As most of the world predicted, the Florida Tuskers finished their season with a perfect 6-0 record.  Unfortunately, that meant the California Redwoods were their latest victim.

Fueled by the last-minute pick that cost them a chance to remain in the playoff hunt, the Redwoods came out swinging last night.  The Redwoods outgained the Tuskers 351 yards to 298.

The Redwoods led 24-20 at halftime, thanks to TD passes from Boyd to WR Doug Gabriel and TE Nate Lawrie, a K Parker Douglass field goal AND a 49-yard pick return for a touchdown by NT Jason Stewart (Go ahead with your bad self!).

The second half has always been a problem for the Redwwods this season, and their inability to get motivated for the seond half let Florida back in the game.

Although Tuskers RB Michael Pittman scored the go-ahead TD with 6 minutes left in the game, Redwoods QB Shane Boyd and company weren’t done, driving to the Florida 44 with 2 minutes remaining.  The Redwood’s fate was sealed when Tuskers DE Josh Cooper sacked Boyd and then forced a fumble that he recovered at the Redwoods’ 48-yard line.

The Tuskers will face the 4-2 Las Vegas Locomotives at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas for the UFL Championship, Friday, November 27th, 2009.

Our 2-4 Redwoods can look forward to a better season in 2010.  Consider this:  They almost beat both of the teams playing for the championship.  A few off season tweaks here and there, and they will be in the Championship Game next season.  Count on it.

The Redwoods needed a win this evening just to still be in contention for the right to play the Florida Tuskers in the Championship Game.  A loss would all but give the Locomotives (I mean the Locos) the edge in any tie-breaker (assuming both teams finished 3-3).

The Redwoods D stopped the Locos’ opening drive, led by a Dominic Patrick sack of Locos QB JP Losman. The Redwoods went three and out, after Redwoods QB Shane Boyd was sacked on the opening play.

On, the Redwoods’ next defensive series, it appeared that the only thing stopping the Locos was the fact that their receivers couldn’t catch a long pass.  When Losman did complete a 16 yard pass to WR Samie Parker, he injured his left pinky (you will see this later).  The Redwoods jammed the Locos running game, and for some reason that will remain unknown to this writer, Locos K Graham Gano attempted and missed a 51 yard field goal attempt.

Redwoods RB Cory Ross showed his prowess by breaking off a 53-yard rush on the first play of the second Redwoods series.  This set up a first and goal.  On second and goal from the 4, Ross scored his 4th TD of the season and the first in this game.  Douglass’ PAT made it 7-0.

The Redwoods once again stopped the Locos from moving, and they got the ball back at their 27 yard line after the Locos went three and out (and the Redwoods got hit with a penalty on the ensuing punt).

Boyd spread the ball around to Ross, WR Glenn Holt, WR Doug Gabriel, and TE Nate Lawrie and took the Redwoods back down the field.  But the Locos stunted the drive, and this time, it was the Redwoods turn to miss a field goal, a 39-yarder this time.

The Locos offense finally woke up, driving down to the Redwoods 24 with 3:30 left in the half.   RB Marcel Shipp, taking over for the slightly injured RB De De Dorsey carried most of the offensive load for this drive, but almost coughed up the ball at the Redwoods 5 yard line with 2 minutes left.

The Locos brought Dorsey back in for second and 3, but LB Maurice Crum went one on one in the open field against him, and forced a 35 yard field goal attempt by Gano, which was good this time, making the score 7-3 Redwoods with a minute left to play.  The Redwoods were not content to run the clock out, and attempted another drive.  Boyd fumbled the ball with 15 seconds left, but the Redwoods recovered the ball and let the time expire.

The second half saw Ross and Washington keeping the ball on the ground, but the Redwoods had to punt the ball away.

Shipp went out on the first series.  Losman overthrew a key pass, and Gano kicked his second field goal of the game, making it 7-6 Redwoods.

The Redwoods seemed to be out of sync on the next series, but a 27 yard Boyd to Gabriel pass, and a penalty for a late hit gave the Redwoods the ball at the Locos 15 yard line.  The Locos held, and Douglass settled for his second FG of the evening, making it 10-6 Redwoods with 2:23 left in the third quarter.

Losman called the weirdest set of plays I have ever seen, resulting in a sack, a loss of 12 yards, and the ejection of DT Chris Cooper.  A pass interference call against the Redwoods gave the Locos the ball at the Redwoods 45 with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.

The third quarter ended with the Locos still driving at the Redwoods 30.  David Kircus caught a pass from Losman giving them first and goal at the 4.  Once again, Maurice Crum stepped in to stuff the run, and a botched pass from Losman to WR David Kircus seemed to spell another field goal.  But a Losman to Andre Thurman put the Locos in the lead 13-10.

