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Arizona 6 at Denver 32


1983 Week 16 - Friday, June 17, 1983
Arizona Wranglers(4-11) at Denver Gold(6-9)(-6)
Attendance: 42,621

DENVER(AP)- Craig Penrose fired three touchdown passes and running back Vincent White rushed for a team-record 159 yards as the Denver Gold whipped Arizona 32-6.

A final home-game crowd of 42,621, which enabled Denver to average 41,735 for the season, saw the Gold jump to a 15-0 halftime lead and extend the margin to 25-0 after three quarters before Arizona finally scored early in the final quarter on a 9-yard pass from backup quarterback Dan Manucci to tight end Mark Keel. Safety Aaron Mitchell's 66-yard return with an interception set up the score.

Denver used big plays to build its halftime advantage. Penrose lofted a75-yard bomb to Johnnie Dirden just minutes into the contest for the game's first score.

In the second quarter, White, a tiny but quick rookie from Stanford, had back-to-back runs of 29 and 25 yards to set up tight end Bob Niziolek's 12-yard scoring reception from Fred Mortenson, who had relieved Penrose when the latter was sidelined momentarily with an aggravated groin injury.

Denver made it 22-0 early in the third quarter as Penrose passed three yards to backup tight end Darryl Goosby. Brian Speelman added a 33-yard field goal later in the quarter.

Highlights




	1	2	3	4	F
AZ	0	0	0	6   -    6
DEN	7	8      10	7   -   32

Scoring

DEN:Dirden 75 yd pass from Penrose (Speelman kick) - DEN 7, ARI 0

DEN:Niziolek 12 yd pass from Mortensen (Matthews pass from Mortensen) - DEN 15, ARI 0

DEN:Goosby 3 yd pass from Penrose (Speelman kick) - DEN 22, ARI 0

DEN:Speelman 33 yd field goal - DEN 25, ARI 0

AZ: Keel 9 yd pass from Manucci (pass failed) - DEN 25, ARI 6

DEN:James 7 yd pass from Penrose (Speelman kick) - DEN 32, ARI 6

Box Score

                             ARI            DEN
First Downs                    9             22
Rushes-Yards               18-25         42-256
Passing (A-C-Y-I)    39-15-157-0    27-14-287-1
Sacked-Yards Lost           2-15           4-34
Total Plays-Yards         59-167         73-509
Fumbles-Lost                 1-1            1-0
Penalties-Yards             9-64          15-95
Turnovers                      1              1
Time of Possession         24:38          35:22

Attendance = 42,621

ARIZONA					     DENVER
Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate          Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate
Risher       25  10 105  0  0  82.9          Penrose      21  12 271  1  3  27.9
Manucci      14   5  52  0  1  39.6          Mortensen     6   2  16  0  1  55.7
 
Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD                  Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD
Spencer       6  10  1.7  0                  White, V     20 159  2.5  0
Long          4   8  2.0  0                  Canada       10  43  4.3  0
Boatner       5   7  1.4  0                  Choate        1  30 30.0  0
Dennison      1   6  6.0  0                  Sydney        5  25  5.0  0
Scott         1   4  4.0  0                  Stamper       2   5  2.5  0
Denfeld       1 -10-10.0  0                  Matthews      3   1  0.3  0
                                             Penrose       1  -7 -3.5  0
   
Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD                  Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD
Keel          4  57 13.8  1                  Niziolek      3  93 31.0  1
Howell        3  36 12.0  0                  Dirden        1  75 75.0  1
Flowers       2  23 11.5  0                  James         4  60 15.0  1
Blue          3  22  7.3  0                  White, V      1  20 20.0  0
Murray        2  12  6.0  0                  Jones         1  14 14.0  0
Henry         1   7  7.0  0                  Matheney      1  13 13.0  0
                                             Canada        2   9  4.5  0
                                             Goosby        1   3  3.0  1
                   
Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Henry           4  76 19.0  0                Stamper         1  25 25.0  0
 
Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Henry           1   1  1.0  0                Martin          4  51 12.8  0
  
Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts            Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts
Denfeld         0-0   0  0-0    0            Speelman        1-2  33  3-3    6
                miss: none                                   miss: 47

Punting        No Yds  Ave                   Punting        No Yds  Ave
Mees            9 408 45.3                   Gortz           5 182 36.4

Sacks          Sk Yds                        Sacks          Sk Yds
Nelson          1  10                        Perry           1   7
Fisher          1   9                        White, L      0.5   4
Clark, C        1   8                        Perry         0.5   4
Norris          1   7                        
  
Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD                Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD
Mitchell        1  66 66.0  0                None

Archived news report

Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn


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