Despite comeback attempt, Showboats fall short in season opener against Philadelphia

Down by 4 with 1:42 left in the final quarter of action against the Philadelphia Stars, quarterback Brady White needed to get his team down the field. Backed up at his own ten-yard line, the task seemed difficult, to say the least.

However, with a few passes, the Showboats steadily progressed down the field behind the right arm of White. On fourth down with 25 seconds left in the game, the pressure of the Stars defense forced the former Memphis Tiger star to misfire on his final pass of the day. This incompletion resulted in the Memphis Showboats dropping their first game of the United States Football League season to Philadelphia.

White’s second half success didn’t come without stressful moments in the first half of action. Down 20-7 late into the first half, Memphis head coach Todd Haley decided to make a quarterback change, going to back up signal caller Cole Kelley. Kelley engineered a drive that resulted in Memphis scoring a field goal, cutting the team’s deficit to 10 points at halftime.

The issue that plagued the Memphis defense were their first half struggles with Stars quarterback Case Cookus. Finishing with 269 yards and three touchdowns, Cookus carved up the Showboats defense, doing most of his damage in the first half of play.

Memphis managed to get on the scoreboard with White’s touchdown pass to Rachard Davis, who finished with 2 catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. Despite the halftime deficit, there was a sense of confidence that Memphis could make it a game in the second half.

As the second half commenced, both teams started to tighten up on the defensive side of the ball, and it took a while for the Showboats to get much going as the fourth quarter commenced.

With about six minutes left in the game, everything seemed to mesh perfectly. The Memphis defensive effort resulted in multiple sacks, and 2 touchdowns within the last 8 minutes of play closed the gap. However, the aforementioned 4th down incompletion from White secured the defeat for Memphis.

Memphis will look to bounce back next Saturday as they take on the defending champions, the Birmingham Stallions. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 pm in Birmingham.