TALONS, PTERODACTYLS WORK OVERTIME TO STAY PERFECT

Star City’s Roy Castro connected on a 47-yard kick with just under 2 minutes remaining in overtime to improve the Golden Pterodactyls to 3-0 with a 12-9 win over Tennessee. Castro hit from 39 and 48 yards in the first half and from 53 in the third quarter, but had his effort countered by a Kenneth Goodwin trifecta. Turnovers were Tennessee’s downfall as Star City picked off five passes in the contest.

For Tallahassee, the ending came as David Webster sacked Salem QB Jonathan Embree in the end zone for a game-winning safety with five and a half minutes to go in OT. Embree had been the hero in tying the game with just over a minute remaining as he hit Edmond Walker for an 11-yard TD reception to force the extra time. The final score in this one was 29-27 for the Talons.

Also working overtime in Week 3 was Boise. The Burn needed a 36-yard Tad Jensen field goal with less than a minute to go in the extra time to crack into the win column and send Hawai’I to its first loss of the season. The game-winning score came thanks to an Islander fumble at their 46. Jensen’s kick made amends for a late-game whiff from 40 yards out. Elsewhere, in games that didn’t require viewers to stay up late…

Wild 37, Stampede 0…John Richardson threw for 370 yards and 4 touchdowns while Jacob Pfaff hauled in 12 passes for 152 yards and 2 scores as Milwaukee went wild in this shutout win. St. Louis crossed midfield just three times with the first two trips ending in interceptions while the third came with just 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
Assassins 24, Thunder 7…Columbus City fell behind 7-0 early but responded with 24 unanswered points to crack the win column for the first time this season. Michael Hardnett threw for a pair of scores as part of a 22-for-29 night that netted 186 passing yards.
Cobras 24, Twisters 20…Larry Dearth threw three TD passes, including two to Lorenzo Fox as Rancho Cucamonga edged Arkansas. Dearth finished with 230 passing yards in the contest. Paul Perez intercepted Russell Gargano’s 3rd-and-4 pass in the end zone with 1:12 remaining to preserve the victory for the Cobras, now 2-1.
Phantoms 44, Bulldogs 12…Good news – the league is starting to figure out how to slow down the Parlor City offense. Bad news – they’re still scoring 44 points as Bennington became the next victim. Leroy Rivera ran for 145 yards and 2 TD’s. Tony Strait added 386 yards and 2 TD’s on 28-for-34 passing. Edward Huff had 124 receiving yards in another complete showing for the defending champs.
Spartans 17, Kings 6…Shawn Auer had a short TD run in the first half and Nathaniel Finley found George Nieto for a short fourth-quarter score as Toronto toppled Lyon. Finley finished with 288 passing yards in the game while the Spartan defense held the Kings to 153 total yards.
Coyotes 20, Wampas 3…Lionel Langston and James Yates each sacked Aspen QB Paul Campbell in the end zone for safeties as Mt. Washington scored a normal-looking 20-3 victory that was anything but normal. Albert Robinson hauled in a 1-yard reception for the game’s only touchdown. Defensively, Mt. Washington allowed just 59 yards of offense, including -16 passing as Wampa QB Paul Campbell has now gone 70 passes without completing one to the proper team this season (he has 10 interceptions though).
Americans 35, Event 17…Rochester used a strong second half to pull away from Maine in a Brown Division battle. Guillermo Jordan ran for 119 yards and a score on just 13 carries for the Americans while Robert Alexander was 21-for-27 for 286 yards and a score through the air. Daniel Hill had 105 receiving yards and a score in the loss for Maine, which trailed led 17-16 midway thorugh the third quarter before Rochester closed with 19 unanswered points.
Dragons 28, Snappers 9…David Puddy threw for another four touchdowns as Glendora remained unbeaten against a Natchitoches squad that moved the ball well but was denied the end zone by the Dragon defense. John Claypoole hauled in five passes for 125 of Puddy’s 308 passing yards. Claypoole also caught one of the Dragons’ TD’s while Joseph Overholt pulled down two.
Bombers 25, Bandits 3…Harold Hill kicked six field goals and Philip Mattingly added a 30-yard TD toss to Manuel Lawrence as Brooklyn cruised to victory. The Bombers had a 395-137 advantage in total yardage. Gary Vanhorn’s 43-yard kick with just over 11 minutes to go in the third quarter broke a scoreless drought of 10+ quarters for the Bandits.
Red Rocks 33, Riptide 14…Elmer Montgomery had 150 all-purpose yards and a pair of TD receptions as Coos Bay crashed the Riptide. Mark Smith added a TD run as the Rocks rolled out to a 24-0 lead before allowing San Diego onto the scoreboard. In all, Coos Bay owned a 375-149 yardage edge in the game.
Crush 13, Crusaders 7…Mark Robinson’s 56-yard TD reception was Canton’s only touchdown of the day, but the Crush defense made sure that it, plus a couple William Mertens field goals, were enough in a low-scoring win. The Crusaders were held off the scoreboard until Jacob Perez hit Mark Lofton from 4 yards out on a 1st-and-goal play with 7:33 to play. But that was the only California drive of the day to net more than 24 yards overall. The Crusaders saw a pair of fourth quarter possessions get stopped on downs.
Wallabies 24, Hefty Buffalo 6…Sam Harris had amassed just one sack in his first three EFL seasons. Pressed into action due to injuries along the Perth D-line, he finished with 4 in this contest alone as Perth harassed Fort Drum for a 24-6 win. John Schwartz added 13 tackles for a Wallabies defense that held the Hefty Buffalo to 150 yards in the contest.
Geechee 28, Marauders 6…Charleston scored a touchdown in each quarter to methodically push past Reno. John Riley hit the century mark with 100 yards on 14 carries, netting two of the Geechee’s four trips into paydirt. Edward Jackson threw for the other two as part of a 210-yard passing night.

