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Los Angeles 27 at Denver 35
1984 Week 7 - Monday, April 9, 1984
Los Angeles Express(2-4) at Denver Gold(5-1)(-7)
Attendance: 19,115, TV: ESPN
DENVER (AP) - A pair of fumbled Los Angeles kickoff returns late in the first half helped complete a 25-point second quarter flurry that lifted the Denver Gold to an improbable 6-1 record.
Denver, everybody's choice to be an also-ran in 1984, posted its fourth straight victory and raised its Pacific Division lead to three games with Monday night's 35-27 United States Football League victory over Los Angeles before 19,115 rain-soaked fans in Denver.
"We're on an emotional roll," said Denver Coach Craig Morton. "We're playing with great intensity and nothing seems to discourage us. We don't panic."
Panic might have set in after the Express jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Steve Young, Los Angeles' $40 million rookie quarterback, set up the first score, beating the blitz by dumping a short pass over the middle to Mel Gray, who went 52 yards. Kevin Nelson scored four plays later. With 5:23 left in the opening period, Los Angeles safety Dwight Drane intercepted a Craig Penrose pass and returned it 22 yards for the second Express tally.
The Gold rebounded with a vengeance in the second period. First, Penrose lofted a 73-yard bomb to Kevin Williams, then David Martin scored returned a punt 79 yards. But the extra point attempt failed and Denver trailed 14-13. Then came the two crucial fumbles on kickoff returns. Gray, trying to negotiate a muddy area of the field, coughed up the ball at the Los Angeles 17.
Penrose hit Vincent White on a five-yard pass for the go-ahead TD with 1:31 left. Tony Boddie fumbled away the next kickoff return, giving Denver possession at the 10, and Bill Johnson's five-yard run made it 25-14 with 30 seconds left in the half.
Los Angeles never fully recovered from that second-period onslaught. Nelson took a short pass and turned it into a 69-yard scoring play early in the third period. But Denver used its ball control offense to eat up the clock and countered with a field goal and a touchdown before Young ran for the final score in the closing seconds.
"You can't fumble that many times (four) and win," said Express Coach John Hadl, whose team fell to 2-5. Young, who completed 16 of 37 passes for 267 yards and ran for 34 more yards in his second pro game, wasn't satisfied. "I'm still learning," he said.
1 2 3 4 F
LA 14 0 7 6 - 27
DEN 0 25 3 7 - 35
Scoring
LA: Nelson 2 yd run (Zendejas kick) - LA 7, DEN 0
LA: Drane 22 yd interception return (Zendejas kick) - LA 14, DEN 0
DEN:Williams 73 yd pass from Penrose (Speelman kick) - LA 14, DEN 7
DEN:Martin 79 yd punt return (kick failed) - LA 14, DEN 13
DEN:White 5 yd pass from Penrose (pass failed) - DEN 19, LA 14
DEN:B. Johnson 5 yd run (pass failed) - DEN 25, LA 14
DEN:Speelman 27 yd field goal - DEN 28, LA 14
LA: Nelson 69 yd pass from Young (Zendejas kick) - DEN 28, LA 21
DEN:Sydney 1 yd run (Speelman kick) - DEN 35, LA 21
LA: Young 1 yd run (pass failed) - DEN 35, LA 27
Box Score
LA DEN
First Downs 15 20
Rushes-Yards 19-82 43-173
Passing (A-C-Y-I) 37-16-296-0 20-12-185-2
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-16 3-21
Total Plays-Yards 59-362 66-337
Fumbles-Lost 5-4 4-1
Penalties-Yards 8-66 9-60
Turnovers 4 3
Time of Possession 24:16 35:44
Attendance = 19,115
LOS ANGELES DENVER
Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate
Young 37 16 267 0 1 77.2 Penrose 20 12 185 2 2 84.4
Gray 1 1 29 0 0 118.8
Rushing Att Yds Ave TD Rushing Att Yds Ave TD
Nelson 8 45 5.6 1 Johnson B 10 58 5.8 1
Young 7 34 4.9 1 Matthews 9 53 5.9 0
Gray 4 3 0.8 0 Sydney 15 36 2.4 1
White 8 24 3.0 0
Bailey 1 2 2.0 0
Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD
Nelson 2 86 43.0 1 Williams 1 73 73.0 1
Gray 4 82 20.5 0 Arnold 2 41 20.5 0
Moore 4 50 12.5 0 Sydney 6 37 6.2 0
Hersey 2 37 18.5 0 Bailey 1 17 17.0 0
Ellis 4 32 8.0 0 Harris 1 12 12.0 0
Gunn 1 9 9.0 0 White 1 5 5.0 1
Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD
Gray 4 111 27.8 0 Williams 3 38 12.7 0
Boddie 3 4 1.3 0 Harris 1 20 20.0 0
Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD
Allen 4 21 5.3 0 Martin 5 126 25.2 1
Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts
Zendejas 0-0 -- 3-3 3 Speelman 1-2 27 2-3 5
miss: -- miss: 56
Punting No Yds Ave Punting No Yds Ave
Partridge 6 239 39.8 Gortz 5 195 39.0
Sacks Sk Yds Sacks Sk Yds
Forte 1 8 Newton 2 14
Robinson 1 7 Turner 1 2
Carson 0.5 3
Howard 0.5 3
Interceptions No Yds Ave TD Interceptions No Yds Ave TD
Drane 1 22 22.0 1 None
Justin 1 3 3.0 0
Archived news report
Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn
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