USFL SEMIFINALS

C‘mon now, New Jersey Generals, you just can’t get past the Stars whether they play in Baltimore or Philadelphia, whether it be now, 1973 or 1974.

The first two championships of the United States Football League were those two seasons in the 70s, then it folded. Both title games went to Baltimore first, Philadelphia second, over New Jersey, and in ’74 after new Generals’ owner Donald Trump had made a big deal to bring in super running back HershelWalker, it was still the Stars carrying off the trophy.

Now with all these years gone by, back came the USFL, the Stars back in Philly and compiling a 6-4 record, were matched up against the not-same Generals who went 9-1 in the Eastern Conference regular season, lost both earlier tests, 13-8 and 20-17, but trailing 14-13 with 2 minutes remaining at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, and sent Maurice Alexander on an 87-yard record league punt return to again stun New Jersey, 19-14.

Alexander’s TD was the first returned touchdown punt of the campaign for the Stars, who then tried for the 2-point extra points, but the pass-play failed. Still, Philadelphia held on and now plays the Birmingham Stallions, a 31-17 winner over the New Orleans Breakers in the Western Conference semis, setting up a Stars-Stallions showdown July 3 at Benson Stadium.

“I think he has the opportunity to run it back every time he touches the ball. He’s shown that all year long.” said Stars head coach Bart Andrus.

Alexander was named player of the game. The All-USFL player considered the playoff win to be the biggest moment in his football career.

The game was on national television, but there was few in the stands, and that was disappointing. The weather was good, temperatures ranked in the 70s, winds were few, clouds were blue, but each time they showed the stands, there were few spectators to count or rather an easy chore to count.

The Generals made mistakes, a number of them at the wrong time. They were picked off four times, fumbled five times, missed several costly tackles, but stayed close throughout. Whenever the moved the chains, they would fail on 3rd and 4th down plays. Philadelphia also fell short on several plays inside the New Jersey 20, but on the big return for Alexander, quickly put up blocks from when he hauled in the punt at its own 13, and off he went untouched.

In the other game  that brought together Birmingham at 8-2 and New Orleans at 7-3, the Breakers got away to a good start on a 1-yard touchdown run by Jordan Ellis and PAT. The Stallions evened things on a 23-yard touchdown connection from quarterback J’Mar Smith to wide receiver Osiris Mitchell.

Breakers quarterback Kyle Sloter, who threw for 327 yards, had two passes intercepted in the first half, one a pick-six in the second quarter to give Birmingham a 14-7 lead. Sloter tied things by connecting with Ellis on a 35-yard touchdown pass. But seconds later, Stallions Victor Bolden took off on a kickoff return into the end zone and a 21-14 halftime advantage. Bolden was named player of the game after turning in 166 yards on kickoff returns.

The Breakers were held to just three points in the second half. Smith clinched things for Birmingham on a short run with 39 seconds left in the tilt. He finished with 190 yards and added 48 on the ground.

This game, too, disappointed in fan support. Hopefully, the title game will fill more seats.