by Canton ,OH – Head Coach Mike Riley of the New Jersey Generals took his 9-1 squad into battle today against the 6-4 upstart Philadelphia Stars led by Bart Andrus. In the end, it was Maurice Alexander with a thrilling an inspirational punt return touchdown in the closing minutes to cap off the comeback win for the Stars. Alexander had gone from working at UPS to the USFL in one of the most inspiring tales you will hear.
The Stars defense shut down the high-octane rushing attack in the 19-14 victory. The Stars now advance to the USFL Championship game after holding the Generals to just 106 yards on the ground. They held Darius Victor to 64 yards and Trey Williams to 40 in a commanding effort. Generals duel quarterback combination of Luis Perez and De’Andre Johnson was also held in check. Johnson had 3 runs for 1 negative yard while Perez went 19 of 25 passing with 2 picks and no touchdowns.
The Stars defense limited the Generals to only one offensive touchdown all game and multiple fourth down stops. The Stars defense and special teams had to step up late as their quarterback Case Cookus was playing banged up. The Stars offense was limited to only 286 yards. Not helping matters for the Stars was their stair tailback Matt Colburn going done to a serious injury in the third quarter.
The Stars had the ball first and put together a drive down the field. It would eventually stall out however and they cashed in on a Luis Aguilar 37-yard field goal to draw first blood at 3-0. A combination of passing over the middle from Case Cookus along with Matthew Colburn hitting open holes in the line helped them move the ball well.
Case Cookus and the Stars went back to work in the first after forcing a quick three and out of the Generals. Cookus hit tight end Bug Howard for a dozen to start the drive. Cookus then took a scramble and turned it into a 23 yard pick up to get the ball all the way to the Generals 42 on just the second play of the drive. The Generals would pick up the pressure on the Stars and eventually force the punt. The first quarter would finish with the Stars leading 3-0.
Sticking with their two QB combination, the Generals began the second quarter with the ball and began to threaten. They moved down to the Stars 32-yard line when Luis Perez got blasted by two Stars while throwing the ball which was intercepted by the Stars and returned all the way to the Generals 14-yard line. A massive hit led to a long interception return and gave the Stars a golden chance to score.
The Stars looked to capitalize on the incredible field position and began to pound the ball with Colburn for a six-yard scamper. On the next play, it was quarterback Case Cookus taking it himself for an 8-yard touchdown. This gave the Stars a 10-0 lead with 9:23 to go in the half.
Once again, the Generals would mix it up to get things going. This time moving the ball to the Stars 37 yard line before facing a big 4th and 5 with 3:58 to go on the clock. They would keep it moving with a 10 yard pick up to Braedon Bowman to move the chains. Later on, it was 4th and 1 from the 9 of the Stars and the Generals rolled the dice by going for it up the middle with Trey Williams, but the Stars defense shut it down.
The Generals had 31 plays next to the Stars 19, but still couldn’t put up any points in the first half as it closed out with them still behind 10-0. They also dominated TOP, with a 18:19 to 11:41 advantage. Perhaps a field goal would have been worth the try on that final drive of the half?
Things would continue to go South for the Generals as they opened the second half by fumbling the kickoff back to the Stars at midfield. Two big runs by Matthew Colburn later and the Stars were already on the Generals 15-yard line. Sadly, for the Stars, Colburn got hurt badly and had to be carried off the field. One play later, quarterback Cookus got hit hard on the release and the ball was picked off.
The Generals got right to it with a 64-yard launch from Perez to Darrius Sheppard to set up shop inside the 10 of the Stars at the 6-yard line. De’Andre Johnson would check in and rush it down to the two-yard line. Victor moved it to the two-yard line. They were then stopped again on third and 1 and faced another fourth and 1, this time with less than yard to score. Darius Victor would make Mike Riley’s decision to go for it payoff, as he used a second effort to break the goal line and cut into the lead at 10-7.
The Stars went right back to work though, with a long ball on the first play to get it quickly into inside the thirty-yard line. Cookus has never been afraid to air it out, and with Colburn out of the game, he need he had too. Darnell Holland took over from there with few nice runs to get it inside the Generals 20 until Holland got crushed and spun around, fumbling it back to the Generals at their own 8 yard line.
The next time the Stars had the ball, they went right back to the air. A massive 49-yard strike on their first play of the drive from Cookus to Shepherd placed the ball on the Generals 9-yard line as the third quarter was winding down. The drive would stall however and result in a missed Luis Aguilar chip shot field goal to open the fourth quarter. The Generals dodged yet another bullet.
A little later on, the Generals needed a big play in the worst way and got it via their special teams as KaVontae Turpin took a punt to the house from 76 yards out to give the Generals their first lead of the game with 10:30 to play. The Stars had chances to go up by two scores, and just couldn’t do it, the Generals made them pay.
A 29-yard field goal by Aguilar would get the Stars within 1 at 14-13 with 5:55 to play in the game. Then, with two minutes to go, Maurice Alexander took it 88 yards to the house off the Generals punt in shocking fashion to give the Stars a lead. The two-point conversion failed, and the Stars clung to a 19-14 lead with 1:41 to go. They’d hold on for the 19-14 win.
