Around the USFL
by Fran Stuchbury
Published on June 8, 2023 under United States Football League (USFL)
Once again the South Division of the United States Football League exerted its dominance in 2023 by going a perfect 4-0 head-to-head against the North Division in week eight.
In a rematch of last season's USFL Championship, the Birmingham Stallions defeated the Philadelphia Stars, 27-24, thanks to quarterback Alex McGough's 333-yard, three-touchdown performance. Stallions tight end La'Michael Pettway caught a game-winning, seven-yard touchdown with 28 seconds left to seal the win.
"What a football game it was," said Stallions Head Coach Skip Holtz. "I thought it was never in question. What a great football game: two football teams competing their tails off. Both of them are in first place of their division. Both of them wanted to stay there, and neither one wanted to go away. I'm sure that they feel like they just ran out of time with the way that the game finished up, and we had the ball there at the end. So proud of our football team."
On the Stallions home crowd Holtz added, "Our crowds, I want them to be bigger. But I will tell you this, the people that are here are awesome. They're in it and they're loud. There's guys in horse heads there. I love our fan base; I love how passionate they are. I love how they dress up. I love how they're vocal when they're here. I thought the turnout today for 91 degrees in the middle of the day, for a two o'clock game, was absolutely awesome and we can't say, 'Thank you,' enough and they are a huge support for us. With this being potentially our last home game, to see the way they came out and supported us, I thought was awesome."
In a losing effort Case Cookus completed 20 of 32 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Dexter Williams added 52 rushing yards off the bench after Matt Colburn II was injured.
"It was a heck of a game, well played on both sides in tough, tough conditions, especially when you live in the North," said Stars Head Coach Bart Andrus. "Just last week we were in practice with hoods on and big coats, so we we fell short and we scored too soon at the end. We should have taken a little clock there. You take what you can get when you can get it, and we didn't want to pull back. These are two good football teams. They play together and if we can win a couple more, we may may see them again. So I think that our guys in every every phase of the game played pretty well and then in every phase of the game, we had that one or two times where we had a mistake, a costly one. We had them in a position they had to score a touchdown to win and they did. My hat's off to them."
The loss dropped the Stars to 4-4, still good for first place in the North Division by a game.
In the other Saturday contest, the Houston Gamblers defeated the Pittsburgh Maulers 20-19 on the strength of a game-winning, 33-yard touchdown run by Mark Thompson in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh's Chris Blewitt missed a 41-yard field goal attempt late.
For the game, Thompson totaled 98 rushing yards and two touchdowns. His earlier touchdown run went for 23 yards.
"I just played football," said Thompson. "The offensive line opened up a hole, and I hit it before it closed."
"I think Mark is an outstanding player, but I like him healthy," said Gamblers Head Coach Curtis Johnson. "Every time he gets the ball, it's electric."
Losers of three straight games, the Maulers fell to 2-6 and 0-4 against the South Division. Chris Blewitt made four of his five field goal attempts, and Pittsburgh dominated time of possession for the game, controlling the ball for 39:47.
"Kinda as I thought I thought, it was a very good performance by us and statistics show it," said Maulers Head Coach Ray Horton. "It came down to one kick at the end of the game in a one-point game, and we didn't make it, but I would probably do the same thing again. I would have faith in Chris every single time. I never questioned if he's going to make it or not. That's a testament to him. It didn't go in, apparently it didn't. I couldn't see it from our sideline, but in a one-point game obviously there's a lot of things that can turn on either side: special teams, a timeout. (I'm) proud of these guys; they've played hard; they've been committed to one another. It's just for us, it's not good enough."
On Sunday the Memphis Showboats extended their winning streak to five games with a 25-16 victory over the fading New Jersey Generals.
"A great win for us against what I thought was a great team in New Jersey," said Showboats Head Coach Todd Haley. "I am really happy for our guys. It was really neat to be able to come up here to Canton, a place that's that means a lot to me having grown up in football, and a lot of those people in that Hall of Fame I've known or been lucky enough to have known at a lot of different stages in my life.
