Week IV Newsletter

After spotting the Highways a 2-0 lead, the Revenge exploded for 3 Tim Biakabutuka TD runs of 60, 1, and 45 yards. He also passed the 100 yard mark. At 20-2, the Highways struck back with 3 TD passes from newly acquired QB Brad Johnson to pull within 20-14. However, those points were countered by Neil O'Donnell's TD toss of 54 yards and Keyshawn Johnson's 26 yard catch to make it a 30-14 game, putting the first handful of dirt of Coach Widtfeldt's coffin. Four consecutive PATs by Highway K Brett Conway and Brad Johnson's 4th TD pass made it a 30-22 game and prolonging the inevitable. Curtis Martin's TD put the Highways within 2 points at 30-28 but Neil O'Donnell took the ensuing kickoff and marched the Revenge downfield, hitting Yancy Thigpen for a TD. O'Donnell passed 300 while Thigpen passed 100. With the score 46-34 Revenge entering MNF, the Highways needed 2 Antowain Smith TDs. It didn't happen. The Revenge took high points for the week and won by that 46-34 score to regain a tie for 1st in the Dewey division while the Highways fell two games off the Howe pace while dropping their 2nd in a row. With the win, the Revenge also tied up the all-time series 1-1-1. Next week, the Revenge play the Norris for sole possession of the Dewey lead while the Highways try to slow down the Mystics and stay in the Howe race.

PMS took the early lead behind an unexpected Randy Moss sighting, a 61 yard bomb, going up 6-0. Moss followed that one up with a 27 yarder for PMS to go ahead 12-0. The Clams struck back late in the 1st with a Troy Aikman to Michael aerial connection to make the score 12-10 PMS. After PMS went up 14-10, Aikman threw his 2nd TD pass of the game, tying the score at 14 apiece then Emmitt Smith scored a 1 yard TD putting the Clams up 20-14. A Jason Elam FG and PAT made it 20-18 Clams. Jason Elam's 51 yard FG made the score 22-20 PMS. A Tim Brown TD catch put the Clams back on top momentarily before Rickey Dudley caught one for PMS making the score 28-26 going into MNF. Four FGs by new Clam kicker Olindo Mare gave the Clams the lead. With only five minutes left in the Monday night game, Dan Marino found O.J. McDuffie alone for the game tying TD at 38. The remained the final score. PMS has yet to win and, at 0-3-1, will try to remedy that against the league's 2nd most prolific offense when they meet Grande To The Party. Meanwhile, the 1-2-1 Clams will play the 0-4 King of Dogs next week in a Dewey division affair. A win will guarantee them of remaining 1/2 game out.

The Norris took the early lead, 9-0, behind a long Rocket Ismail TD catch and 3 Gary Anderson PATs. With most of his players starting in the noon games, Coach Nerz's squad needed to put his points on the board early. Two Adam Vinatieri FGs followed by a Terry Allen TD scamper put the Mystics on top 13-9 for a short time. Rocket Ismail topped 100 yards receiving for the Norris and Elvis Grbac threw a pair of TD passes to pull the Norris back on top 19-13 before a Natrone Means TD run deadlocked the game at 19-19. Midway through the 4th quarter, Steve Beuerlein found Wesley Walls open for a 6 yard TD pass putting the Mystics ahead to stay at 31-19. With the win, the Mystics improve to 4-0 a week before squaring off against the struggling Strange Highways in a Howe division game that has major implications early in the season. The Norris, which falls to 2-2 on the season and 2-3 lifetime versus the Mystics, will try to put more points on the board next week against Montezuma's Revenge in a Dewey division matchup for 1st place.

The Party wasted no time on this day, getting on the board immediately with a Randall Cunningham TD toss and a defensive TD, leading 11-0. Cunningham followed up with another later in the 1st quarter followed by a third TD in the 2nd quarter, pushing the score to 21-0. A Kris Brown FG of 48 yards got the Dogs on the board but still trailing 21-3. The Party quickly repsonded with another flurry. A second defensive TD, 2 PATs, Rhett's 100 yards and a Stephen Davis TD pushed the score to a fat 37-3 margin. A late Terrell Owens TD catch made the score 37-9 in favor of the Party and that's how the game ended. The Party improved to 2-1 lifetime versus Coach Rady's teams. The Dogs continue to struggle scoring points, with this week's 9 going into the league record book of sub-10 point games. Next week, they'll try to get started against the 1-2-1 Bearded Clams while the Party (3-1) squares off with the 0-3-1 PMS squad.

