BOLTS 14, Enforcers 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Duane Butler scored on a 98-yard interception return with less than two minutes to play as the Birmingham Bolts beat the Chicago Enforcers 14-3 in the XFL on Sunday.
“I saw the pass and just broke on the ball and was able to grab it and there wasn’t anybody in front of me,” Butler said.
The interception was the third turnover by Chicago. The others also came in Birmingham territory, including a fumble by running back John Avery in the first quarter.
“We had interceptions and fumbles at the wrong times and when you do that it makes for a long day,” Chicago coach Ron Meyer said.
Birmingham improved to 2-1, and Chicago dropped to 0-3.
Avery came into the game as the league’s second-leading rusher. He gained 96 yards against the Bolts’ defense that limited the Enforcers to 164 total yards. The Enforcers’ only score came on a 33-yard field goal by Andy Crossland in the first quarter.
Bolts linebacker James Willis, the league’s leading tackler, had 11 stops. Butler had nine tackles and defensive back Chris Shelling had eight.
James Bostic, who played at Auburn, scored the Bolts’ other touchdown on a 2-yard run with 1:36 left in the first half. Bostic rushed for 82 yards on 23 carries.
Bolts quarterback Casey Weldon completed 16 of 27 passes for 152 yards. Stepfret Williams was Weldon’s favorite target, catching seven passes for 81 yards.
With the temperature in the 40s, the crowd was considerably down from the more than 36,000 who attended the Bolts’ opener two weeks ago. The announced crowd Sunday was 17,582.
The game featured offsetting personal foul penalties that seemed to be borrowed from the XFL’s relative, the WWF. After a third-quarter play, Enforcers’ tackle Christopher Perez chopped Willis below the neck, almost mimicking a wrestling move. Willis stumbled backward, then shoved Perez to the ground.
Summary
XFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- CHICAGO 3 0 0 0 3 BIRMINGHAM 0 7 0 7 14 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: CHI - FG, ANDY CROSLAND 33 YD, 7:52. Drive: 5 plays, 35 yards in 2:38. Key plays: Lester 22-yard pass to Bailey to Birmingham 22. CHICAGO 3-0 2ND QUARTER: BIR - TD, JAMES BOSTIC 2 YD RUN (CASEY WELDON PASS TO STEPFRET WILLIAMS FOR CONVERISON), 13:24. Drive: 7 plays, 63 yards in 2:09. Key plays: 24 YARD PASS FROM WELDON TO WILLIAMS TO CHICAGO 6 YARD LINE. BIRMINGHAM 7-3 3RD QUARTER: NONE 4TH QUARTER: BIR - TD, DUANE BUTLER 98 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (JAMES BOSTIC RUN FOR CONVERISON), 13:20. BIRMINGHAM 14-3 TEAM STATISTICS CHI BIR -------- -------- FIRST DOWNS 16 15 Rushing 6 7 Passing 9 8 Penalty 1 0 3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4-11 5-12 4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-1 1-1 TOTAL NET YARDS 270 242 Total plays 56 56 Average gain 4.8 4.3 NET YARDS RUSHING 101 90 Rushes 24 29 Average per rush 4.2 3.1 NET YARDS PASSING 169 152 Completed-attempted 15-30 16-27 Yards per pass 5.3 5.6 Sacked-yards lost 2-5 0-0 Had intercepted 2 0 PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-39.5 3-31.3 RETURN YARDAGE 80 154 Punts-returns 3-31 4-18 Kickoffs-returns 3-49 2-38 Interceptions-returns 0-0 2-98 PENALTIES-YARDS 8-55 2-20 FUMBLES-LOST 1-1 1-0 TIME OF POSSESSION 28:18 31:42 PLAYER STATISTICS Missed field goals: None. Chicago rushing: John Avery 20-87, Kevin Mcdougal 1-9, Tim Lester 3-5. Birmingham rushing: James Bostic 23-77, Casey Weldon 3-11, Curtis Alexander 2-3, Team 1-minus 1. Chicago passing: Tim Lester 12-24 for 145 yards, 2 INT, 0 TD, Kevin Mcdougal 3-6 for 34 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD, Team 0-0 for minus 5 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD. Birmingham passing: Casey Weldon 16-27 for 152 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD. Chicago receiving: Aaron Bailey 5-89, Roell Preston 3-29, Willie Tate 3-19, Fred Coleman 1-20, Junior Lord 1-11, John Avery 1-7, Tyji Armstong 1-4, Team 0-minus 5. Birmingham receiving: Stepfret Williams 7-81, Quincy Jackson 4-45, Ed Smith 3-14, Reggie Johnson 1-8, Kaipo Mcguire 1-4. Chicago tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Aaron Humphrey 7-4-0, Ray Austin 5-4-0, Jamie Baisley 4-2-0, Larry Fitzpatrick 5-1-0, Dorian Brew 4-1-0, Jason Bray 4-1-0, Kevin Mccullar 2-2-0, Jason Chorak 4-0-0, Kerry Cooks 2-1-0, Matt Finkes 1-1-0, Quincy Coleman 1-1-0, Corey Ivy 1-1-0, Charles Wiley 0-1-0, John Avery 0-1-0, Leshon Johnson 0-1-0, Aaron Bailey 0-1-0, Chike Egbuniwe 0-1-0, Hubert Thompson 0-1-0, Donald Mccall 0-1-0. Birmingham tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): James Willis 6-5-0, Duane Butler 7-2-0, Chris Shelling 5-3-0, Dion Foxx 3-3-0, Keith Franklin 3-2-0, Sedrick Curry 4-0-0, Johnny Mitchell 2-1-1, Charles Preston 1-1-0, Jarett Loggins 1-1-0, Quinton Reese 1-1-1, Jimmy Brumbaugh 0-2-0, Malcolm Hamilton 1-0-0, Eric Sloan 1-0-0, Patrick Scott 0-1-0. Interceptions: Birmingham (Duane Butler 1 for 98 yards, Calvin Jackson 1 for 0 yards). Fumbles lost: Chicago (John Avery). Opponent's fumbles recovered: Birmingham (Calvin Jackson). Officials: Referee-Steve Pamon, Umpire-Richard Brown, Head linesman-Derick Bowers, Line judge-Tod Reese, Back judge-Scott Helverson, Side judge-Michael Sheahan, Field judge-Michael Banks. A: 17,582; T: 2:43.