"We still have a ways to go. We don't have much margin for error. We got to keep getting better. I feel like everybody in that room believes if we do two or three or four things a little better on each side of the ball, we have a chance to make some noise, but right now we're just climbing."
The Showboats controled time of possession, keeping the ball in their hands for 40:55. Alex Kessman finished a perfect six-for-six on field goals of 29, 37, 30, 38, 38 and 23 yards.
"I can't say enough about what Alex gas done here since he had to sit out a game and then went up to his home, Michigan and Detroit, and made a couple of huge kicks for us," Haley added. "He's been a steady, steady hand. I can't say enough about special teams coach Frank Gansz, Jr. When you only have six coaches, you have to make hard decisions. One of the decisions I made last year was to have a guy that was solely responsible for special teams, and he did it in the NFL for a long time."
The Generals have lost five games as the offense committed three turnovers with two interceptions and one fumble. Quarterback Dakota Prukop came off the bench to throw for 128 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He led the team in rushing yards with 76 yards.
"You don't win turning the ball over, and that was the main issue in the game," said Generals Head Coach Mike Riley.
Like the Maulers, the Generals also fell to 0-4 against the South Division.
The New Orleans Breakers snapped their three-game skid, holding on to a 24-20 victory over the Michigan Panthers. The victory keeps the Breakers in the hunt for a playoff spot at 5-3, good for a three-way tie in the South.
"It was a great team victory for us," said New Orleans Head Coach John DeFilippo. "Obviously, to get that stink off us after three losses in a row. We knew coming into the game, our two goals or two things we had to do, was stop their run and then we knew their would be a lot of man coverage. So I thought we did that. Obviously, we had 328 yards passing, and we held them to 62 yards rushing. So those are the two goals we set coming in, and we accomplished those. Unfortunately, the game was a lot closer than it needed to be, in my opinion, because of real self-inflicted wounds. Credit to them, they did a great job of making those plays, but we can't fumble the football and do those things."
Breakers wide receiver Johnnie Dixon aided the cause with nine receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns, calling it the best game of his entire playing career. New Orleans also converted seven of eleven third down conversions thanks in large part to McLeod Bethel-Thompson who passed for 328 yards. The running attack continued its recent struggles with 43 rushing yards.
"Our goals are still intact that we said at the beginning of the season and that's all you can ask for in professional football," DeFilippo added. "In the NFL when I was there, you want meaningful games in December. So for us, obviously, it's meaningful games in June. It's a credit to our players (to be) playing meaningful games in June."
The Panthers fell to 3-5, second place in the North Division, and lost their first road game of the season. Quarterback Josh Love passed for 221 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
"Obviously we're disappointed," said Panthers Head Coach Mike Nolan. "It was a tight game for a while there. It did look a little grim, down 21-0, but I was very proud of the way our guys fought back at 21 down and continued to play hard. We got right down to the end. We had an opportunity to win the game possibly, so that was a real credit to our guys. Actually, they didn't quit and you don't expect to anyway, I thought that was really good on our part. We lost to a good football team. We still have a lot left in our season. We have two games to go, and they're very meaningful to us, and you never know, maybe we'll play one of these guys again."
Saturday's Pittsburgh Maulers - Houston Gamblers game on USA drew 228,000 viewers followed by the Philadelphia Stars - Birmingham Stallions broadcast on FOX with 747,000 viewers. On Sunday the New Jersey Generals - Memphis Showboats contest on FOX totaled 720,000 viewers and the New Orleans Breakers - Michigan Panthers game on FOX finished the weekend with 774,000 viewers.
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Saturday in Canton, Ohio, the Michigan Panthers play the Pittsburgh Maulers at 12 pm est. on FOX, followed by the New Orleans Breakers at the Memphis Showboats at 3 pm est. on NBC. On Sunday at Memphis, the Birmingham Stallions tackle the Houston Gamblers at 2 pm est on NBC. Later in the day back at Canton, the Philadelphia Stars line up against the New Jersey Generals at 7 pm est. on FOX.
United States Football League Stories from June 8, 2023
- Around the USFL - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Around the USFL - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Around the USFL - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
