out hot, scoring 10 in the first to start the game. Boston would fight back in the 2nd with a 32 yard Mazzetti field goal and a Marcus Marek Int return for TD off of a poor throw by Doug Flutie. The young gunslinger would recover and lead the Generals on a 11 play drive to end the first half with a Ruzek FG and a 13-10 lead.
In the second half, the Breakers found their groove as they rattled off 17 unanswered points in the 3rd and 4th quarter. The scoring started when Matt Robinson, in his first USFL start, found TE Dan Ross on a seam pattern for an 11 yard score midway through the 3rd. He would lead them to two more scores in the 4th quarter, one a long, long field goal (58 yards) from Mazzetti, and the other a short drive after a Carthon fumble, that ended with an 8 yard rumbling score from veteran Richard Crump. New Jersey would answer this score with a Flutie to Lam Jones 18 yard strike, but it was too little too late, and Boston closed out the game and a 27-20 win to move them to 4-5. As debut games go, Joe Mazur’s was not the worst. The Generals played hard, but Boston just had more to offer, and they remain in possible playoff contention as New Jersey falls to a dismal 2-7.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Normally we give the Performance of the Week for a full game’s efforts, but this week we want to celebrate one amazing play turned in by Chicago LB Ben Apuna. Sure, Apuna had a solid day all around, recording 8 tackles and generally reaking havoc with the Memphis line, but on the first offensive play for Memphis in the 3rd quarter, with the Showboats leading 13-10, Ben Apuna’s effort led not only to a lead change, but to a complete momentum shift in the game. Memphis had the ball on their own 18, having received the halftime kickoff. They called a play action bootleg, with the elusive Walter Lewis faking the ball to DuPree and then circling out to his right. The play action did not fool Apuna, who was waiting for Lewis. The elusive QB tried to juke Apuna, but the savvy LB saw it coming and connected with Lewis’s midsection, popping the ball out. He then scrambled after it, picking it up on the 13 and rumbling to the endzone, dragging WR Willie Gault along the way for the final 5 yards. It was a sack, fumble, score that sucked the air out of the Liberty Bowl and led to Chicago pulling away for 17-point 3rd quarter and an easy 34-23 win.
NEWS & NOTES
Our sources are beginning to hear rumors about the ownership search for both the Chicago and Boston franchises, and the news does not sound good for either city. Despite Chicago’s recent success and improved attendance, the two potential ownership groups out of the Windy City have had a tough time coming together to form one strong proposal. Alone each group is simply undercapitalized to be a serious contender, not when there are potential ownership groups representing other cities which are making strong bids to buy and relocate the Blitz. A similar situation exists for Boston, who still struggle with attendance in part due to their undersized stadium at Harvard. A solid financial group has yet to appear for the Boston market, and it appears that league founder David Dixon has his eyes on the Breakers as a possible avenue towards adding another Southern city to the league. Unless new ownership groups coalesce in the next few weeks, the league may seriously consider relocating these two founding franchises simply to get solid ownership for each. This would be a shame for the two fanbases, but may be the best path forward for the league.
INJURIES
A handful of season-ending or impacting injuries this week. John Hull, G for the Gold is done for the year with a hip injury that may be career ending. Boston TE Mariano Alarcon is likely out for at least 2 weeks with an abdominal strain, and Philadlephia will be without RT Raymond Soto who broke his arm against the Federals. The biggest injury, one that certainly impacted their game this week and likely will deeply affect the defense for the rest of the season is the torn quad muscle of All-USFL LB John Corker. Without his skills and leadership the Michigan defense was a shadow of itself this week against Tampa Bay, and could suffer for the rest of the year, as Corker is expected to miss at least 8 weeks.
LOOKING AHEAD
With Week 11 we return to all teams playing, and we return with 8 teams playing in their divisions, so this should be a huge week as teams try to start the homestretch push for playoff berths. Out west we will see Denver travel to Oakland, but all eyes will be on LA traveling to Arizona with first place on the line. IN the South, Memphis has a tough task against a resurgent Tampa Bay, while Jacksonville tries to keep pace by stealing a win in Birmingham. Meanwhile, the Atlantic teams all travel to take on Central Division foes. Of the bunch, the best game will likely be the Battle for the Keystone State, as Philly heads to the Burgh. Washington has a tough matchup against Chicago, but not as tough as the wobbly Generals having to face the Panthers. Finally, Boston’s anemic offense has to try to keep pace with the Gamblers in Houston.
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