By John Goolsby, Prep Sports Editor
BIRMINGHAM- The Stallions returned to the confines of Protective Stadium and handed the visiting Memphis Showboats a 33-14 loss.
The two-time defending USFL champions have now won ten consecutive games and stand at 3-0.
Head coach Skip Holtz deviated from his previous strategy of playing two quarterbacks. Adrian Martinez got the start at quarterback and went 18 of 28 passing for 334 yards and two passing touchdowns. He added 44 yards and another score on the ground.
Matt Corral, the starter at quarterback the last two weeks, did not see any playing time.
On Memphis’ opening drive, Showboat quarterback Chase Cookus was sacked on both pass attempts, and the Memphis offense went three and out.
The Stallions went on a 12-play, 71-yard drive that drained seven minutes off the clock. Birmingham got on the board with a tipped Martinez pass that went directly to a wide-open Jace Sternberger in the back of the endzone for a six-yard touchdown.
Martinez threw an interception on the two-point attempt, and the Stallions held a 6-0 lead.
The Showboats went three and out again, and Birmingham began their second drive of the night from their 28-yard line.
Martinez fumbled the ball away two plays later, and the Showboats made the Stallions pay and knotted the game at six apiece on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Vinny Papale from Cookus.
The point-after attempt failed after the Birmingham defense forced an incompletion.
Birmingham wasted no time getting back in the endzone. Martinez hit Mobile’s Marlon Williams with a 41-yard strike to give the Stallions a 12-6 lead with ten seconds remaining in the opening period.
The two-point attempt failed on a Martinez incomplete pass.
Memphis went on a nine-play drive that took almost six minutes off the clock and cut the Birmingham lead to three on a 57-yard field goal by Coghlin at the 9:15 mark of the second quarter.
The Stallions put together a 13-play 58-yard drive that resulted in a 28-yard Chris Blewitt field goal. Birmingham held a 15-9 lead with two minutes remaining in the half.
The Showboats went to their two-minute drill and moved the ball 55 yards in ten plays to cut the Stallion’s lead to 15-12 on a Coughlin 34-yard field goal with 14 seconds remaining.
Not to be outdone, Martinez completed a 36-yard pass to Deon Cain with seven seconds remaining on the clock.
Blewitt was called upon for a second time and answered with a 46-yard field goal to give the Stallions an 18-12 lead as the two teams headed to the locker room.
The two teams traded punts on their opening second-half drives.
A 31-yard Martinez to Sternberger completion on first down appeared to get the Stallions’ offense in gear, but the drive stalled on the Showboat’s 25-yard line and Birmingham had to settle for three. Blewitt’s 43-yard field goal pushed the Stallions’ lead to 21-12 with 3:28 remaining in the third period.
The Birmingham defense forced another three and out and took over on their 25-yard yard line.
On first down, Martinez hit Ricky Person, Jr. with a 35-yard pass to move the ball to the Showboats’ 40-yard line.
On the opening play of the fourth quarter, Martinez hit Cain with a 20-yard pass that set the Stallions up on Memphis’s five-yard line.
On the next play, Person, Jr. scored on a five-yard touchdown run to give Birmingham a 28-12 lead with 14:23 remaining in the game.
The Showboats couldn’t generate enough offense and were forced to punt.
The Martinez to Cain show moved the Stallions to the Memphis 16-yard line on a 40-yard completion two plays later.
With 8:35 remaining in the final period, Martinez scored on an 11-yard run to extend the Birmingham lead to 33-12.
The extra point failed on a CJ Marable rush from the one-yard line.
Memphis put together a 14-play drive that ended with a Daniel Isom interception at the Stallions’ two-yard line with 2:13 left on the clock.
The Showboat sacked Martinez for a safety with 1:53 remaining to make the score 33-14.
Memphis moved the ball to the Birmingham one-yard line on a 61-yard six-play drive, the Showboats out of the endzone as time expired.
The Stallions rolled up 434 yards of offense. Cain led the Stallions in receiving with 144 yards on seven receptions.
The Birmingham defense held Memphis to 259 yards and recorded eight sacks.
Kyahva Tezino led the Stallions with 13 total tackles.
Carlos Davis, Jonathan Garvin, and Damarcus Mitchell each recorded two sacks.
The Stallions host the D.C. Defenders at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Protective Stadium.