SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Joe Aska’s return to the Bay Area was an overwhelming success.
The former Oakland Raider put the finishing touches on his team’s victory with a 2-yard touchdown dive late in the fourth quarter as the New York/New Jersey Hitmen defeated the San Francisco Demons 20-12 in the XFL before 33,522 fans Sunday at Pacific Bell Park.
Aska added a conversion run and watched as the Hitmen recorded four sacks of the Demons’ Pat Barnes.
The victory was the second on the road for the Hitmen (2-4), while the Demons (3-3) failed to win their second straight for the third time.
San Francisco took a 6-0 lead on 63-yard punt return by former CFL standout Jimmy Cunningham with 12:31 left in the first quarter.
On the next play from scrimmage, the Hitmen used a trick play to take the lead — wide receiver Zola Davis threw a 74-yard pass to a wide open Kirby Dar Dar.
The Hitmen went up 14-6 with 7:46 left in the second quarter on a 2-yard scoring pass from Richardson to running back Mike Archie.
San Francisco closed to 14-12 with 11:24 remaining on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Barnes to Travis Moore, capping a 71-yard drive after the Hitmen’s Leo Araguz missed a 37-yard field. San Francisco had just 112 yards of offense before the drive.
New York/New Jersey put the game away on a 2-yard TD dive by Aska with 5:40 left.
Summary
XFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NYNJ 7 7 0 6 20
SAN FRANCISCO 6 0 0 6 12 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: SAN - TD, JIMMY CUNNINGHAM 63 YD PUNT RETURN (PAT
FAILED), 2:29. SAN FRANCISCO 6-0
NYN - TD, KIRBY DAR DAR 74 YD PASS FROM ZOLA DAVIS (JOE
ASKA RUN FOR CONVERISON), 3:34. Drive: 1 play,
74 yards in 1:05. NYNJ 7-6
2ND QUARTER: NYN - TD, MIKE ARCHIE 2 YD PASS FROM WALLY RICHARDSON
(DINO PHILYAW RUN FOR CONVERISON), 6:52. Drive:
8 plays, 55 yards in 4:20. Key plays:
Richardson 23-yard pass to Collins to San
Francisco 1. NYNJ 14-6
3RD QUARTER: NONE
4TH QUARTER: SAN - TD, TRAVIS MOORE 8 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (PAT
FAILED), 3:20. Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards in
5:16. Key plays: Barnes 14-yard pass to Moore
to New York 41. NYNJ 14-12
NYN - TD, JOE ASKA 2 YD RUN (PAT FAILED), 9:05. Drive: 4
plays, 44 yards in 2:15. Key plays: Panasuk
10-yard punto to San Francisco 44; 32-yard pass
interference penalty on Demons' Harper at San
Francisco 2. NYNJ 20-12
TEAM STATISTICS
NYN SAN
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 14 16
Rushing 3 3
Passing 8 11
Penalty 3 2
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-0
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 261 216
Total plays 54 59
Average gain 4.8 3.7
NET YARDS RUSHING 58 52
Rushes 25 14
Average per rush 2.3 3.7
NET YARDS PASSING 203 164
Completed-attempted 14-27 19-41
Yards per pass 7.0 3.6
Sacked-yards lost 2-8 4-30
Had intercepted 1 1
PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-50.5 5-28.4
RETURN YARDAGE 90 166
Punts-returns 4-23 4-88
Kickoffs-returns 3-60 4-78
Interceptions-returns 1-7 1-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 6-61 6-64
FUMBLES-LOST 0-0 3-2
TIME OF POSSESSION 30:36 29:24
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: None.
Nynj rushing: Joe Aska 8-28, Dino Philyaw 11-22, Kirby Dar Dar 1-8,
Wally Richardson 5-0.
San Francisco rushing: Kelvin Anderson 5-21, Terry Battle 5-20,
Brandin Young 2-11, Pat Barnes 2-0.
Nynj passing: Wally Richardson 13-24 for 137 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD, Dino
Philyaw 0-1 for 0 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD, Charles Puleri 0-1 for 0 yards,
0 INT, 0 TD, Zola Davis 1-1 for 74 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD.
San Francisco passing: Pat Barnes 19-41 for 194 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.
Nynj receiving: Kirby Dar Dar 5-117, Zola Davis 3-31, Mike Archie
3-27, Ryan Collins 1-23, Bob Rosenstiel 1-11, Michael Blair 1-2.
San Francisco receiving: Jimmy Cunningham 5-53, Travis Moore 4-45,
Brian Roberson 4-40, Tydus Winans 3-34, Terry Battle 2-14, Sean
Manuel 1-8.
Nynj tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Brad Trout 3-3-0, Donnie
Caldwell 3-1-0, Damen Wheeler 3-0-0, Tim Beauchamp 3-0-1, Tyree
Talton 3-0-0, Mark Tate 2-1-0, Ron Merkerson 2-1-1, Ben Hanks 2-1-0,
Christian Maumalanga 1-2-0, Dwayne Sabb 2-0-2, Butler Bynote 2-0-0,
Keith Elias 2-0-0, Joey Eloms 2-0-0, Ryan Collins 1-0-0, James Cotton
0-1-0, Dustin Owen 0-1-0.
San Francisco tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Kevin Kaesviharn
5-3-0, Pete Destefano 5-1-0, Eric England 3-1-1, James Williams
2-2-0, Greg Williams 1-3-0, Abdul-salam Noah 3-0-1, Emile Palmer
2-1-0, Craig Powell 1-2-0, Carl Hansen 1-2-0, Dwayne Harper 2-0-0,
Pita Elisara 2-0-0, Otis Floyd 2-0-0, Jermaine Miles 1-1-0, Jon
Haskins 1-1-0, Terrance Joseph 1-0-0, Mike Panasuk 1-0-0, Wendell
Davis 1-0-0, Jamie Reader 1-0-0, Albrey Battle 0-1-0.
Interceptions: Nynj (Brad Trout 1 for 7 yards); San Francisco (Jon
Haskins 1 for 0 yards).
Fumbles lost: San Francisco (Terry Battle, Pat Barnes).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Nynj (Tyree Talton, Crawford).
Officials: Referee-Randy Christal, Umpire-John Bradley, Head
linesman-Karl Logan, Line judge-Ken Rivera, Back judge-Gary
Cavaletto, Side judge-Craig Battaglia, Field judge-Rg Detiller.
A: 33,522.