GG Phantoms

GG Garrok. Idk about fair. You outgained me almost 2-1, and I forced 3 turnovers, 2 of them didn't influence the game in any fashion. Idk why I even bother watching some of the games anymore.

This code is a waste of time. I wish we never left 0.4.2. At least gameplanning meant something back then.

Good luck to you as well. I'm sure we'll both make the playoffs.

This will be a tougher battle when we come to your house. Renu is correct though. It might be time to change the offense up a little.

Good game, Burn. Tough battle all the way to the bitter end. Turnovers and penalties at the most inopportune times just killed us. Good luck the rest of the way.

Good game to you too Islanders. I was surprised by the outcome. Best of luck with the rest of the season!

HOLY SHEETS!

Milton Sheets kicked four fourth quarter field goals, the last from 38 yards out as time expired, to complete a rally that saw the Toronto Spartans escape from Reno with an 18-17 victory over the Marauders. Joshua Maynard spotted Reno a 14-0 lead with a pair of TD passes in the first quarter and Reno still led 17-6 entering the fourth quarter when Sheets began the rally with a 49-yard kick on the first play of the final period. He would go on to add kicks of 54 and 41 yards before delivering the game-winner. Sheets also drilled first-half kicks of 49 and 56 yards to account for all of the Spartans’ points. Elsewhere around the league…