This game started slowly, with the Swords leading by only 2-0 until Curtis Conway busted it open with a pair of TD catches and 100 yards receiving to make it 16-0 Swords. Amani Toomer's 100 yards got the Steamers on the board but two Jaguar safeties followed by new QB Jeff Garcia's one TD run and one TD pass made it 30-2. Terrell Davis scored to close the gap to 30-8. However, Davis left the game with a sprained knee, hurting the Steamers' chances of coming from behind. Early word was that Davis may have a torn ACL. After that, Garcia found Terrell Owens open for a TD putting the Swords comfortably in front 34-8. Garcia accounted for 14 points on the game despite having less than one week to become accustomed to the Swords' offense after just being picked up by the team Wednesday. WR Curtis Conway accounted for 14 more, all in the last two minutes of his game. QB Jon Kitna fired a pair of TD passes and K Steve Christie tallied 12 point on Monday night to rally the Steamers to within 6 before they ran out of steam, for the final score of 34-28. With the win, the Swords improve to 2-0 lifetime against the Steamers and will next try to stay tied at the top of the Cheatem division when they take on the 3-1 Greenback Iguanas in a major early season intra-divisional game. The 2-2 Steamers will attempt to rebound against their friendly nemesis the Retreads (1-3) in a Howe division tussle.

The Iguanas struck first blood on an Ike Hilliard 9 yard TD catch but the Retreads countered with a Kurt Warner toss of 9 yards. The next time the Iguanas had the ball, they found Keenan McCardell in the back corner of the endzone for a TD. The PAT made the score 13-4 Iguanas. Kurt Warner threw for 2 more TDs and 300 yards making the score 14-13 Retreads but Drew Bledsoe fired a TD to Terry Glenn and passed the 300 yard mark. Glenn not only passed 100 but also 200 yards to account for 9 total points on the day. However, he lost 3 fumbles which cost both the Iguanas and the Patriots on the scoreboard. Mike Hollis booted a FG and his 2nd PAT. Eddie George caught a 54 yard pass for a TD before Michael Westbrook closed the score to within 40-28 on 2 TD catches of his own. The Retreads pulled within 40-30 on Michael Westbrook's 100 yards receiving. The Retreads then further narrowed the lead to five on Muhsin Muhammad's 100 yard receiving game. Needing 7 points to tie on MNF, they got a TD catch from Eric Moulds to close within 40-39 but couldn't get over the hump. At 3-1, the Iguanas improve to 2-0 lifetime against Coach Detwiler and will play the the Palace of Swords next week for the right to remain atop the Cheatem division. The 1-3 Retreads fell three games behind in the Howe division and will try to stop the bleeding next week against the Stanley Steamers.

Week 4 Entries Into the League Record Book:

• The Mystics' win was their 7th in a row dating back to last season. A win next week would tie them for 2nd all-time with the Bone Club ('96) and PMS ('97).
• While tying the Bearded Clams on Sunday, PMS nontheless failed to win a game for the 5th week in a row, dating back to last season. This puts them at the bottom of the list for such teams. #1 on this rueful register is the 1998 Bone Club which failed to win for eleven consecutive weeks.
• King of Dogs, with only 9, joined the list of teams having scored fewer than 10 points in a game. The record is the only two shutouts in league history, A Team With No Name's 16-0 loss to the Deadbeats in 1995 and the Strange Highways in 1998 when they were shutout 22-0 by the Stanley Steamers. Same old Highway offense (or that ofFENCE?).
• In a ray of hope for the Highways, QB Brad Johnson's 18 points in Wk 4 placed him on the all-time single game list. The record was Steve Young's 27 in 1998 for the Seven Aces vs. the long departed Dumstangs.
• In a bit of irony, Tim Biakabutuka's 20 points in Wk. 4 placed him on the honor roll for RBs. Biakabutuka's production countered Brad Johnson's in the Revenge's 46-34 victory.
• The Cowboy defense's 12 points Sunday for Grande To The Party put them on the D list for a game. The record is 22 for the Greenback Iguanas in 1997 versus the Bone Club.
• The King of Dogs 4 straight losses is their longest ever as a franchise.

Sidenote: No team broke 50 points in Week 4.

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