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Chicago 38 at Philadelphia 44 OT Playoff
1983 Divisional Playoffs - Saturday, July 9, 1983
Chicago Blitz(12-6) at Philadelphia Stars(15-3)(-4.5)
Attendance: 15,686, TV: ABC
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Stars had come from behind before, but never quite so dramatically. And the victory never felt quite so good. "Thank God, there are two halves to a football game," sighed quarterback Chuck Fusina, who overcame four first-half turnovers with three touchdown passes in the last nine minutes Saturday as the Stars tied the Chicago Blitz 38-38, then went on to win 44-38 in overtime to advance to the championship of the United States Football League.
"It will go down as one of the best games in history." said Chicago Coach George Allen, who saw a 21-point lead evaporate in the fourth quarter.
"In 12 years of football, I've never seen a comeback like that," said Stars linebacker John Bunting, "It's just a tribute to these guys."
Kelvin Bryant rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner on a one-yard run seven minutes, two seconds into the overtime.
The Stars take a 16-3 record into the first USFL championship game in Denver next Sunday.
The Blitz took a 21-7 halftime lead after intercepting Fusina three times and recovering his fumble in the second quarter. They led 38-17 with 12:04 left in the game.
The Stars started their comeback with Fusina's 17-yard scoring pass to Scott Fitzkee five minutes into the fourth quarter. Fusina passed two yards to Jeff Rodenberger for another touchdown with five minutes left in the game, and connected with Tom Donovan from 11 yards with 50 seconds left to tie it up.
He finished with 22 of 33 passes for 254 yards, scrambled for 66 more yards and also caught a 12-yard pass from Allen Harvin for another touchdown.
"I never felt the game was lost," said Stars Head Coach Jim Mora. "We had been moving the ball on them and stopping them defensively, but we just gave up too many points on turnovers."
A crowd of 15,684 - less than a fourth of the capacity of the 66,000-seat Veterans Stadium watched the game in sunny, 84-degree weather.
1 2 3 4 O F
CHI 7 14 10 7 0 - 38
PHI 0 14 0 24 6 - 44
Scoring
CHI:Long 1 yd run (Corral kick) - CHI 7, PHI 0
CHI:Scott 3 yd run (Corral kick) - CHI 14, PHI 0
PHI:Bryant 10 yd run (Trout kick) - CHI 14, PHI 7
CHI:Johnson 12 yd pass from Scott (Corral kick) - CHI 21, PHI 7
PHI:Fusina 12 yd pass from Harvin (Trout kick) - CHI 21, PHI 14
CHI:Boatner 12 yd pass from Scott (Corral kick) - CHI 28, PHI 14
CHI:Corral 32 yd field goal - CHI 31, PHI 14
PHI:Trout 42 yd field goal - CHI 31, PHI 17
CHI:Spencer 1 yd run (Corral kick) - CHI 38, PHI 17
PHI:Fitzkee 17 yd pass from Fusina (Trout kick) - CHI 38, PHI 24
PHI:Rodenberger 2 yd pass from Fusina (Trout kick) - CHI 38, PHI 31
PHI:Donovan 11 yd pass from Fusina (Trout kick) - PHI 38, CHI 38
PHI:Bryant 1 yd run - PHI 44, CHI 38
Box Score
CHI PHI
First Downs 13 33
Rushes-Yards 41-138 54-306
Passing (A-C-Y-I) 14-8-96-1 34-23-266-4
Sacked-Yards Lost 2-16 2-16
Total Plays-Yards 57-218 90-556
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-3
Penalties-Yards 5-51 7-81
Turnovers 2 7
Time of Possession 29:46 37:16
Attendance = 15,684
CHICAGO PHILADELPHIA
Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate
Scott 14 8 96 1 2 88.1 Fusina 33 22 254 4 3 80.4
Harvin 1 1 12 0 1 156.3
Rushing Att Yds Ave TD Rushing Att Yds Ave TD
Long 21 76 3.6 1 Bryant 24 142 5.9 2
Spencer 12 34 2.8 1 Harvin 20 87 4.4 0
Boatner 3 11 3.7 0 Fusina 7 66 9.4 0
Scott 2 9 4.5 1 Riley 3 11 3.7 0
Dennison 2 8 4.0 0
Johnson 1 0 0.0 0
Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD
Ricker 5 57 11.4 0 Fitzkee 6 102 17.0 1
Johnson 2 27 13.5 1 Harvin 4 45 11.3 0
Boatner 1 12 12.0 1 Collier 2 37 18.5 0
Donovan 3 32 10.7 1
Bryant 2 14 7.0 0
Fusina 1 12 12.0 1
Riley 2 12 6.0 0
Folsom 1 6 6.0 0
Parker 1 4 4.0 0
Rodenberger 1 2 2.0 1
Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD
Willis 3 56 18.7 0 Harvin 1 23 23.0 0
Riley 1 17 17.0 0
Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD
None Woerner 3 49 16.3 0
Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts
Corral 1-1 32 5-5 8 Trout 1-1 42 5-5 8
miss: none miss: none
Punting No Yds Ave Punting No Yds Ave
Corral 4 181 45.3 None
Sacks Sk Yds Sacks Sk Yds
Smith 1 11 Sutton 1 5
White 1 5 Cooper 0.5 5.5
Fielder 0.5 5.5
Interceptions No Yds Ave TD Interceptions No Yds Ave TD
Allen 1 20 20.0 0 Sutton 1 0 0.0 0
Bradley 1 10 10.0 0
Brown 1 8 8.0 0
Livers 1 0 0.0 0
Archived news report
Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn
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