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Tampa Bay 17 at Boston 24
1983 Week 16 - Sunday, June 19, 1983
Tampa Bay Bandits(10-5) at Boston Breakers(9-6)(-2.5)
Attendance: 15,530, TV: WNEV, WTOG?
BOSTON (AP)-How could the Boston Breakers ever win without quarterback Johnnie Walton, who led them to five come-from-behind victories? Simple. They never fell behind. Walton was sidelined with a strained left knee, so inexperienced Doug Woodward got his first United States Football League start Sunday and directed Boston to a 24-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Bandits.
The Breakers led 7-0 less than two minutes into the game and 14-3 after the first quarter. That took pressure off Woodward, who wouldn't be forced to pass to try for quick scores. "We expected them to run a lot, especially after they got ahead," said Bandits' Coach Steve Spurrier. "Scoring as quickly as we did definitely helped the offense and set the tempo." said the 24-year-old Woodward, who completed 12 of 17 passes for two touchdowns but only 80 yards Both teams are 10-6.
Boston, winner of five of its last six games, improved its chance for the wild-card playoff berth, while Tampa Bay fell one game behind Chicago, the Central Division leader.
The Bandits held a 355-222 advantage in yards and ran 73 plays to Boston's 46. But the Breakers made big plays and few mistakes. Woodward wasn't intercepted or sacked, and Boston lost neither of its two fumbles Tampa Bay quarterback Mike Kelley was sacked four times and threw one interception, and the two fumbles the Bandits lost led to 10 Breakers' points. "We fumbled the ball a couple of times and they started in good field position," said Spurrier "Woodward played well ... Of course, they didn't ask him to do a lot. We'd rush the guy occasionally. He'd shake our guy off and throw a touchdown."
Four plays after Boston's Joe Restic recovered Gary Anderson's fumble on the first play from scrimmage, Woodward hit Dennis Johnson for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Zenoh Andrusyshyn kicked the first of his three field goals, a 35-yarder, but on Boston's next possession Johnson capped a 46-yard drive with a 2-yard dive to make it 14-3 with 3:01 left in the first period.
The Bandits closed to within 17-14 on Andrusyshyn's 51-yard field goal as time ran out in the first half. Sam Platt had scored on a 20-yard run for Tampa Bay, and Tim Mazzetti booted a 22-yard field goal for Boston.
After starting at their own 49 following a fourth-quarter punt, the Breakers need just two plays to score, a 44-yard bomb from Woodward to Beau Coash and a 7 yard touchdown strike to Nolan Franz. Andrusyshyn added a 35-yard field goal midway through the final period, but the Bandits couldn't cross midfield after that.
1 2 3 4 F
TB 3 11 0 3 - 17
BOS 14 3 0 7 - 24
Scoring
BOS:Johnson 11 yd pass from Woodward (Mazzetti kick) - BOS 7, TB 0
TB: Andrusyshyn 35 yd field goal - BOS 7, TB 3
BOS:Johnson 2 yd run (Mazzetti kick) - BOS 14, TB 3
TB: Platt 20 yd run (Truvillion pass from Kelley) - BOS 14, TB 11
BOS:Mazzetti 22 yd field goal - BOS 17, TB 11
TB: Andrusyshyn 51 yd field goal - BOS 17, TB 14
BOS:Franz 7 yd pass from Woodward (Mazzetti kick) - BOS 24, TB 14
TB: Andrusyshyn 35 yd field goal - BOS 24, TB 17
Box Score
TB BOS
First Downs 22 10
Rushes-Yards 29-143 29-142
Passing (A-C-Y-I) 40-22-238-1 17-12-80-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 4-26 0-0
Total Plays-Yards 73-355 46-222
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-0
Penalties-Yards 7-62 5-40
Turnovers 3 0
Time of Possession 33:38 26:22
Attendance = 15,530
TAMPA BAY BOSTON
Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate
Kelley 40 22 238 1 0 62.3 Woodward 17 12 80 0 2 119.7
Rushing Att Yds Ave TD Rushing Att Yds Ave TD
Anderson 9 49 5.4 0 Crump 9 79 8.8 0
Boone 10 36 3.6 0 Davis 12 31 2.6 0
Platt 5 35 7.0 1 Woodward 2 13 6.5 0
Gillespie 1 8 8.0 0 Johnson 3 10 3.3 1
Kelley 2 8 4.0 0 Steels 3 9 3.0 0
Truvillion 2 7 3.5 0
Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD
Gillespie 4 87 21.8 0 Coash 2 47 23.5 0
Buggs 2 31 15.5 0 Johnson 2 15 7.5 1
Anderson 3 29 9.7 0 Franz 1 7 7.0 1
Truvillion 3 25 8.3 0 Steels 3 7 2.3 0
Gilbert 3 18 6.0 0 Davis 3 6 2.0 0
Platt 2 17 8.5 0 Lockett 1 -2 -2.0 0
Boone 3 16 5.3 0
Young 1 8 8.0 0
Cox 1 7 7.0 0
Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD
Platt 3 55 18.3 0 Wilson 2 52 26.0 0
Bailey 2 30 15.0 0 Lockett 1 25 25.0 0
Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD
Bailey 5 41 8.2 0 Franz 1 9 9.0 0
Giammona 1 0 0.0 0
Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts
Andrusyshyn 3-3 51 0-0 9 Mazzetti 1-1 22 3-3 6
miss: none miss: none
Punting No Yds Ave Punting No Yds Ave
Andrusyshyn 4 173 43.3 Casarino 7 320 45.7
Sacks Sk Yds Sacks Sk Yds
None McClain 2 12
Price 1 9
Lee 1 5
Interceptions No Yds Ave TD Interceptions No Yds Ave TD
None Phillips 1 7 7.0 0
Archived news report
Archived news report
Archived news report
Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn
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