The Gambler's head to the River City to take on their second Divisional Rival in as many games, The Division leading 1-0 Memphis Showboats. Memphis took out another divisional rival in the first game of the season when they beat the Oklahoma Outlaws 28-6. The 0-1 Houston Gamblers lost their first game against the San Antonio Gunslingers by 27-10.

The Showboats have the 5th best Overall Offense, averaging 509 yards, and the 9th best passing game yardage wise in the league with 263. Behind Sophomore Year QB Brandon Rocha , they are 5th in completions, where he went 21/36 for 263 yards and 3 TD's thrown against 3 INT's. He has been sacked 2 times for 20 yards. But what makes them deadly on offense is their Balanced calling of plays while relying on their STRONG running game, which they are 5th in the league in yardage. Picked in the first round, RB Gregory Shea rushed for 190 yards and 1 TD on 26 carries. He's big and strong, and if he cannot run away from you, he will run through you.

But they can't just rely on their offense to beat teams, they are able to do that because of their #2 overall Defense (#3 passing with 108, and #5 with 50), that doesn't let their opponents have a chance. The Showboats are second in the league in sacks with 9. Led by LDE Nathan Branch (4), and DT John Briggs (3), Memphis's certainly have the most fearsome Defensive line that the Gamblers have faced so far. It certainly looks like a long day at the office for Houston.

Going into the game against their Divisional Rival, the Memphis Showboats, a 14 point underdog, Houston's once again played well in the first half.
Even though they were considered the underdog, they played like they were the BIG DAWG. Led by QB Chester Dougherty who was 7/19 for 125 yards with 1 INT in the first half, and RB Robert Carroll , who had 112 yards on 15 carries, the Gambler's put up 206 offensive yards on 44 plays with 13 first downs. They also visited Memphis's Red Zone 3 times, once even being 1st and goal on the Showboats' 1 yard line, but unfortuneatly only coming away with 3 FG's by James Peeler More on that later.

Also stepping up was the Houston defense. Led by Rookie LB David Burt , who had 4 tackles and an interception in the half, the Gambler's defense held the Showboats to 135 yards offensive yards, 6 first downs, while creating 4 turnovers. The D held one of the league's premier RB, who the previous week rushed for 190 yards, to 14 yards and 1 first down. Also creating headaches for Memphis's QB, was the secondary, led by Rookie FS Thomas Erwin who caught his 2nd INT and returned it for 14 yards in the second quarter the play after Houston lost the ball on their only mistake of the half, the Showboats were clearly getting frustrated.

However, the overall inexperience of the team again reared it ugly head as the Gambler's were greatly out played by their rival. The Showboats gain 204 offensive yards and their defense only allowed 100 yards. Even the second half "Showboating" of Rookie DE Morris Sterling who had 5 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 pressures, and forced a fumble in the second half, could turn things around.

Head Coach Steve Sargent was clearly upset about the loss. "First of all, let me say I am extremely proud of the way the team played the game. Everyone expected us to just roll over and die, but we didn't go down with a fight. And even when we were knocked down, we got back up and wanted to know if that was the best they had. HOWEVER........THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED ASAP IF WE WANT TO WIN!!!!" as he raised his Sargent Voice.

"First and foremost, I will have a DEEP conversation with my O-Coord on *** was he thinking when on 1st and goal on your opponent's 1 with the lead and with a back that is getting 7 yards a pop and he calls a 5 WR set and throws it. Our offensive game plan was heavily favored on running the ball in that situation. I remember a championship game that happened in and it wasn't pretty.

Second, I will have another conversation with our high draft choice RT Richard Mosely as to how much money should I fine him for allowing our QB to get sacked so much. I swear, if he allows one more sack, I am going to move him to end, guard, and tackle where he can sit at the end of the bench, guard the water, and tackle anyone who comes near it. In fact, I extremely upset with our entire line. Thanks to Dougherty, who was sacked 9 times this game, I know that Memphis has 951 lights out in their stadium. But let's be fair to an extent. The Showboats defense blitzed, blitzed, and blitzed again. And when they weren't blitzing, they blitzed again.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go get this team ready for our third Divisional game in three games against the Oklahoma Outlaws."