But the Redwoods still had some bark left (ouch), A 29 yard from Boyd to Ross and another to Holt, combined with a short Ross run brought the Redwoods down to the Locos 25 yard line.  A pass to WR Sonny Shackleford kept moving the chains.  On second and 7, Boyd hit Shackleford again to make it first and goal from the 3.  Ross moved the ball a yard.  Ross fumbled the ball in the end zone on the next play, and the Locos recovered.

With a little less than 7 minutes left, the Locos would have normally ran the clock out.  The problem was their running game was almost non-existent, and the passing game might give the Redwoods enough time to get back in the game IF they didn’t score.

Shipp couldn’t run, so Losman went to the air.  Losman went to Kircus again, once for 45 yards, and the other for 8, moving the ball to the Redwoods 15.

Maurice Crum and DB Marcus McClinton stopped FB E.J. Barthel on the next play.   A missed pass saw Gano come out to put up this third FG, putting the Locos up 16-10 with 2 minutes left.

With 80 yards to go, and no timeout left, Boyd had his work cut out for him. Three passes, one to Gabriel and two to WR West moved them to their own 48 yard line.  Shackleford dropped a pass, stopping the clock at 1:26.

A Boyd to Holt pass stopped the clock at 1:22, with the Redwoods moving to the Locos 42.  Boyd to West took them to the 35.  A Boyd run took them to the 25 with 42 seconds left.

On 4th and 5, with 22 seconds left, Boyd threw his only pick of the evening, which ended the Redwoods hopes at facing the Tuskers in the Championship game.

The Redwoods are out of the hunt now.  Even if they beat the Tuskers, and the Locos lost to the Sentinels next week, the Locos have a 2-0 head-to-head record, which would make them the number 2 team in the league.

RedwoodsFootball.com

The Florida Tuskers have securely locked up the regular season championship, being 5-0 with 1 game left to play.

As previously stated, the Redwoods NEED this win tonight, given the fact that the Terminators Tuskers will be their last opponent, and the Tuskers can’t be beaten, stopped, or reasoned with, and the Sentinels have as much backbone as a bowl of wet fettucine.

Barring a complete meltdown of all four teams, the winner of tonight’s game will face the Tuskers in the Championship Game.

RB Cory Ross continued to show why he is the premiere back in the UFL, as he added another receiving touchdown to his total..

The Redwoods scored first on a Boyd TD pass to Ross to open the game 7 -0 .

Boyd’s rushing TD and K Parker Douglass’ field goal put 17 points on the board.

Sentinels K Piotr Czech hit a 30 yard field goal and a 45 yard field goal with time expiring in the half to bring the Sentinels to within 11.

The Redoods were not able to tack on any more points in the third, pooching a field goal with 6:54 left in the third quarter.

But the Sentinels, who had not scored any points in the 2nd half of their first 2 games, scored their first touchdown late in the third quarter, making it 17-13 to end the third.

The 4th quasrter saw both the Redwoods and Sentinels offense sputter, making small gains here and there, but not enough to get into the Red Zone.  They traded punts for most of the quarter.

With 7 minutes to go,  the Sentinels woke up and mounted their best offensive series of the game, moving the ball to mid-field. 

On 4th and 1, the Sentinels gambled and would have made the first down, but they were called for being offsides.  With 3:46 left, a sixteen yard LOSS (Gray was taken down TWICE on the play)  gave the ball back to the Redwoods at the Sentinel 32.  All they needed to do was put up another TD or run the clock out to win this game.  A field goal wouldn’t do it.  But that’s what the Redwoods had to settle for; Gotham’s finest shut down the O.

So with 2:37 in the game, one time out, and the Redwoods up 20-13, The Sentinels had one shot left, starting from their own 20.  Gray went to the air on the first play for a 19 yard gain.  An out pass and a run saw the Sentinels push to the Redwoods 48 with 2 minutes left.

3 botched passes and a penalty konokce dthe Sentinels back into their own territory.  On third and forever, Quinn threw another incomplete pass.  On fourth down, Quinn would botch the snap (only their second turnover) and end the game.

The Sentinels dropped to 0-3, making them the only winless team in the UFL.  The Redwoods are now 2-2.

It was sloppy, but it was a win.

redwoodsfootball.com

The Redwoods’ sole victory came against the Sentinels 2 weeks ago. While the Sentinels were idle, the Redwoods were tuned up by the Tuskers.

If Mike McMahon and the receiving corp have their act together, I predict another victory.

Note: I have to be out of the city away from a TV,  so I can’t watch the game live.  I do have a DVR, unless HINT HINT…one of you viewers/members would like to report on the game in my absence.

Respond to this post, and I will upgrade you to author status.

The good news: The Redwoods are a force to be reckoned with.

The bad news: The Force was with the Tuskers Thursday.

