South goes 3-0; Fleet gets first win
Ayden Davis picked off Vancouver (3-3) quarterback Christian Brown twice in the end zone on the Legion's first two possessions and Canada's team never recovered in a 27-16 Fort Worth Toros (4-2) triumph. Davis' 103-yard interception return for a score on the opening possession got the Toros on the board. Despite losing quarterback Marcus Dunhill to a finger injury, FTW held on to win comfortably thanks to sacks from John Nevels and Gerry Dee Gond plus 17 total tackles from Ben Stone. Fort Worth has now won three straight by double digits, all against playoff teams from last season or against team's who were undefeated entering the matchup.
Since scoring just 13 points against Louisiana on the Monday Night Spectacular in Week 4, the Mexico City Aztecs (3-3) have scored at least 38 points in three consecutive games, taking care of business Saturday night against Los Angeles (0-6), 38-16. Jordan Sipe turned in a 100.3 QBR throwing three touchdowns on 233 yards passing. Halfback Jacob Morrison reached the end zone two more times, giving him three touchdowns on the season in just 27 carries. Both of Jason Bartley's catches went for scores. Dan Tritz corralled two more sacks while Ben Charbs, Merrick Itera and Max Jackson turned passes into turnovers.
The Houston Headhunters (5-1) limited the league-leading receiver Gabriel Manning to just one reception for 17 yards and ran all over the Tulsa Desperados (3-3) in a dominant 38-10 victory. Josh Slapp followed last week's 183-yard performance with 172 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Travis Arthur did his best to slow down Houston with his 19 total tackles, but Houston's ground attack averaged 4.4 yards per carry and racked up 225 yards - even backup quarterback Iman Kopek came in on a third down and rushed for eight yards. The Headhunters have two weeks to prepare for the unbeaten Canton Classics, who they'll face in Ohio Sunday March 3.
Just as their first victory was slipping through their fingers, the Portland Fleet (1-5) found some steam and enough offense to top the Motor City V8s (1-5), 24-16. Portland snapped a streak of touchdownless quarters at 12 when on its opening drive, Cyris Jive found fullback Jacob Farmer on a eight-yard touchdown pass. Motor City took a 16-10 lead with 9:34 to go in the fourth but the Fleet put together back-to-back touchdown drives of 68 and 78 yards to pull away, both ending in Ezekiel Love touchdown runs. Love tallied 88 yards on 20 carries. The V8s got strong play from rookie quarterback King Jackson, who through three quarters found all seven of his WR/TE targets and kept a clean sheet. His two fourth quarter interceptions, however, proved to be too much for the squad to overcome.