Dragons 57, Islanders 3…Glendora unleashed 800+ yards of offense, much of it coming from the arm of David Puddy who threw for 7 touchdowns and 693 yards in the contest. Todd Spooner, John Claypoole and Michael Chery each finished with more than 100 yards receiving as the Dragons averaged more than 19 yards per pass completion.
Crusaders 15, Cobras 10…Lloyd Braun kicked five field goals and California played solid enough defense to hold off Rancho Cucamonga by five. Included in Braun’s display were kicks of 54, 55 and 52 yards.
Americans 16, Bombers 9…Robert Alexander’s 67-yard hook-up with Adam McCurdy made the difference as Rochester defeated Brooklyn in the Empire State Shootout. The Bombers appeared on the way to a narrow win before a late-game interception set up a short game-tying field goal on the first play after the two-minute warning. After holding Brooklyn, the Americans got the ball back at their own 22 with 58 seconds to play, but needed just 2 plays to cover that distance for the win.
Stampede 24, Wallabies 21…James Palmer hit Jeff Collins for a 5-yard touchdown with less than 4 minutes remaining to lift St. Louis past Perth. Palmer finished with 306 yards and 2 TD passes in the contest. Perth was its own worst enemy as the Wallabies saw an interception in the end zone as well as a critical late-game 4th-and-4 pick-up negated by penalties.
Burn 16, Tennessee 9…Jose Engelhardt hit Aleander Eads for a 5-yard touchdown with 12 seconds remaining to elevate Boise to the win. It was Engelhardt’s only touchdown throw of the night as the Burn QB finished 21-for-30 for 208 yards.
Talons 34, Hefty Buffalo 11…Tallahassee scored three second-half touchdowns to transform a narrow 13-8 halftime lead into a decisive 34-11 win over Fort Drum. James Castillo ran in for two scores and James Herrin threw for two more as the Talons remained unbeaten on the season.
Crush 17, Wild 6…Keith Scott went just 15-for-36, but managed to complete two touchdown passes as Canton displayed a bend-but-don’t-break defense in a 17-6 win over Milwaukee. The Wild held a 24-11 edge in first downs and managed 362 yards of offense, but never found their way into the end zone against the Crush D.
Event 20, Golden Pterodactyls 14…Steven Jimenez threw for 2 touchdowns and 183 yards on just 13-for-18 passing as the Maine Event edged past Star City by six points. Roy Luna had an 8-catch, 151-yard receiving night for Star City that included a touchdown, but it wasn’t enough as the Golden Pterodactyls were sent to their first defeat of the year. Both teams now sport 3-1 records.
Snappers 26, Bandits 3…Terry Melvin ran for a 4-yard score and Leo Griffin sprinted in with a 50-yard touchdown reception as the Natchitoches Snappers blew past Santa Fe 26-3. The Bandits were held to just 114 yards of offense in the contest. Griffin finished with 102 receiving yards from five receptions for the Snappers.
Riptide 27, Coyotes 10…Robert Burkett’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Harry Ellis midway through the fourth quarter slammed the door on any dreams of a Mt. Washington rally and lifted San Diego to victory. It was the second scoring hook-up between the pair as a 10-yard connection in the second quarter had put San Diego up 17-3. The Coyotes pulled within 17-10 on a 77-yard Chester Lloyd TD reception early in the second half to get within a score. That play represented more than a third of the Coyotes’ 205 yards of offense in the game. Burkett finished with 344 passing yards and 3 TD’s for the Riptide.
Kings 24, Geechee 21…A 33-yard field goal by Wendell Jessen with less than 2 minutes to play broke a 21-21 tie and delivered victory to Lyon. Charleston struck first as Edward Jackson hit on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Williams, but that was just the appetizer for a crazy second quarter of action that saw the two teams combine for five touchdowns. Donald Dubois ran in for a pair of scores for the Kings. Jackson had 313 yards and 3 passing TD’s for the Geechee. Charleston’s John Wilson hauled in seven passes for 177 yards and a TD in the loss.
Red Rocks 13, Assassins 3…Coos Bay scored all 13 of its points in the first half, but that proved more than enough on a night where it held Columbus City to just 167 yards of total offense. Elmer Montgomery’s 13-yard reception in the second quarter was the lone touchdown of the contest.
Witches 40, Bulldogs 16…Salem scored touchdowns on its first three possessions of the second half to cruise to victory over Bennington. Jonathan Embree was an impressive 27-for-30 for 352 yards and 5 TD’s throwing the rock. Franklin Ray pulled in 157 yards and 2 TD’s on eight receptions for Salem.
Phantoms 27, Thunder 0…Parlor City improved to 4-0 behind the strength of a 405-76 yardage disparity against Tacoma. The Thunder crossed midfield on offense just once, and then only briefly, late in the fourth quarter. Tony Strait was good for 277 yards and a TD while Charles Raymond and Edward Huff each ran in for scores for the Phantoms.
Twisters 29, Wampas 3…Arkansas returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns in the first minute of the game and never looked back as they cruised to a 29-3 victory. Someone get me Paul Campbell’s agent on the phone so he can negotiate my next contract. The Wampas’ gunslinger has now thrown 107 pass attempts this season, hitting his own team exactly zero times while completing 15 passes to the opponents. He’s also making just over a quarter million for that. Jeremy Franklin had 115 rushing yards for Arkansas on 32 carries. Franklin was also the team’s top receiver with 55 yards on six catches.

For all my readers out there, I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving with your friends, family or loved ones (perhaps they were the same people?). To my Hawaiian reader (I think there’s only one of you in the group…), a big hau’oli la ku’oko’a!

GG crm and GL the rest of the way! We were our own worst enemies in that contest between the penalties and the fumble.

GG Crazy

Good game, Dragons. We were just outmatches in that one. So many big plays given up it was painful to watch.