DALLAS-The Detroit Drive defense intercepted Heinie Voorhees five times and defeated the Dallas Desperados 24-14 to claim the AFL Arena Bowl Championship.
Detroit began the game with a 6-play, 77-yard drive. Lou Couch completed the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dave Huntley to take a 7-0 lead with 11:57 left in the first quarter. Dallas would answer going 69 yards on 3 plays. Voorhees finished it off with a 52-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Hawes tying the game at 7 with 10:17 remaining in the first quarter. On the next Detroit possession, the Drive moved into scoring range, but Cletis Frayer missed a 47-yard field goal attempt.
Both teams traded punts, and at the start of the second quarter, Couch was knocked out with an injury. Indiana Thornley came in for Couch, and led a 12-play, 66-yard drive. Frayer would kick a 21-yard field goal to give Detroit a 10-7 lead with 9:19 remaining in the second. The Desperados were thwarted by an interception by T.T. Presley at the Drive 39-yard line. Detroit went three-and-out, and the Desperados went 77 yards on 9 plays. Voorhees completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Indiana Falcinelli to take a 14-10 lead with 1:48 left in the half. The Drive would answer by moving the ball 67 yards on 8 plays. Thornley threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Patch Brolie with 8 seconds to go in the half to give Detroit a 17-14 lead at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Stan Florin picked Voorhees off at the Desperados 44-yard line. Four plays later, Thornley threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Vern Kelly to make it 24-14 with 11:56 left in the third. From there, the Detroit defense would shut down the Dallas offense. Florin would pick off Voorhees at the Detroit 45-yard line. Frayer would have a 24-yard field goal attempt blocked by Indiana Forrester and returned it 14 yards to the Desperados 31-yard line. Early in the fourth, Jamie Whirley picked off Voorhees and returned it 37 yards to the Dallas 24-yard line. Thornley was picked off by Daniel Calkin at the 4-yard line. After trading punts, McKinley Beaumont picked off Voorhees for the fifth and final time at the Detroit 46-yard line with 37 seconds left in the game to seal the championship.
Detroit gained 421 yards of total offense. The Drive gained 163 yards rushing on 36 carries. Rocky Adams led the team with 65 yards on 9 carries. Couch was 7-of-8 passing for 76 yards and a TD, and was sacked once for a 1-yard loss. Thornley went 16-of-26 passing for 209 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. He was sacked four times, losing 26 yards. Kelly led the receivers with 8 catches for 123 yards and a TD.
Dallas gained 348 yards of total offense. The Desperados ran for 60 yards on 14 carries. Elson Gregson led the team with 31 yards on 6 carries. Voorhees went 21-of-40 passing for 297 yards, 2 TD and 5 INT. He was sacked twice, losing 9 yards. Hawes led the receivers with 7 catches for 110 yards and a TD.
NOTE: With this result, the AFL's inaugural season is officially in the books. So now, we will move forward with another UFL-based football league. This one will be the Continental Independent Football League (CIFL). The league is based on the Continental Indoor Soccer League, a summer indoor soccer league that lasted five seasons (1993-97). It is an eight-team league featuring seven CISL teams and a team based in the fictional town of Charlestown, Michigan. The Divisional alignment is as follows:
Eastern Division: Detroit Neon, Houston Hotshots, Michigan Bombers*, Washington Warthogs.
Western Division: Anaheim Splash, Portland Pride, Sacramento Knights, Seattle Seadogs.
The first game will be the Sacramento Knights at Detroit Neon.
No comments:
Post a Comment