LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tommy Maddox threw two touchdown passes, and Saladin McCullough ran for 164 yards on 21 carries as the Los Angeles Xtreme advanced to the XFL’s first championship game by beating the Chicago Enforcers 33-16 Sunday.
The Xtreme will play the San Francisco Demons next Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Demons advanced by beating the Orlando Rage 26-25 Saturday in the other semifinal.
“Now with San Francisco, it’s the best two-out-of-three for all the marbles,” said Los Angeles coach Al Luginbill, whose team lost to the Demons 15-13 in the season-opener but won the rematch 24-0.
“San Francisco does one thing — compete,” Luginbill said. “Whoever’s quarterback is left standing at the end should win.”
Before a season-low announced crowd of 13,081 at the Coliseum on Sunday, Los Angeles’ defense held its opponent without an offensive touchdown for the second straight game.
Chicago’s only touchdown came when Kivuusama Mays blocked Noel Prefontaine’s punt and Chike Egbuniwe returned it 2 yards. LeShon Johnson’s 1-point conversion run gave the Enforcers a 10-9 lead with 1:45 left in the first half.
Los Angeles took the lead for good 11 seconds before the break on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Maddox to Damon Gibson, capping a 63-yard, eight-play drive. Maddox then passed to Darnell McDonald for a 2-point conversion, putting the Xtreme on top 17-10.
“We had a chance when we went up, but we couldn’t hold on,” Chicago coach Ron Meyer said. “That score at the end of the half was a big swing.”
Chicago drove inside the Xtreme’s 15-yard line four times in the game, but ended up settling for two field goals by Andy Crosland, with Kevin McDougal throwing interceptions on the final two possessions. Crosland also kicked a 40-yard field goal with 14:22 to play, cutting Chicago’s deficit to 20-16.
The Enforcers were forced to punt after three plays on their next possession, and the Xtreme then put the game away when McCullough ran 44 yards for a touchdown with seven minutes remaining.
Chicago’s John Avery, the XFL’s leading rusher, was held to 59 yards on 14 carries. McDougal completed 15 of 31 passes for 228 yards, and was intercepted three times.
Maddox completed 18 of 24 passes for 171 yards, and Jose Cortez kicked field goals of 31 and 48 yards for the Xtreme.
Summary
XFL PLAYOFFS
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CHICAGO 0 10 3 3 16
LOS ANGELES 6 11 3 13 33 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: LOS - TD, JEREMAINE COPELAND 26 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX
(PAT FAILED), 3:40. Drive: 6 plays, 60 yards in
3:40. Key plays: Maddox 13-yard pass to
McCullough to Chicago 41. LOS ANGELES 6-0
2ND QUARTER: LOS - FG, JOSE CORTEZ 31 YD, 3:33. Drive: 5 plays, 39
yards in 2:58. Key plays: Durden 23-yard
interception return to Los Angeles 48;
McCullough 10-yard run plus 5-yard face mask
penalty on Chicago's Cooks to Enforcers' 37;
McCullough 16-yard run to Chicago 16. LOS
ANGELES 9-0
CHI - FG, ANDY CROSLAND 28 YD, 11:49. Drive: 11 plays, 64
yards in 8:16. Key plays: Cooks 6-yard run on
fake punt on 4th-and-1 to Chicago 40; Avery
15-yard run to Los Angeles 38; McDougal 12-yard
pass to Bailey to Los Angeles 26; McDougal
22-yard pass to Leverson to Los Angeles 4. LOS
ANGELES 9-3
CHI - TD, CHIKE EGBUNIWE 2 YD RETURN OF BLOCKED PUNT
(LESHON JOHNSON RUN FOR CONVERISON), 13:15.
