Week V Newsletter

The NFC Norris were not able to showcase new acquisition Rickey Watters but it didn't matter this week as they soundly defeated Montezuma's Revenge 43-24 to wrestle away control of the Dewey division lead and up their record to 3-2 for the season. This game was a battle of field goals in the early going. Pete Stoyanovich's 2 FG and 1 PAT were offset by Gary Anderson's 4 FG as the Norris took a 18-9 lead. Carl Pickens also had a TD catch during that time. Cory Dillon ate up over 100 yards, worth 2 points, keeping the Revenge close. Stoyanovich's third FG brought the Revenge to within 18-12 but Carl Pickens scored his second TD and Gary Anderson booted his 5th FG of the day, making the score 27-14. Robert Smith finally put some points on the board for the Revenge with his 100 yard rushing performance. A Neil O'Donnell TD toss to Yancy Thigpen cut the lead to three, 27-24 entering the Sunday night game. The Norris still had Brett Favre in the hole while the Revenge were still sitting on Keyshawn Johnson for MNF. A 16 point outburst Sunday night by the Norris put them up big at 43-24. Brett Favre led the way with 10 points while Warrick Dunn added a TD. Keyshawn was silent Monday night and the Revenge never cut into the lead. With the win, the Norris goes to 2-0 lifetime vs. the Revenge. Next week, the Norris will meet the Strange Highways while the Revenge will try to rebound against the 4-1 Greenback Iguanas.

The leg of Ryan Longwell finished off what the combination of Troy Aikman to Emmitt Smith started and the Bearded Clams won for the 2nd time in three weeks, beating the King of Dogs 28-21 in Dewey division action. The King of Dogs took a fast 1-0 lead, perhaps their 1st lead of the year. The Bearded Clams answered, though, with an Aikman to Emmitt Smith TD pass and a 10-1 lead. Another PAT by the Dogs made it 10-2. Michael Irvin left the game for the Clams with an injury to his spine. Emmitt Smith's 100 yard game gave the Clams a 12-3 lead before Jake Plummer scored on a 1 yard run bringing the Dogs within 3 points. The Dogs further rallied on a Plummer TD pass and Tony Martin's 8 points. The Dolphins' D got two points on a safety by Sam Madison bringing the score to 21-14 Dogs. The difference for the Clams was K Ryan Longwell who scored 14 points on Sunday night giving them a 28-21 lead. The Clams sweated out MNF while the Dogs crossed their fingers for a TD and a 100 yards from Jimmy Smith. After Smith ended up with neither, the Clams escaped with their win, moving into 2nd place at 2-2-1 on the season and remaining 1/2 game out of the lead in the Dewey division. After the game, they received the news that QB Steve Young may not be available for Week 6 and, worst case, may not be back anytime soon. He's still experiencing dizziness from his Week 3 concussion. The Dogs fall to 0-5, losing a chance for their 1st win of the season. Next week, they'll face the 2-3 Stanley Steamers.

The starters keep dropping but the Greenback Iguanas keep winning. This week, the Iguanas defeated division rival Palace of Swords 38-29 to gain possession of 1st place in the Cheatem division. This game was one of the highest scoring early as the Iguanas combined a Bledsoe to Glenn TD pass with a Terry Kirby TD run to offset the Swords TD catches by Curtis Conway and Germaine Crowell. With the score 16-12 Greenbacks, Drew Bledsoe found Shawn Jefferson open in the end zone for a TD. Bledsoe also passed 300 yards on the day, making the score 22-12. The Iguanas lost their starting player this season when Shannon Sharpe went down with a broken collarbone. Coming off the recent loss of Jamal Anderson, the Iguanas are going to be scratching for points at this rate. The Swords fought their way back Sunday night behind Mike Alstott's 28 yard TD burst up the middle and Martin Grammatica's 11 kicking points to take a 29-22 lead entering MNF. However, the Iguanas still had RB James Stewart and K Mike Hollis playing. Each scored, Stewart scoring 6 and Hollis accounting for another 10 as the Iguanas won going away 38-29. The win gave the Iguanas sole possession of first place in the Cheatem division as Grande To The Party was upset 14-8 by PMS. The news was not all good for the Iguanas however as they lost their 2nd starter this season due to injury. This time it was Shannon Sharpe. He separated a collarbone. Preliminary reports are that he'll be out for 8-10 weeks. The Iguanas improve to 3-2 lifetime against the Swords and will now prepare for a Week 6 encounter against the 2-3 Montezuma's Revenge while the 3-2 Swords get ready to meet the 4-1 Natural Mystics.

