Mondays are always super busy for me, so here are some notes from Week 12 in lieu of a full blog post.
• A really bad day for the Birmingham Stallions. Not only did they blow a 17-0 halftime lead and lose, 20-17 in OT, to the Los Angeles Express, WR/RB Lee Rice suffered a serious foot injury and will miss the remainder of the season. Rice had 649 yards rushing, 504 yards receiving, 10 TDs rushing and receiving and a 98-yard kickoff return for another score.
• After sitting out the playoffs the last three seasons, the Express (8-4) looks to be back on track. An interception by WLB Joseph Deslauriers in OT set up Roger Ruzich’s game-winning 35-yard field goal. FS Maurice Matzke recorded nine tackles and Mario Valencia passed for 303 yards and two TDs and has 18 TDs and 11 INT in his 13th pro season.
• The Jacksonville Bulls, trailing 20-13 in the fourth quarter, rallied to beat the Cleveland Thunderbolts, 30-23. Bulls WR Jordan Frederick carried a defender on his back into the end zone with 1:21 to play, giving his team the lead for good.
• New Memphis coach Kababmaster earned his first victory with his new team, a 23-17 OT decision over the Michigan Panthers. James Perry completed a 64-yard TD pass to Willie Howland with 46 seconds to go, forcing overtime. Michigan moved to the Memphis 29 in the closing seconds, but decided to punt on the final play of regulation time instead of attempting the potential game-winning field goal. Memphis backup QB David Allen then threw a 40-yard TD pass in OT to WR Thomas Canale on a play in which Michigan was penalized for defensive overuse.
• The Arizona Wranglers edged the Charlotte Hornets, 28-25, in OT. Arizona’s Bobby Brainbridge kicked a 52-yard field goal with 1:45 remaining to send the game to OT. The Wranglers got the ball on their own 20 with 1:25 to play in the extra session, but moved downfield quickly, thanks to a pass interference penalty and an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Hornets as well as Jerry Montalvo’s 49-yard completion to WR Thomas Esposito. Bainbridge then connected on the game-winner with 20 seconds to go.
• The Georgia Force picked up their first win of the season by stomping the Southern California Sun, 34-14 as QB Tyrone Harvell fired four TD passes and WR Norman Shaw caught TDs of 31 and 68 yards.
• New Jersey Generals CB Bob Marley picked off three passes during a 19-7 win over the New York Stars.
• Honolulu RB Ronald Boatman had 58 rushing yards and 158 receiving yards, including a 70-yard TD grab during a 30-16 triumph over the Portland Storm as the Hawaiians improved to 7-5.