CHICAGO 10-9
LOS - TD, DAMON GIBSON 7 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX (TOMMY
MADDOX PASS TO DARNELL MCDONALD FOR TWO-POINT
CONVERISON), 14:49. Drive: 8 plays, 63 yards in
1:34. Key plays: Maddox 12-yard pass to
McCullough to Chicago 45; Maddox 13-yard pass
McDonald to Chicago 32; Maddox 9-yard pass to
Gibson to Chicago 7. LOS ANGELES 17-10
3RD QUARTER: CHI - FG, ANDY CROSLAND 32 YD, 4:16. Drive: 6 plays, 47
yards in 4:16. Key plays: McDougal 35-yard pass
to Bailey to Los Angeles 21. LOS ANGELES 17-13
LOS - FG, JOSE CORTEZ 48 YD, 9:10. Drive: 7 plays, 42
yards in 4:54. Key plays: McCullough 5 carries
for 45 yards. LOS ANGELES 20-13
4TH QUARTER: CHI - FG, ANDY CROSLAND 40 YD, 0:38. Drive: 5 plays, 30
yards in 2:32. Key plays: McDonald 17-yard pass
to Tate to Los Angeles 29; McDonald 6-yard pass
to Tate to Los Angeles 23. LOS ANGELES 20-16
LOS - TD, SALADIN MCCULLOUGH 44 YD RUN (SALADIN
MCCULLOUGH RUN FOR CONVERISON), 8:00. Drive: 2
plays, 50 yards in 1:20. LOS ANGELES 27-16
LOS - TD, CLIFTON ABRAHAM 88 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (PAT
FAILED), 12:39. LOS ANGELES 33-16
TEAM STATISTICS
CHI LOS
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 16 17
Rushing 6 8
Passing 10 9
Penalty 0 0
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-0
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 335 332
Total plays 54 48
Average gain 6.2 6.9
NET YARDS RUSHING 107 161
Rushes 23 24
Average per rush 4.7 6.7
NET YARDS PASSING 228 171
Completed-attempted 15-31 18-24
Yards per pass 7.4 7.1
Sacked-yards lost 0-0 0-0
Had intercepted 3 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 3-38.3 3-21.0
RETURN YARDAGE 190 195
Punts-returns 3-29 3-7
Kickoffs-returns 7-161 4-77
Interceptions-returns 0-0 3-111
PENALTIES-YARDS 5-25 2-7
FUMBLES-LOST 0-0 1-1
TIME OF POSSESSION 32:38 27:22
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: None.
Chicago rushing: John Avery 14-59, Kevin Mcdougal 4-33, Leshon
Johnson 3-10, Kerry Cooks 1-6, Team 1-minus 1.
Los Angeles rushing: Saladin Mccullough 21-164, Tommy Maddox 1-1,
Team 1-minus 1, Rashaan Shehee 1-minus 3.
Chicago passing: Kevin Mcdougal 15-31 for 228 yards, 3 INT, 0 TD.
Los Angeles passing: Tommy Maddox 18-24 for 171 yards, 0 INT, 2 TD.
Chicago receiving: Aaron Bailey 4-83, John Avery 3-26, Luke Leverson
2-33, Willie Tate 2-23, Junior Lord 2-10, Fred Coleman 1-45, Tyji
Armstong 1-8.
Los Angeles receiving: Saladin Mccullough 8-45, Jeremaine Copeland
4-62, Darnell Mcdonald 2-36, Damon Gibson 2-16, Frank Leatherwood
2-12.
Chicago tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Ray Austin 6-4-0, Kerry
Cooks 4-3-0, Aaron Humphrey 6-0-0, Dorian Brew 5-1-0, Jamie Baisley
3-3-0, Jason Bray 4-0-0, Hubert Thompson 3-0-0, Matt Finkes 3-0-0,
Larry Fitzpatrick 2-1-0, Quincy Coleman 2-1-0, Corey Ivy 2-0-0,
Charles Wiley 2-0-0, Sterling Palmer 1-1-0, Chike Egbuniwe 1-0-0,
Kivuusama Mays 1-0-0, Aaron Bailey 1-0-0, Halakilangi Muagututia
1-0-0, John Fisher 0-1-0, Fred Coleman 0-1-0.
Los Angeles tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Leomont Evans 11-2-0,
Ron Carpenter 5-1-0, Jeff Russell 5-1-0, Juan Long 4-2-0, Rico Mack
2-3-0, Chad Pegues 4-0-0, Reginald Durden 3-0-0, Dell Mcgee 3-0-0,
Matt Keneley 3-0-0, Latario Rachal 3-0-0, Shawn Stuckey 1-2-0, Ricky
Parker 2-0-0, Jamal Duff 1-1-0, Errick Herrin 1-0-0, Ramondo
Stallings 1-0-0, Eric Johnson 1-0-0.
Interceptions: Los Angeles (Clifton Abraham 1 for 88 yards, Reginald
Durden 1 for 23 yards, Leomont Evans 1 for 0 yards).
Fumbles lost: Los Angeles (Jeremaine Copeland).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Chicago (Chike Egbuniwe).
Officials: Referee-Steve Pamon, Umpire-John Bradley, Head
linesman-Derick Bowers, Line judge-Roger Mcminn, Back judge-Craig
Battaglia, Side judge-Gary Cavaletto, Field judge-Michael Banks.
A: 13,081; T: 2:38.
