Week Nine Newsletter

Eleven minutes from defeat on Monday night, Frank Wycheck hauled in a Steve McNair pass, broke a tackle and scored the winning TD in the Swords 30-25 victory over Grandmaster G. To that point, it appeared the Gigis were going to pick up a win over the Swords. The Gigis were paced by Dorsey Levens' 12 points and Trent Green's 10. Jeff Garcia led the Swords with 8 points while Randy Moss, Wycheck and Sammy Morris all had 6 points each. The Swords won their 6th straight and improve to 7-2 entering their game versus PMS next week. Grandmaster G will play the King of Dogs.

In the week leading up to gametime, Coach Wassem chatted with Coach Dourisseau about their upcoming game. Coach Wassem said he felt the battle could be low scoring and that his team would need a good game out of Marshall Faulk. Perhaps Faulk was eavesdropping on the conversation because he certainly took the words to heart, scoring 24 of the Mystics' 33 points and singlehandedly putting the Mystics in position for victory only to have the Titans defense score, not one, but two TDs and snatch away a sure win on MNF from the Mystics. As feared, the Mystics did not have a good offensive day. QB Brett Favre was shut out and the only other points came from K Gary Anderson (7) and WR Cris Carter (2). But All World was unable to take advantage offensively. Rich Gannon was also held scoreless against the Chargers D Sunday night after Az-Hakim had been held scoreless in the 3pm game while Faulk was doing his damage. That set the stage for one of the more miraculous comebacks in OFFL history. First a Titans punt return for a TD brought All World back to within 5. A short time later, an 81 yard INT for a TD--on the last play of the half--brought All World back from sure defeat, 34-33. The only offensive TDs for All World came from Ron Dayne and Oronde Gadsden. Pete Stoyanovich helped out with 10 points. All World falls to 3-6 entering its disional match next week with the NFC Norris. All World won the first time these two teams played in Week 5, 18-12. The Mystics (6-2-1) play the rematch against the Retreads, having beaten them for the first time ever in Week 5, 51-34.

Peyton Manning scored 12 points, Martin Gramatica scored 11 and three others added 6 points each as PMS paved the Strange Highways 41-16 in Week 9 action. Coming off its 78 point output in Week 8, PMS let down only slightly in winning its 2nd game in a row. It was the same old story for the Highways, few points and mostly bonus points at that. Fred Taylor and Eric Moulds each garnered 2 points for 100 yard games but Moulds fell one yard short of a TD and Taylor again continued to avoid the goal line like the Black Plague. QB Doug Flutie went scoreless which meant Joe Horn did too. The Highways' new D, the Vikings, did nothing. Their waived D, however, was the Saints and would have been worth 6 points. Amani Toomer sat the bench for the Highways while being worth 8 points and Jeff Blake left a TD on the bench. It wouldn't have mattered in this game but it points out the continued bad run of luck befalling this season's Highways, now 2-7. The last time the Highways were this far below .500, they finished the 1995 season at 3-12 after changing team names during the middle of the season from the El Mariachi Boyz back to their previous name, the Resin Balls. The vans loaded up the team's headquarters in the middle of the night somewhere around Week 8. All that was left behind was an Art Modell bumper sticker that read, "If Irsay Can Do It, So Can I!" Next week, the Highways try to prove to the league that they're capable of more than 20 points when they take on their old friends the Greenback Iguanas in a game we usually look forward to but this year can only think of with melancholy for "what was". PMS, 5-4, has a huge opportunity to get back in the Dewey race next week when it faces the 1st place Palace of Swords. The Swords won the 1st encounter in Week 5, 67-37.

It certainly wasn't pretty but at least it was effective. Sebastian Janikowski's foot, that is. Janikowsi accounted for 16 points as Montezuma's Revenge pulled away late to take a Week 9 victory over the NFC Norris. Charles Johnson and the Dolphins D had 6 points each for the Revenge, now 5-4, and in a virtual 1st place tie with the Greenback Iguanas. The Norris, 4-5, could easily be 6-3 with a little bit of luck. They've lost two games where they scored at least 37 points. On the other side, they've also lost games by 25-15 and 18-12. In this Week 9 game, they got little scoring despite averaging 45.7 ppg the past three weeks. Jamal Anderson and Stephen Davis had a TD and Mike Vanderjagt accounted for 4 PATs. The Norris hope to climb back into the race in Week 10 when they meet 3-6 All World, a team they lost to in Week 5 by that 18-12 score. The Revenge play the 2-7 Bearded Clams in a game they can't afford to lose if they want to keep up with the Iguanas. The Revenge lost to the Clams the first time these two teams played earlier this season.

At 3pm, it was too close to call. The Clams held a slim 12-8 lead. But that was before the 49ers hit the field vs. the Rams. After the dust settled, Terrell Owens had 14 points, Charlie Garner had 6 and the Dogs had themselves a convincing victory over the Bearded Clams. In addition to Owens' 14 points, the Dogs got 8 from Edgerrin James and 6 from TE Jackie Harris. The victory was Coach Rady's first ever over the Clams after losing two division games against them in 1999. The 2-7 Clams got TDs from Rickey Williams and Dave Moore. K Todd Peterson scored another 6 points. QB Troy Aikman was forced to leave the game early due to a bad back. The Dogs improve to 5-3-1 on the year entering their Week 10 game against Largemaster G. The Gigis won the 1st contest between these two teams by a 60-32 score. The Clams, who are perilously close to being eliminated from the playoffs, hope to keep from falling 4 back with 5 to play when they take on division co-leader Montezuma's Revenge (5-4) next week. The Clams defeated the Revenge 35-27 in Week 5.

The Retreads pulled away from the Iguanas in a close game to post a 39-29 victory and improve to 6-3, 1/2 game out of the lead in the Howe division. The victory, however came at a cost when it was learned that TE Wesley Walls will be lost for the remainder of the season due to a torn knee. The Retreads regrouped behind WR Derrick Alexander's 14 points and 9 points from K Ryan Longwell. Cory Dillon added 8. The Iguanas got points from 6 of their 9 starters but, for two of those starters, it was bonus points only. Marvin Harrison led with 8 points, Matt Stover had 7 and the Buccaneers defense had 6 points. The 5-4 Iguanas are already beginning to lick their long tongues in salivation over next week's opponent, the 2-7 Strange Highways. The Retreads have a chance to wrestle 1st place away from the Natural Mystics in the Howe division when they meet in a Week 10 showdown next week.

League Records:

• Marshall Faulk's 24 points was the 7th all-time for a RB in a single game.
• The Titans' 12 defensive points not only won the game for All World by a single point but it was also the 2nd highest defensive single game total, tied with many others.