The game started off well, looking like a 12-round, Ali-Frazier fight.  ‘

The Tuskers had scored 35 and 29 points in their first two games, and it looked like they had a fight on their hands in Game 3.

The California Redwoods turned their O and their D up a notch against the undefeated and high-scoring Florida Tuskers, holding them scoreless in the first quarter.  No team had done that since the first quarter in Game 1.

The Redwoods defense got their first gut check when the Tuskers marched the ball in the Red Zone, but the Redwoods got the ball back on turnovers.

But the cracks in Redwoods armor started to show.  A 51-yard, Brooks Bollinger-to-Taye Biddle pass gave the Tuskers first and goal at the 4.  RB Michael Pittman banged in it from 2 yards out on third down to score the game’s first TD.

On the ensuing series, RB Cory Ross appeared to fumble the ball.  The review showed that he had fumbled, and Florida took over.  The Redwoods D went to work, forcing a hurried pass, a sack (by DT Chris Cooper) and an incomplete pass.  To add insult to injury, the Tuskers missed the field goal, giving the Redwoods the ball at their own 36, the best field position they had enjoyed up until that moment. But the Tuskers D answered the challenge, picking off another McMahon pass (LB Odell Thurman).

Bollinger and the Tuskers looked like their namesake, grinding out yardage and eating up the clock.  then with 3 minutes left in the half, Bollinger tossed his second TD to WR Jayson Foster, putting the Tuskers up 14-0 after the PAT.

Although starting QB Mike McMahon looked like he been at the helm of the Redwoods for years, sitting in the pocket and surgically testing the Tuskers secondary, the numbers were not indicative; he turned in a 5 for 17, 60 yard, no TDs, and 2 INT first half.

With 2:51 left, QB Shane Boyd, who started Game 1, took over and didn’t fare much better, going three and out.

Bollinger then went to the 2-minute drill offense, and ground out more yards.  On first and goal from the 10, with 37 seconds left, the Tuskers lost 10 yards, after Bollinger fumbled the snap.

But it’s hard to stop a runaway freight train, I mean, pig, and the Tuskers would not be denied another score.  A 39-yard field goal put the Tuskers up 17-0.  The half ended on a Boyd “Hail Mary” interception in the end zone.

When you’re ahead, run the ball.  When your opponent is down, keep your foot on his neck. The Tuskers went back to running out the clock  A Redwoods defensive holding penalty gave them first and goal for the 4th time, but the Redwoods D manned up and held the Tuskers to their second field goal.

Tuskers LB Tim McGarigle intercepted a Shane Boyd  pass that looked like it was thrown by Shane Falco, and it was all over but the shouting.  Pittman rumbled and stumbled to the 2, and Bollinger tossed his third TD pass to FB Andrew Pinnock at 3:56 in the third making it 27-0.

Falco, I mean, Boyd went back to work, his mission clearly cut out for him.  But WR Doug Gabriel, doing his best Clifford Franklin impersonation, couldn’t hold on the ball when he needed to, and once again, the Tuskers took over.

Backup QB Chris Greisen went in for Bollinger to finish out the evening.  After he went three and out, Boyd once again tried to put the Redwoods on the board.  After a pass to Gabriel gave them first and goal for the first time all evening, the Redwoods avoided the shutout, as Ross scored from a yard out.

Unfortunately, that was the only Redwoods score of the evening.  After the Tuskers scored another TD (a Greisen pass to WR Marcus Maxwell), all they had to do was run out the clock as they notched their third win in as many games.

There’s a reason the Tuskers score at will. Actually, there are five. Bollinger.  Pittman.  Pinnock.  Foster. Biddle.

The good news is the Redwoods won’t play the Tuskers again until Novermber 19th.  They should be 3-2.

The bad news is that the Tuskers will be 5-0, and the Redwoods will need the win to have a shot at the playoffs…

redwoodsfootball.com

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Here is what Coach Green said about the 2-0 Tuskers.

“Florida is a solid team—they’re a fabulous team. They’ve got 10 players that have been in the Super Bowl and 40 players that have been in the NFL. Tatum Bell, Michael Pittman—those guys can really run the ball.”

Crum?  Phillips?  The way you played against the Sentinels, you could have plugged the holes in the Titanic.  Git ‘er done!

I am predicting an upset.

Let’s go, Redwoods!

I admire management and Dennis for not going with the same-old, same-old.  Some of these players have been given a second chance, and some *may* get a chance to play in the NFL.  It seems to me, especially in this economy, that if someone is offering you money to do something you love, you better a) do it the best you can, b) not complain, and c) be thankful you have a job.

I expected the UFL to look like the NFL in terms of action, and speed of play.  What I forgot, as I think many of you did, is that a team needs time to gel.  Last week, 8 players had to fit in to the offensive and defensive schemes with very little time.  Was it smooth?   No.  Did it work?  Look at the score.

