Lots of big happenings in the world of CFL football this week:
Atlantic City (4-5) 6, Hartford (4-5) 38 - Holy crap. Hartford seems to be making up for lost time in a vicious way of late, this time by beating poor Atlantic City silly. This one was a bad blowout that could have been worse, had it not been for Oberg's 3 INTs. Hartford outgained ACI 503-128 yds - this one seriously could have been a 52-0 laugher if Oberg had been a bit more careful with the ball. Still, Oberg had on balance a solid day, adding a 24/42 for 364 yds and 4 TDs to his 3 INTs. He also ran for a TD. As good as Hartford' offense was, take a look at what their defense did:
Code:
Atlantic City Drive Chart
Quar Began Poss From Plays Yards Result
1 15:00 2:15 OWN 22 3 9 Punt
1 9:55 2:54 OWN 22 5 19 Punt
1 2:02 1:02 OWN 20 3 1 Punt
1 0:51 2:03 OWN 20 6 10 Punt
2 12:52 2:01 OWN 21 3 2 Punt
2 9:55 1:39 OWN 4 3 9 Punt
2 6:17 3:43 OWN 25 6 17 Punt
3 14:23 3:07 OPP 29 7 23 Missed FG
3 9:32 2:32 OWN 21 6 14 Punt
3 5:13 2:42 OWN 20 5 16 Punt
3 1:21 2:09 OWN 41 6 4 Punt
4 10:27 1:33 OWN 15 4 14 Punt
4 1:54 0:58 OWN 20 3 -5 Punt
That's an ass-kicking right there. ACI's only score came on an INT return (conversion failed, of course). Hartford is one scary-assed team.
Detroit (7-2) 21, Baltimore (4-5) 26 - The Bombers pulled off a nice upset of the Vampires with Phillip Barbieri leading the way. Detroit's excellent secondary was missing many components today, and they had no answer for Barbieri, who was 25/33 for 285 yds and 1 TD. Johnnie Titone looked every bit the jittery 2nd year player, and only managed a disappointing 14/27 for 113 yds, 2 TDs and 2 INTs (one of which was returned for a TD). Detroit's secondary got a bit healthier this last week, though, and excellent S Michael Dustin might be available for next week's game.
Durham (7-2) 13, Charleston (5-4) 17 - It seems weird to say this about any game in which Landon Hurst is playing, but he managed to upset Durham with his nifty 18/26, 215 yd, 2 TD-1 INT performance. As much as Hurst did to win this game, Durham's O-line did to lose it. They only managed to pave the way for a 3.5 ypc average, and worse they allowed Edward Kimber to be hurried 5 times and sacked 5 times. His two 4th quarter INTs ruined any hope Durham might have had of making a comeback.
Fargo (6-4) 16, El Paso (4-6) 20 - Here's a head-scratcher: how does a team outgain their opponent 471-292 yds, outsack their opponent 5-2, win the ToP battle 35:45-24:15 and still manage to lose? Apparently, the answer is that you have to bomb on special teams (2 missed field goals) and choke in the Red Zone (0-for-2). Tony Straight did a great job filling in for Hedges, but 356 yds passing just wasn't enough.
Huntington Beach (4-5) 23, Arizona (6-3) 10 - Remember how I was saying that I couldn't believe HB was doing so poorly earlier in the year? Well, they finally started to turn things around and they couldn't have done it at a better time. 'Zona scored the first 10 points of the game, but then HB racked up 23 unanswered to finish the game. Freddie Matthias continues to look uncomfortable behind Arizona's line, this time registering a 13/29 for 131 yds, 1 TD and 1 INT performance. He was hurried 6 times and sacked 5. Poor guy. Jesus Dennis even tried to let Arizona back into the game with his 3 INTs, but it wasn't to be.
Shreveport (6-3) 10, Boston (5-4) 24 - Boston and Shreveport both held steady at one game behind their respective division leaders after this one. A rather beaten-up Boston squad managed to squelch the Shreveport offense quite effectively, resulting in the staggering decision to bench QB Douglas Hartmann in the 4th quarter. On the very next play star wideout Pedro Lopez suffered a torn achilles tendon and will be out for the season. Ouch.
Tulsa (8-1) 13, Boise (6-3) 10 (OT) - Tulsa took a 10-0 lead into the 4th quarter only to see Branden Lin rally his team to tie it with :33s on the clock. The game of course went into overtime, where Branden Lin threw his third, and most costly, interception of the game. Tulsa immediately charged down the field and kicked the game-winning FG. This game really had no business being tied, as Tulsa outplayed Boise by a fair margin, but they just couldn't put points on the board. I'm sure Tulsa is happy to get the win, but I doubt that either team's management is especially happy with this game.