Ugly is as ugly does but PMS is certainly not complaining today after ending their five game winless streak with a stunning 14-8 victory over 3-1 Grande To The Party. Coach Will had stated throughout the week leading up to the game that he was concerned given his team's track record against PMS. Meanwhile, PMS took a different approach in trying to stop the bleeding of their winless streak. Coach Koll tied one on Saturday night and struggled to release a starting lineup. But the results were all good. This game was a battle of defenses for an entire half as neither team could the endzone or the crossbar. Randall Cunningham finally put the Party on top with a short touchdown throw. He went over 300 yards as well. PMS got 100 yard games from Duce Staley and Randy Moss. However, neither scored a TD. A Jason Elam FG for PMS plus an Al Del Greco PAT made the score 7-7. Two more Elam field goals and an extra point kept the Party at bay, 14-8. No further scoring took place for either team. The combined 22 points is the 4th lowest total in league history. The Party falls to 2-3 lifetime against PMS and to 3-2 for the '99 season. PMS, now 1-4, will play the Retreads next week while the Party meets the Bearded Clams.

The Highways exploded early this week with three Isaac Bruce TD catches and 100 yards in total receiving and backup QB Shane Matthews' 2 TD tosses for a commanding 28-1 lead. Isaac Bruce's 4th TD catch of the day made the score 34-1 and broke the single game record for WR with 26. The Mystics finally got going on a Manning to Harrison TD connection. Manning threw 2 more TD passes. However, Highway kicker Mike Vanderjagt got a FG and 4 PAT for seven points, helping to offset the Mystics scoring. Vanderjagt won the battle of kicking against Mystics' K Adam Vinatieri. With the score 41-20, the Mystics needed a monster game from Antonio Freeman to even make the score respectable. He came through with 14 points but it wasn't enough. The Highways rode Bruce's 26 points and the other 15 points combined by the rest of the team to trip the Mystics and close within a game of the Howe division lead. They are now 5-4 lifetime against the Mystics and, at 3-2, will play the NFC Norris next week while the 4-1 Mystics try to regroup against the 3-2 Palace of Swords.

Retread QB Kurt Warner was the subject of much curiosity prior to the season if not actual head scratching. But after his Week 5 performance, no one's asking Kurt Warner who now. Warner, in only his 4th career NFL start fired 5 touchdown passes, four of them to WR Isaac Bruce to lead the Retreads to a 40-22 win over division rival the Stanley Steamers in Howe division action. In the offensive matchup of the week, the Retreads and Steamers combined for almost 50 points by midgame. Kurt Warner, the surprise player of the year, had 4 TD passes, Eric Moulds had a TD and a 100 yard game while John Carney kicked for 7 points and the Retreads were up 31-16. The Steamers' points came from Charlie Batch's TD pass, Jay Riemersma's reception for six and K Steve Christie's 6 kicking points. Warner's 5th TD pass and his bonus points for passing 300 yards made the lead 37-16. Jerome Bettis scored for the Steamers while Carney had another PAT and Darney Scott passed 100 receiving yards for the Retreads, making the score 40-22. The Steamers' last hope, Amani Toomer, failed to score and the Retreads won their 1st division game and improved their overall record to 2-3.

Week 5 Entries Into the League Record Book:

• Isaac Brue scored 26 points for the game, breaking the previous of 24 by Charles Johnson of Grande To The Party in 1998.
• With 8 points, Grande To The Party cracked the list of teams scoring less than 10 points in a game for the 3rd time. The record is five career games of less than 10 points set by Featherston's Falcons.
• PMS and Grande To The Party combined for 22 points, fourth lowest total in league history. The record is 16 in 1993 in a 16-0 shutout by the Deadbeats over A Team With No Name.
• QB Kurt Warner's 22 points was five short of the QB record set by Steve Young in 1993.

Return To The Main Page