Denver 10 at Oakland 16

1983 Week 15 - Monday, June 13, 1983
Denver Gold(6-8) at Oakland Invaders(7-7)(-4.5)
Attendance: 26,840, TV: ESPN

OAKLAND (UPI) - Kevin Shea booted a team-record three field goals and Jerry Aldridge sprinted down the sidelines 80 yards for a touchdown to lead the Oakland Invaders to a 16-10 victory Monday night over the Denver Gold in a key USFL Pacific Division game.

Shea accounted for Oakland's only three points in the second half when he capped a nine-play, 29-yard drive with a 43-yard field goal.

Running back Arthur Whittington carried five times on the drive, picking up 26 yards to set up the score.

With a little over two minutes to go, Denver drove from its own 23 to the Oakland five, but halfback Harry Sydney fumbled the ball and it was recovered by noseguard Dupre Marshall.

The Invaders then killed the clock to score their eighth victory against seven losses and take a one-game lead over Los Angeles with three games left to play. Denver fell to 6-9.

With Oakland leading 16-3 late in the third quarter, Denver veteran quarterback Craig Penrose completed five passes for 75 yards, including a 16-yard throw to Johnnie Dirden for a touchdown that closed the gap to six points.

Oakland theatened in the first quarter as Fred Besana connected on four consecutive passes to drive the Invaders to the Gold 32. From there Whittington picked up three yards but a sack by Denver's Greg Gerken and a pass incompletion forced Shea to attempt a 40-yard field goal that went wide to the left.

In the second quarter, Besana, who was 10-of-15 for 123 yards in the half, moved the Invaders. On 3rd-and-5, Aldridge drifted into the flat and juggled a Besana pass, momentarily confusing the Denver defense, before pulling it in.

Aldridge then tight-roped 5 yards down the sidelines for Oakland's only touchdown. Denver came back on the next series, driving 32 yards in seven plays to set up a 48-yard field goal by Brian Speelman.

Shea later made a 28-yard field goal and linebacker Gary Plummer blocked a Steve Gortz punt to set a 27-yard field goal by Shea that gave the Invaders a 13-3 halftime lead.

2nd Q

Complete Game

Highlights

	1	2	3	4	F
DEN	0	3	0	7   -   10
OAK	0      13	3	0   -   16

Scoring

OAK:Aldridge 80 yd pass from Besana (Shea kick) - OAK 7, DEN 0

DEN:Speelman 48 yd field goal - OAK 7, DEN 3

OAK:Shea 28 yd field goal - OAK 10, DEN 3

OAK:Shea 27 yd field goal - OAK 13, DEN 3

OAK:Shea 43 yd field goal - OAK 16, DEN 3

DEN:Dirden 16 yd pass from Penrose (Speelman kick) - OAK 16, DEN 10

Box Score

                             DEN            OAK
First Downs                   15             17
Rushes-Yards               21-60         35-138
Passing (A-C-Y-I)    27-21-244-1    23-16-189-1
Sacked-Yards Lost           2-13           3-12
Total Plays-Yards         50-291         61-315
Fumbles-Lost                 1-1            0-0
Penalties-Yards             8-75           7-24
Turnovers                      2              1
Time of Possession         26:51          33:09

Attendance = 26,840

DENVER					     OAKLAND
Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate          Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate
Penrose      27  21 244  1  1 101.2          Besana       23  16 189  1  1  97.6

Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD                  Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD
White, V      3  29  9.7  0                  Whittington  23  86  3.7  0
Sydney       10  16  1.6  0                  Basana        4  27  6.7  0
Matthews      2  12  6.0  0                  Aldridge      4  17  4.3  0
Canada        6   3  0.5  0                  Holmes        2   5  2.5  0
                                             Henderson     1   4  4.0  0
                                             Jackson       1  -1 -1.0  0
  
Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD                  Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD
Dirden        6  96 16.0  1                  Aldridge      4 115 28.8  1
Williams      3  63 21.0  0                  Holmes        3  23  7.7  0
Sydney        3  28  9.3  0                  Banks         2  21 10.5  0
James         1  25 25.0  0                  Henderson     3  17  5.7  0
Jones         1  16 16.0  0                  Chester       2  10  5.0  0
Canada        4   8  2.0  0                  Wheeler       1   3  3.0  0
White, V      1   6  6.0  0                  Whittington   1   0  0.0  0
Matthews      2   2  1.0  0                  
                   
Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Stamper         3  68 12.7  0                Lewis           2  47 23.5  0
White, V        1  20 20.0  0                Jackson         1  30 30.0  0
 
Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Martin          1  11 11.0  0                Banks           1   3  3.0  0
   
Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts            Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts
Speelman        1-1  48  1-1    4            Shea            3-4  43  1-1   10
                miss: none                                   miss: 41

Punting        No Yds  Ave                   Punting        No Yds  Ave
Gortz           2  72 36.0                   Talley          1  31 31.0

Sacks          Sk Yds                        Sacks          Sk Yds
Gerken          1   6                        McClain         1   7
Poremba         1   6                        Greene          1   6
Turner          1   0                        
  
Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD                Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD
Miller          1   4  4.0  0                Manumaleuga     1  14 14.0  0
Dumars          0  12  -.-  0

Archived news report

Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn

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