Houston Texas is the city of champions in the USFL as we all know the Gamblers have the most titles. While it's been 5 seasons since the Gamblers took home the hardware, the city of Houston hosted their second consecutive World Bowl today. The state of Texas has hosted 3 straight, with San Antonio hosting XXIX. The Portland Storm were looking for their 5th World Bowl title in their 7th try while the New Orleans VooDoo were looking for their first title after failing 5 times previous.
Portland got the ball first and punted, then the Storm defense intercepted Willie Graham. That led to a 12 play, 68 yard TD drive with John Gill running it in from 3 yards out for an early 7-0 lead. Following an exchange of punts we were in the 2nd qtr when Hello Newman, the VooDoo tied the game on a 65 yard catch and run TD pass to Jacob Newman.
Portland would retake the lead 10-7 with a FG, then the defense intercepted Graham again on the next offensive snap, leading to another FG and a 13-7 lead. Inside the 2 minute warning Willie Graham was intercepted again, but Mark McKibben was flagged for pass interference, wiping out the turnover. New Orleans would get a FG and we went to the half with Portland leading 13-10.
The defenses started the second half on fire as Portland forced a punt, then New Orleans intercepted Raymond Oswalt, giving the VooDoo an instant red zone trip. Willie Graham responded by throwing his 3rd INT as Portland took over on their own 2. Two negative runs later New Orleans pulled within 13-12, getting a safety when Edmund Sprague tackled Thomas Frank in the end zone. A couple more punts followed, then the defense came through even when burned for a big play. Willie Graham completed a pass to Joe Solis who streaked toward the end zone before fumbling the ball at the Portland 9, wiping out a golden opportunity for points.
New Orleans forced a three and out after the fumble, getting good field position after the punt. Graham got the VooDoo down the field quickly but the drive stalled at the Portland 1 yard line. Trailing 13-12 it would have been easy to kick a FG and take the lead but the VooDoo went for the TD and got it. It was Hello Newman again as Jacob Newman caught the 1 yard pass and the XP gave New Orleans their first lead of the game, 19-13. Portland's William Bettis lost a fumble on the next drive, giving New Orleans a short field. Three plays later Russell Hayes scored on a 5 yard run with the XP making the score 26-13 heading into the 4th.
Raymond Oswalt threw an interception to start the 4th but James Aguirre fumbled it back to Portland on the next play. The Storm then went on an 11 play, 61 yard TD drive with Oswalt throwing a 3 yard TD pass to William Bettis, making the score 26-20 with about 9 minutes left. New Orleans answered with a 10 play FG drive that increased the lead to two scores at 29-20 and took more than 5 minutes off the clock. Portland would drive into New Orleans territory but the drive stalled and the VooDoo killed the remaining clock to secure their first ever World Bowl Championship.
New Orleans RB James Aguirre was named World Bowl MVP and drives away in a 2005 Chevy Corvette. Aguirre didn't score but he rushed for 152 yards on 16 carries and catching 2 for 11 yards. Willie Graham threw for 244 yards and 2 TDs (3 INTs), both to Jacob Newman, who led the receivers with 6 catches for 86 yards.
