THE BIG CAT ROARED!!!!!!!

The HEFL Congratulates Pat "The Big Cat" Morris on winning Houston Electric Football League Super Bowl 2.

The Big Cat roared in the HEFL Thunder Dome holding on for a tough 21-13 HEFL Super Bowl win from two time championship runner up Red Zone Doug. 

HEFL Playoff Tournament results:

Game 1 :  Panthers @ Saints                     

The Defending champion and No. 1 seed Saints went down in a thriller against a rejuvenated Carolina Squad. Despite two long touchdown receptions from the Saints' Jimmy Graham, the Panthers held on for a toughly contested 17 - 14 win. 

An opportunistic Carolina defense set up the Carolina offense on the opening drive with an interception.  The Panthers capitalized quickly  with a touchdown pass going up 7- 0 in the 1st quarter.  The Saints responded in the 2nd quarter with a long catch and carry by tight end Jimmy Graham that tied the game at 7-7. Carolina closed out the half with a 38 yard goal to take a 10-7 lead into the locker room.  After that it was the Cam Newton show. 

The Carolina QB played keep away all day, keeping Saints defenders off balance with slashing runs left and right off tackle and timely completions in the clutch.  Despite the dominating performance from the Carolina signal caller, the Saints hung tough and had a chance to possibly tie or take a lead in the 4th quarter. The Saints defense failed to get a crucial 4th quarter stop inside of two minutes which allowed the Panthers to run out the clock.

                                     Box Score:

          1st QTR   2nD QTR   3rd QTR  4th QTR     TOTAL             Impact Stats:

CAR    7              3                 7              0                 17                  Newton 1 TD (passing), Stewart 1 TD (rushing)

NO      0              7                 0              7                 14                  Graham 2 TDs (receiving)

Game 2:  Rams @ Browns

Saturday morning kicked off with a game would have been the highlight of the weekend, were it not for the Championship game that followed.  The expansion Browns came into the game feeling confident after finishing the season with a 5-1 record, good for a second seed in the playoff tournament.  Coach "Red Zone Doug," had his Rams ready for action after losing last year's Championship by a FG on the final drive of the game.

The Rams opened the game with a mix of run and pass. The Rams pounding run game was able to find success early between the tackles with Eric Dickerson grinding out 1st downs. Eventually the drive stalled and the Rams were forced to punt. After receiving the punt, the Browns themselves found it tough going again the stout Rams as both defenses showed early that they came to play. The Browns squandered and opportunity for a FG at the end of the half when they threw and interception near the Rams goal line. After the Rams failed to move the ball into field goal range, the first half ended scoreless.

The second half opened with the Browns receiving the ball. The Browns moved the ball down the field and eventually scored on a TD run by Bernie Kosar to take a 7-0 lead. The Rams responded with a TD grab by Flipper Anderson to knot the score at 7-7.  In a mistake filled second half, the Rams recovered a Browns fumble inside of its own 30 to kill a late Browns drive. The Rams also blew a huge opportunity, having a TD pass called back on a penalty for an offensive lineman down field. Regulation ended 7-7.

In the playoff tournament overtime format, each team gets 4 plays from the 50 yard line. The team with most yards at the end of the four plays wins the game. If both teams have the same amount of yards, or both score TDs, a second overtime period is initiated, with each team getting 2 plays from the 50.  If the game is tied again, each team gets one play from the 50.

The Rams won the toss and elected to receive the ball. Coach Red Zone Doug made a bold move going by back to QB Shack Harris who struggled early and was benched in favor of Curt Warner.  At first it looked like the Rams Coach made a poor decision as Harris was sacked for an 8 yard loss on the first play of OT. Shack Harris soon showed why he was a Grambling State legend, as he shook off the sack and took the Rams down the field quickly, throwing a TD on the third play to Henry Ellard to make the score 14-7 Rams. 

It looked like it was over for the Browns whose methodical attack seemed ill suited for the HEFL Playoff OT format.  Coach Doug Houser showed just what makes the Browns the "cardiac kids" of the HEFL when he scored a TD on his fourth and final play with an amazing catch and run by RB Curtis Dickey who eluded four defenders into the end zone to force a second overtime.  Browns 14 - Rams 14.

With only two plays from the 50, the Rams eschewed conventional wisdom in the second overtime and went for it all throwing a deep pass on their second play to Charlie Young to get the ball down to the Browns 33 yard line. The Browns now needed to get the ball to the Rams 33 yard line to tie. 

After getting minimal yardage of their first play of the second OT, the Browns needed something big if they were going to stay alive and advance to the HEFL Championship.  Browns running back Curtis Dickey showed just how quickly you can go from hero to goat when he dropped a pass down at the Rams 32 that would have won the game. Having gained more yardage at the end of the second OT period, as per HEFL rules, the Rams were awarded a FG.  Final Score Rams 24-Browns 21 in double OT.

                                      Box Score:

          1st QTR       2nd QTR      3rd QTR      4th OTR     OT1    OT2   TOTAL     Impact Stats:

LA       0                 0                 0                7              7         3        17                   Anderson TD (receiving); Ellard TD (receiving)     

CLE     0                 0                 7                0              7         0        14                   Kosar, 1 TD (rushing)
           

As stated earlier, that double overtime thriller should have been the highlight of the day, but the HEFL coaches has one more fantastic finish in store for the fans. 

HEFL Championship:  Panthers @ Rams

The Panthers came out showing that they meant business from the whistle.  Cam Newton drove them down the field methodically on the opening drive throwing a TD pass to a closely covered Kelvin Benjamin to take a 7-0 lead.  The Rams, looking to avenge an early season 35-7 loss at the hands of Carolina, responded quickly with a TD pass from Curt Warner to Bobby Boyd. The Panthers high scoring offense stayed in perfect form as they again scored on a TD catch from possession receiver Ricky Proehl. The Rams kicked a FG to cut the Panthers lead to 14-10 at the half.

The second half started with the Rams being forced to punt. The Panthers took the ball down the field again and got it inside of the Rams 20 before throwing an interception in the end zone to kill the drive. The Rams drove down the field but stalled at the Panthers 25 and was forced to kicked a FG early in the 4th quarter to close within 1 point.  Panthers 14 - Rams 13.

The Panthers scored again on a TD grab by Devin Funchess to take a 21-13 lead with a 1:15 left in the game.  The returned the kickoff to the 48 yard line.  They then drove the ball inside of the Panthers 30 with seconds left on the clock.  With time for maybe three plays, the Rams missed on a completion to a receiver running down the seam that would have put them within a two point conversion of putting the game into overtime.  On the next play with under 20 seconds on the game clock Curt Warner threw a pass to a streaking Isaac Bruce, only to have it snatched away by a brilliant interception by the Panthers Charles Tillman.  With the ball and the game firm in hand, the Panthers celebrated their 1st HEFL Superbowl Championship victory. 

                                            Box Score:

               1st QTR         2nd QTR        3rd QTR         4th QTR     TOTAL      Impact Stats:

CAR         7                 7                    0                   7               21           Benjamin TD (receiving); Proehl TD (receiving); Funchess TD (receiving)

LA            0                 10                   3                   0               13          Boyd TD (receiving)