by Canton, OH – The USFL’s top scoring offense visited the league’s top defense in a Sunday showdown from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The New Orleans Breakers would remain undefeated holding off the New Jersey Generals 20-17.
The visitors from the Big Easy wasted no time making their presence felt, marching down the field to open the scoring. The connection between McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Sage Surratt began early with a big 33-yard reception over the middle of the field. The drive concluded with an untouched 9-yard touchdown from the USFL’s leading rusher Wes Hills to put the Breakers on top. One of the bigger plays of the 1st quarter came on an interception by General safety Shalom Luani. The Breakers would go on to force another punt halting any momentum for the Generals.
A sack from Tyshun Render on 3rd down forced the 2nd punt of the quarter by New Orleans. On the ensuing offensive possession, the longest play of the game occurred. De’Andre Johnson found the speedy Cam Echols-Luper who broke away in man coverage for the 62-yard score down the sidelines. This was the 2nd touchdown of the season for Echols-Luper on just his 2nd reception.
The undefeated Breakers would respond well, with an 8 play 41-yard drive capped off by another score from Wes Hills this time from 1 yard out. A big 3rd and long conversion from Alonzo Moore set up a 38-yard field goal from Nick Sciba. Despite having possession for less than 7 minutes than their opponent, the Generals were able to stay within striking distance only down 14-10.
The Breakers only drive of the 3rd quarter resulted in 3 points. A touchdown was wiped off the board following a holding penalty. Considering that this drive lasted 8 minutes and 12 seconds (14 plays) this was a huge stand by the Generals defense after being on the field for over half the quarter.
Sometimes it really is that simple to just run the football and that is exactly what the Generals did with 6 consecutive running plays to score their points of the game. Darius Victor had the longest gain of the drive for 30 yards. On the next play, Trey Williams broke a few tackles and got into the endzone from 19 yards out to cap off the 77-yard scoring drive.
Now with the game being tied going into the 4th, could the Generals knock off the league’s last remaining unbeaten team? The only points in the quarter came on a field goal which proved to be the game winner with 7:06 remaining. Matt Coghlin converted his 2nd 25-yard field goal of the half making the score 20-17. The Breakers could not ice the game, giving the Generals one final chance to tie or possibly win the game. But could not muster anything positive, losing the game 20-17.
My two big takeaways were the time of possession and the penalties. New Jersey had the ball for just 21:16 and had 9 penalties for 105 yards just simply too much to overcome against a good team in the Breakers. Next week, New Orleans (4-0) will look to stay unbeaten, traveling to the city of Brotherly love with a matchup against the Stars. New Jersey (2-2) will head to Houston to take on the Gamblers.
