Boston 21 at Denver 7
1983 Week 2 - Sunday, March 13, 1983Attendance: 41,926
DENVER (AP) – Johnnie Walton's touchdown passes of 39 yards to Nolan Franz on a flea-flicker play and 14 yards to Tony Davis and linebacker Ben Needham's 68-yard jaunt with a blocked field goal attempt for another score evened Boston's record at 1-1 and kept the Gold winless in the Breakers' 21-7 victory over Denver.
Denver's only TD came after Ken Johnson replaced starter Jeff Knapple, once the backup quarterback for the NFL's Denver Broncos. Johnson pitched a 5-yard scoring pass to tight end Darryl Goosby. The game, on a 60-degree day, drew 41,295 fans, down a bit from the 45,102 who attended the Gold opener.
MARCH 13
SCORE BY PERIODS
Boston ........................ 0 14 7 0--21
Denver ........................ 0 0 7 0-- 7
SCORING
Boston--Needham 68 blocked field goal return (Maz-
zetti kick ).
Boston--Franz 39 pass from Walton (Mazzetti kick).
Boston--Davis 14 pass from Walton (Mazzetti kick).
Denver--Goosby 5 pass from Johnson (Speelman kick ).
TEAM STATISTICS
Boston Denver
First downs ........................... 16 21
Rushes-Yards .......................... 24-50 32-153
Passing yards ......................... 234 197
Sacked-Yards lost ..................... 0-0 1-8
Return Yards .......................... 73 99
Passes ................................ 20-28-0 22-40-1
Punts ................................. 3-40.3 4-40.8
Fumbles-Lost .......................... 3-3 1-1
Penalties- Yards ...................... 6-29 6-46
Time of possession .................... 30;29 29:31
Attendance--41,926.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing--Boston, Davis 14-30, Steels 6-17, D.
Johnson 1-4, C. Smith 1-minus 6, Crump 2-5; Denver,
T. Miller 7-20, Matthews 5-36, Canada 9-54, Ford
5-16, Knapple 1-2, Sydney 2-2, Johnson 3-23.
Passing--Boston, Walton 20-28-0--234: Denver,
Knapple 7-13-1--51, Johnson 15-27-0--154.
Receiving--Boston, Davis 5-51, A. Johnson 5-72,
Franz 3-53, Coash 2-26, D. Johnson 1-minus 2, C.
Smith 2-31, Crump 2-3; Denver, T. Miller 1-5. Mat-
thews 4-25, Maher 1-9, James 1-5, Sydney 6-68,
Canada 3-16, Phea 2-56, Goosby 1-5, Ford 3-16.
Kickoff Returns--Boston, Steels 1-26; Denver,
Ford 1-19, Phea 3-70.
Punt Returns--Boston, Steels 1-0, Franz 2-15;
Denver, Martin 1-10.
Interceptions--Boston, Wilson 1-32.
Punting--Boston, Hoopes 3-40.3; Denver, Gortz 4-
40.8.
Field Goals--Boston, Mazzetti O-1; Denver, Speel-
man 0-1.
Sacks- Boston, Geathers 1-8; Boston, none.