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Houston 20 at Birmingham 22 Playoff
1985 Quarterfinals - Saturday, June 29, 1985
Houston Gamblers(10-8) at Birmingham Stallions(13-5)(-7)
Attendance: 18,500, TV: ABC
BIRMINGHAM, AL (AP) - Danny Miller kicked five field goals, the last with two minutes left in the game, as Birmingham defeated Houston 22-20 in a United States Football League first round playoff game Saturday.
The victory leaves Birmingham, the USFL regular season eastern conference champion, with a 14-5 record. Houston ends its season at 10-9.
Birmingham jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first half and held the edge until Houston went up 17-16 in the third period on a 21-yard pass from Jim Kelly, the league's top quarterback, to Richard Johnson.
Birmingham made it 19-17 on Miller's fourth field goal of the afternoon, a USFL playoff record 57-yarder, late in the third period, but Houston's Toni Fritsch countered with a 46-yard field goal that put the Gamblers ahead 20-19 in the final quarter.
The Stallions moved to midfield, and a Bob Parsons punt was blown dead on Houston's 1-yard line. The Gamblers moved to their own 20-yard line, but were forced to punt and Birmingham took over at Houston's 48.
After four running plays picked up 30 yards, an incomplete Cliff Stoudt pass set the stage for Miller's winning kick, a 35-yarder. His five field goals tied a league record for most in one game.
1 2 3 4 F
HOU 7 3 7 3 - 20
BIR 10 3 6 3 - 22
Scoring
BIR:Miller 39 FG - BIR 3, HOU 0
BIR:J.Smith 8 pass from Stoudt(Miller kick) - BIR 10, HOU 0
HOU:McNeil 23 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - BIR 10, HOU 7
HOU:Fritsch 20 FG - BIR 10, HOU 10
BIR:Miller 26 FG - BIR 13, HOU 10
BIR:Miller 41 FG - BIR 16, HOU 10
HOU:Johnson 21 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - HOU 17, BIR 16
BIR:Miller 57 FG - BIR 19, HOU 17
HOU:Fritsch 46 FG - HOU 20, BIR 19
BIR:Miller 35 FG - BIR 22, HOU 20
Box Score
HOU BIR
First Downs 25 18
Rushes-Yards 20-76 29-129
Passing (A-C-Y-I) 41-23-309-1 26-13-119-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 2-10 4-37
Total Plays-Yards 61-385 55-248
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 7-80 9-75
Turnovers 2 0
Time of Possession 28:12 31:48
Attendance = 18,500
HOUSTON BIRMINGHAM
Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate
Kelly 40 23 319 1 2 89.48 Stoudt 26 13 156 0 1 81.57
Rushing Att Yds Ave TD Rushing Att Yds Ave TD
Fowler 9 36 4.0 0 Cribbs 16 70 4.4 0
Harrell 5 29 5.8 0 Carruth 4 25 6.3 0
Kelly 4 15 3.8 0 Stoudt 3 25 8.3 0
Johnson 1 7 7.0 0 Coles 6 9 1.5 0
Sanders 1 -11-11.0 0
Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD
Johnson 7 120 17.1 1 Jones 4 59 14.8 0
McNeil 4 75 18.8 1 J.Smith 4 45 11.3 1
Sanders 5 52 10.4 0 Coles 3 40 13.3 0
Fowler 3 24 8.0 0 Mason 1 13 13.0 0
McGhee 2 24 12.0 0 Repko 1 -1 -1.0 0
Harrell 1 15 15.0 0
Courville 1 9 9.0 0
Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD
Couville 5 44 8.8 0 McFadden 1 47 47.0 0
Verdin 1 24 24.0 0 Douglas 2 45 22.5 0
Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD
McNeil 2 21 10.5 0 McFadden 2 24 12.0 0
Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts
Fritsch 2-3 46 2-2 8 Miller 5-5 57 1-1 16
miss: 49 miss: --
Punting No Yds Ave Punting No Yds Ave
Corral 3 104 34.7 Parsons 4 174 43.5
Sacks Sk Yds Sacks Sk Yds
Browner 1.5 9 Taylor 1 8
DeAyala 1 12 Reese 1 2
Fitzpatrick 1 9
Catan 0.5 7
Interceptions No Yds Ave TD Interceptions No Yds Ave TD
None - -- -- - Woodberry 1 27 27.0 0
Archived news report
Archived news report
Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn
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