New Jersey Generals Come Back From Behind to Take Out the Stars
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New Jersey Generals Come Back From Behind to Take Out the Stars

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Rounding out the action for the USFL is the New Jersey Generals taking on the Philadelphia Stars. Both teams are coming into the game 1-1, a win could propel them to the top of the north.

We saw some good action on Saturday, but Sunday’s early game brought the leagues first shutout. Bryan Scott currently leads the league in passing yards, so he’ll be hoping to build on the momentum he’s built up so far.

New Jersey will be running the dual QB system, so we should see a good mix of passing and running plays.

1st Quarter

Luis Perez and the New Jersey Generals would start the game with he ball. Coach Riley will once again be rotating quarterbacks tonight, switching between Perez and De’Andre Johnson.

Luis was unable to get it moving in the air, but Johnson came in and moved the chains with his legs. Tre Williams then came in and helped the team out with a firs down of his own.

With Perez back in behind the ball, the team was forced into a 4th down. Coach Riley tested his luck with his kicking unit, but the length proved to be too much. Ultimately, the 52-yard attempt bounced off the uprights.

Scott and the Stars didn’t waste any time. After moving the ball down the field, Bryan Scott found Bug Howard who was able to easily find the endzone. The extra-point gave them an early 7-0 lead over the Generals.

New Jersey now had another chance with the ball, with hopes of not falling too far behind.

Darius Victor saved his team with a long run on 3rd down to move the chains and continue their drive.

Ka’vonte Turpin also proved worthy connecting with Perez to secure another 1st down.

The Generals work working very well on this drive, at this point going for 3-3 on 3rd down conversions.

Although they looked much better on this drive, it ended with another field goal attempt. Unfortunately, the team faced the same result. Nick Rose was wide on the 43-yard field goal attempt keeping the game 7-0 in the Stars favor.

Philadelphia came out, and looked good but put themselves in a 4th & 1 situation. Coach Andrus decided to go for it, and it proved to be a wise decision. The next play saw Paul Terry rush for another 14-yards, moving the chains and extending the drive.

The Stars continued to move the ball well to round out the 1st quarter, and would start the second in good scoring position.

2nd Quarter

The Stars couldn’t continue the momentum of the first, with Coach Andrus relying on his kicking unit.

Matt Mengal came in, but the team has issues on the setup forcing him to go wide on the 55-yard attempt.

The Generals continued to be a mixed bag. Both quarterbacks continued to play, but both had issues getting consistent. It didn’t help matters that the Philadelpia defense was also stepping up.

Coach Riley started mixing passing plays in for De’Andre Johnson. It was making a slight difference, but still not enough to get points on the drive. On the punt the Generals special teams group helped big by pinning the ball near the goal line for Philadelphia.

This proved to be too much for Bryan Scoot and the Stars. At the and of three attempts they found themselves punting back to New Jersey.

Due to the spot of the ball, the Generals were in the best starting field position of the night. This didn’t seem to help, with the drive ending with another punt.

During this drive, Bryan Scott went down and ultimately came out of the game. Case Cookus came in and on the very first play went long to find Jordan Suell near the goal line.

He was unable to find the endzone on his first two attempts, then Coach Andrus put Scott back in the game but he couldn’t get the TD either.

After missing an attempt earlier, Matt Mengal was good on the 22-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-0.

The next drive saw a good mix of De’Andre Johnson and Tre Williams, both moving the ball well. They couldn’t get six, but Nick Rose made it from 52-yards out on his third attempt of the night.

Near the half they showed Bryan Scott heading to the locker room early, which was not a good sign for the Stars. Cookus came out for them, but the coach decided to just run the time out with the lead.

3rd Quarter

The Stars would start out the half with possession, and as expected Case Cookus came in as quarterback for Scott. Fortunately for Philadelphia, Cookus was cooking on the field.

He was connecting with most of his receivers, and the Stars looked like they hadn’t skipped a beat. Cookus was able to bring them within 11-yards of another touchdown, but they needed to settle for a field goal attempt.

Mengal came out big on the last attempt for over 50-yards, but this time missed wide from 30.

De’Andre Johnson started out his drive with a 30-yard rush, giving the Generals their best play of the night.

Tre Williams then showcased hi skills, brining the the team to 1st & goal at the 9-yard line.

One the very next play Johnson handed it off to Darius Victor to grab their first touchdown of the night. With the extra-point successful the game was now tied 10-10.

Case Cookus now had another chance to lead his team down the field. With the game now tied, the Stars could no longer rest on their laurels. Again he came out hot, moving the ball convincingly. Now in the red zone, Cookus found Paul Terry to bring them to 1st & goal.

Cookus didn’t let up, finding Deandre Overton for his first touchdown of the night. Matt Mengal continued to struggle on his kicks, missing the extra-point. Regardless, the Stars now had the lead again, 16-10 over the Generals with 2:23 left in the 3rd.

This game was looking to be competitive, and with the current score it was anyone’s to bring home. The quarter ended with the Generals offense on the move, looking to even things out or even take a slim lead.

4th Quarter

When stuck on 4th down, Coach Riley relied on De’Andre Johnson to run it to move the chains. Johnson ran back to back, and both times he grabbed a first down. This time he brought the Generals within 15-yards of a touchdown.

Darius Victor was a powerhouse all night, and this drive was no different. He looked to grab another touchdown, but after review it was called just short.

At 1st & Goal at the half-yard line, Victor got the ball again and this time got into the end zone for the TD. Nick Rose, who has had some troubles tonight, knock in the extra-point to give New Jersey a 17-16 lead.

A little over 11 minutes remained in the matchup, and Marcus Alexander came out big for the Stars with a long punt return. This was about as good as it got on their drive, the offense couldn’t get their footing and ended by punting it away.

The Generals had a slim lead, but knew that it wasn’t enough to rest easy. TE Willy Brandom had a massive reception and run, moving the team into the red zone.

The team did not let off the gas, Williams took the next reception to 1st & goal, nearly grabbing the TD.

It only took one more play, with De’Andre Johnson sneaking it in himself. The extra-point extended their lead to 24-16 with 6:19 left in the game.

Philadelphia didn’t do much on this opportunity, the Generals defense was just too much for them to overcome.

The drive ended with them punting back to New Jersey with 4:34 remaining.

At the 2-minute warning, the Generals were back on the move. The last play before the clock stopped saw Devontae Turpin go into gear to give the team a nearly 20-yard rush and 1st down.

Coach Riley wasn’t necessarily looking for more points, rather hoping to run the clock down and bring home the win. They were able to get it done, and take their second consecutive victory.

If it wasn’t for Bryan Scott getting injured early, it’s very possible the the Stars would have pulled this out. Case Cookus did well for the team, but De’Andre Johnson kicked it into gear for the Generals to push them over the line. New Jersey heads out of week three with a record of 2-1. Next week they take on the Pittsburgh Maulers, who have yet to get a win and saw no points this week.

Philadelphia will look to rebound against the Michigan Panthers, who coincidentally secured their first win earlier today against the Maulers. We’ll keep an eye out on the injury reports to see if Bryan Scott will make a return next Friday.

What was your favorite USFL matchup of week 3? Let us know down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.