I think that as the season progresses, the Redwoods will become a formidable opponent.  We will, however,  need that O-Line to protect McMahon.  He has some targets that can catch the ball.  He reminds me of Joe Montana and Steve Young in the 49ers heyday.

Crum and Phillips?  Stay healthy and teach the rest of the D-Line to move like you do.  I think you two were raised on a diet of Mean Joe Greene and Lawrence Taylor.

Well, that’s it for Week 2.  Let’s see if we can’t give the Tuskers their first loss of the season!

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They mixed it up further by benching starting QB Shane Boyd, and going with Mike McMahon.  And if that wasn’t enough, McMahon showed the New York Sentinels every play except the Fumblerooski.

The result?  The Redwoods went to 1-1 in the United Football League, putting them in back in the hunt for the playoffs.

McMahon, who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2001,  hadn’t played since 2007 when he played for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

But he showed no signs of rust, completing 7 of 8 passes for 45 yards and 1 TD.  He would finish the game going 16 for 29, 145 yards, 1 TD, and 2 picks.

In his first series, he mixed up screen passes and handoffs. RB Cory Ross took one of those handoffs and ran 30 yards to set up a 1st and goal from the 3.  McMahon hit defensive-lineman-turned-TE Kai Brown with the TD pass.  The PAT put the Redwoods up 7-0 with just over 5  minutes gone in the first quarter.

Sentinel QB Quinn Gray was stymied by the Redwoods defense in the first quarter, as LB Maurice Crum and DT Pernell Phillips stuffed the run, forcing Gray to go unsuccessfully to the air.  But he found WRs Craphonso Thorpe and ex-Minnesota Viking Koren Robinson in the second quarter and marched 80 yards on 14 plays to tie the game at 7 with a 3-yard pass to RB Chris Barclay.

But the two-year layoff showed in the second quarter as McMahon could not move the Redwoods. The Sentinels got the ball back with 7:25 left and mixed up THEIR playbook, alternating with runs and passes to Barclay and passes to Thorpe and Robinson, which brought them to the Redwoods’ 29 yard line.  Gray then threw a sideline pass to Robinson that would have given the Sentinels a first and goal from the 2, but the play was reviewed and ruled an incomplete pass.

On 3rd and 10 from the Redwoods’ 29 yard line, Quinn made his first error, throwing a pick that was tipped by 3 different Redwoods, finally ending up in DB Marviel Underwood’s hands.

The Redwoods took over at their own 25 yard line but sputtered, going three and out.

The Sentinels took the ensuing punt and started another drive with 3:55 left in the first half.  Gray went back to work, but a dropped pass on 3rd and 3 by WR Jamayel Smith stalled the drive.

From their own 20, with 2:15 left in the half, McMahon went to the air with Ross and WR Doug  Gabriel.  McMahon then launched a bomb that Al Davis would have wept over to WR Joe West, but the Sentinels DB Tony Tiller knocked it away.  WR Glen Holt had the next pass go through his hands, but illegal contact by DB Terrelle Maze gave the Redwoods the ball at the 29.  Ross ran it down to the 15, but the Sentinels D’d up, and sacked McMahon.  McMahon then threw a pick to Tiller with 5 seconds left, ending the half.  It looked like Boyd might get his old job back.

The Redwoods tweaked their playbook in the locker room, and Ross scored his second touchdown of the evening, putting them up 14-7 in the third quarter.

On a series of unfortunate events, namely the revitalized Redwood defense, the Sentinels found themselves turning the ball over on downs repeatedly in the third quarter.  In fact, even as Maze picked off a Simeon Rice-forced McMahon pass to START the third quarter, the Sentinels came away with nothing so much as a field goal, having it come up short on the attempt.

K Parker Douglass put up a 42 yard field goal, making it 17-7 with just over 11:40 to go in the fourth quarter.

Then the Redwoods went to their ground game, eating up over 7 minutes of time on the shoulders of Ross and RB John David Washington. Washington took the ball to the 2, and punched it in 3 plays later, capping the 12 play, 65 yard drive.  The PAT put the Redwoods up 24-7, icing the game and the win.

Gray was replaced by with Ingle Martin a little over 3 minutes left in the game.  After failing to convert a fourth and 2, at 2:26, the Sentinels were done.

Overall, the Redwoods offense looked better than it did last week, racking up 308 total yards.  The newly-added receiving corps looked good as well, beefing up the Redwoods’ passing game.

But if the Redwoods want to topple the 2-0 Florida Tuskers next week, Coach Green may need to swap out some more players.  Stay tuned.

redwoodsfootball.com

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It is the first California-New York game.

It is the first game featuring two 0-1 teams.

Can our Redwoods bounce back from last week’s loss, or will we start a Detroit Lions-like plummet to the cellar?

Stay tuned.