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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.

Complete Game




Highlights




	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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