BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Charles Puleri was 7-of-8 for 158 yards and two touchdowns as New York-New Jersey closed the XFL regular season with a 22-0 victory over Birmingham on Sunday.
New York-New Jersey (4-7) missed a spot in the playoffs later Sunday when Chicago beat Orlando. Birmingham lost its final seven games to finish 2-8.
Puleri, who replaced Corte McGuffey in the second quarter, connected with Zola Davis on a 3-yard scoring play late in the first half, and opened the third quarter with a 77-yard TD pass to Kirby Dar Dar.
Birmingham’s Graham Leigh threw three interceptions, with the Hitmen returning the last one 46 yards for a touchdown with 2:23 left in the third quarter. Joey Eloms intercepted the pass and pitched to Donnie Caldwell, who raced to the end zone.
SUMMARY
XFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NYNJ 0 9 13 0 22
BIRMINGHAM 0 0 0 0 0 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: NONE
2ND QUARTER: NYN - FG, LEO ARAGUZ 38 YD, 0:26. Drive: 5 plays, 31
yards in 2:34. Key plays: Sabb interception at
New York 49; McGuffy 23-yard pass to Davis to
Birmingham 28. NYNJ 3-0
NYN - TD, ZOLA DAVIS 3 YD PASS FROM CHARLES PULERI (PAT
FAILED), 14:03. Drive: 7 plays, 77 yards in
2:09. Key plays: Puleri 40-yard pass to Dar Dar
to Birmingham 41; Puleri 22-yard pass to Davis
to Birmingham 19; Puleri 15-yard pass to
Dicismo to Birmingham 4. NYNJ 9-0
3RD QUARTER: NYN - TD, KIRBY DAR DAR 77 YD PASS FROM CHARLES PULERI
(CHARLES PULERI PASS TO ZOLA DAVIS FOR
CONVERISON), 3:45. NYNJ 16-0
NYN - TD, DONNIE CALDWELL 46 YARD LATERAL FROM JOEY ELOMS
(CONVERISON FAILED), 13:12. NYNJ 22-0
4TH QUARTER: NONE
TEAM STATISTICS
NYN BIR
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 9 12
Rushing 2 2
Passing 6 8
Penalty 1 2
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-9 5-12
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-2
TOTAL NET YARDS 279 208
Total plays 39 55
Average gain 7.2 3.8
NET YARDS RUSHING 36 55
Rushes 23 12
Average per rush 1.6 4.6
NET YARDS PASSING 243 153
Completed-attempted 8-16 19-39
Yards per pass 15.2 3.6
Sacked-yards lost 0-0 4-35
Had intercepted 0 3
PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-40.8 3-34.0
RETURN YARDAGE 55 121
Punts-returns 2-minus 1 4-15
Kickoffs-returns 1-8 5-106
Interceptions-returns 3-48 0-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 6-31 7-46
FUMBLES-LOST 0-0 3-2
TIME OF POSSESSION 27:16 32:44
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: None.
Nynj rushing: Dino Philyaw 10-28, Corte Mcguffey 1-8, Mike Archie
3-6, Kirby Dar Dar 1-5, Joe Aska 4-minus 2, Charles Puleri 2-minus 5,
Team 2-minus 4.
Birmingham rushing: Curtis Alexander 3-30, James Bostic 9-25.
Nynj passing: Corte Mcguffey 3-9 for 85 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD, Charles
Puleri 5-7 for 158 yards, 0 INT, 2 TD.
Birmingham passing: Graham Leigh 19-39 for 188 yards, 3 INT, 0 TD.
Nynj receiving: Zola Davis 3-48, Kirby Dar Dar 2-117, Marcus Hinton
1-54, Anthony Dicosmo 1-16, Mike Archie 1-8.
Birmingham receiving: Quincy Jackson 5-52, Ed Smith 5-33, Joe
Douglass 4-39, Kaipo Mcguire 3-35, Stepfret Williams 2-29.
Nynj tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Ron Merkerson 3-3-1, Tawambi
Settles 3-2-0, Tyree Talton 2-3-0, Damen Wheeler 4-0-0, Ben Hanks
3-1-1, Tim Beauchamp 3-1-1, Brad Trout 2-2-0, Vernon Crawford 1-3-0,
Dwayne Sabb 2-1-0, Haven Fields 1-2-0, Butler Bynote 2-0-0, Donnie
Caldwell 1-1-0, Lamont Bryant 1-1-1, Joey Eloms 1-0-0, James Cotton
1-0-0, Anthony Dicosmo 0-1-0, Bernard Russ 0-1-0.
Birmingham tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): James Willis 1-6-0,
Malcolm Hamilton 3-2-0, Charles Preston 3-1-0, Chris Shelling 2-2-0,
Eric Sloan 1-2-0, Kyle Schroeder 0-3-0, Cedric Pittman 2-0-0, Duane
Butler 2-0-0, Jimmy Brumbaugh 1-1-0, Calvin Jackson 1-1-0, Fred Perry
1-1-0, Ed Smith 1-0-0, Jarett Loggins 1-0-0, Antonio Fleming 1-0-0,
Dion Foxx 0-1-0.
Interceptions: Nynj (Donnie Caldwell 1 for 46 yards, Joey Eloms 1 for
2 yards, Dwayne Sabb 1 for 0 yards).
Fumbles lost: Birmingham (Team 2).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Nynj (Ben Hanks, Lamont Bryant).
Officials: Referee-Dave Cutaia, Umpire-Roy Ellison, Head
linesman-Derick Bowers, Line judge-Tom Hofmann, Back judge-Craig
Battaglia, Side judge-Al Delvento, Field judge-Gene Steratore.
A: 10,749; T: 2:36.
