World Bowl XXXIXSan Antonio Gunslingers 20 New Orleans VooDoo 17World Bowl XXXIX was played in Tampa, Florida today between the American Conference Champion San Antonio Gunslingers and the National Conference Champion New Orleans VooDoo. The first quarter was about field position, and a few possessions in, New Orleans passed up on a 54 yard FG try and pinned San Antonio at their own 6. The defense forced a three and out, then James Wright had New Orleans driving toward the red zone when Patrick Gilbert intercepted him. The first quarter would end with no score and the field position battle continued into quarter number two.
With 8:53 before the half we had our first score when Dennis Lovett made a 52 yard FG as San Antonio took a 3-0 lead. San Antonio forced a three and out, then George Warner found Glenn Graham for a 40 yard TD pass to increase the Gunslingers lead to 10-0. New Orleans answered right away when James Wright found Jacob Becker for a 75 yard TD run to cut the lead to 10-7. New Orleans then forced a three and out but James Wright was intercepted by Mario Allen who took it 22 yards for a Pick Six and the XP gave San Antonio a 17-7 lead they took into halftime.
San Antonio got the ball to start the second half but Lovett missed a 59 yard FG try, giving New Orleans good field position. The drive stalled but Nick Orozco's 45 yard FG cut the San Antonio lead to 17-10. The field position battle ensued, with San Antonio increasing the lead to 20-10 on a 46 yard Lovett FG with 12:18 to play in the game.
From there, the teams exchanged punts, with New Orleans almost fumbling theirs away. David Gehring fumbled but Travis Moyer was there to fall on the ball and retain possession for the VooDoo. Nine plays later James Wright found Gregory Alvarado for a 1 yard TD pass and the XP made the score 20-17 San Antonio with 6:08 to play. San Antonio went three and out trying to kill the clock but New Orleans also went three and out. Instead of trying to kill clock, San Antonio tried pushing the ball downfield to no avail and they went three incomplete passes and out, taking all of 16 seconds off the clock. New Orleans took over on their own 26 with 4:01 to play and James Wright got the offense down to the San Antonio 23 yard line where they faced a 4th and 1. Nick Orozco came on to try the game tying 41 yard FG but the kick went wide left, leaving San Antonio in the lead 20-17. San Antonio ran out the clock from there to win their first World Bowl Championship.
The USFL awards committee (committee of one) has chosen Mario Allen as World Bowl MVP for his momentum changing Pick Six in the 2nd quarter. He drives home in a brand new 2013 Chevrolet Corvette, painted in team colors of course.
