BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Duane Butler scored on a 98-yard interception return with less than two minutes to play as the Birmingham Bolts beat the Chicago Enforcers 14-3 in the XFL on Sunday.
“I saw the pass and just broke on the ball and was able to grab it and there wasn’t anybody in front of me,” Butler said.
The interception was the third turnover by Chicago. The others also came in Birmingham territory, including a fumble by running back John Avery in the first quarter.
“We had interceptions and fumbles at the wrong times and when you do that it makes for a long day,” Chicago coach Ron Meyer said.
Birmingham improved to 2-1, and Chicago dropped to 0-3.
Avery came into the game as the league’s second-leading rusher. He gained 96 yards against the Bolts’ defense that limited the Enforcers to 164 total yards. The Enforcers’ only score came on a 33-yard field goal by Andy Crossland in the first quarter.
Bolts linebacker James Willis, the league’s leading tackler, had 11 stops. Butler had nine tackles and defensive back Chris Shelling had eight.
James Bostic, who played at Auburn, scored the Bolts’ other touchdown on a 2-yard run with 1:36 left in the first half. Bostic rushed for 82 yards on 23 carries.
Bolts quarterback Casey Weldon completed 16 of 27 passes for 152 yards. Stepfret Williams was Weldon’s favorite target, catching seven passes for 81 yards.
With the temperature in the 40s, the crowd was considerably down from the more than 36,000 who attended the Bolts’ opener two weeks ago. The announced crowd Sunday was 17,582.
The game featured offsetting personal foul penalties that seemed to be borrowed from the XFL’s relative, the WWF. After a third-quarter play, Enforcers’ tackle Christopher Perez chopped Willis below the neck, almost mimicking a wrestling move. Willis stumbled backward, then shoved Perez to the ground.
Summary
XFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CHICAGO 3 0 0 0 3
BIRMINGHAM 0 7 0 7 14 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: CHI - FG, ANDY CROSLAND 33 YD, 7:52. Drive: 5 plays, 35
yards in 2:38. Key plays: Lester 22-yard pass
to Bailey to Birmingham 22. CHICAGO 3-0
2ND QUARTER: BIR - TD, JAMES BOSTIC 2 YD RUN (CASEY WELDON PASS TO
STEPFRET WILLIAMS FOR CONVERISON), 13:24.
Drive: 7 plays, 63 yards in 2:09. Key plays: 24
YARD PASS FROM WELDON TO WILLIAMS TO CHICAGO 6
YARD LINE. BIRMINGHAM 7-3
3RD QUARTER: NONE
4TH QUARTER: BIR - TD, DUANE BUTLER 98 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (JAMES
BOSTIC RUN FOR CONVERISON), 13:20. BIRMINGHAM
14-3
TEAM STATISTICS
CHI BIR
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 16 15
Rushing 6 7
Passing 9 8
Penalty 1 0
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4-11 5-12
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-1 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 270 242
Total plays 56 56
Average gain 4.8 4.3
NET YARDS RUSHING 101 90
Rushes 24 29
Average per rush 4.2 3.1
NET YARDS PASSING 169 152
Completed-attempted 15-30 16-27
Yards per pass 5.3 5.6
Sacked-yards lost 2-5 0-0
Had intercepted 2 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-39.5 3-31.3
RETURN YARDAGE 80 154
Punts-returns 3-31 4-18
Kickoffs-returns 3-49 2-38
Interceptions-returns 0-0 2-98
PENALTIES-YARDS 8-55 2-20
FUMBLES-LOST 1-1 1-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 28:18 31:42
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: None.
Chicago rushing: John Avery 20-87, Kevin Mcdougal 1-9, Tim Lester
3-5.
Birmingham rushing: James Bostic 23-77, Casey Weldon 3-11, Curtis
Alexander 2-3, Team 1-minus 1.
Chicago passing: Tim Lester 12-24 for 145 yards, 2 INT, 0 TD, Kevin
Mcdougal 3-6 for 34 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD, Team 0-0 for minus 5 yards, 0
INT, 0 TD.
Birmingham passing: Casey Weldon 16-27 for 152 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
Chicago receiving: Aaron Bailey 5-89, Roell Preston 3-29, Willie Tate
3-19, Fred Coleman 1-20, Junior Lord 1-11, John Avery 1-7, Tyji
Armstong 1-4, Team 0-minus 5.
Birmingham receiving: Stepfret Williams 7-81, Quincy Jackson 4-45, Ed
Smith 3-14, Reggie Johnson 1-8, Kaipo Mcguire 1-4.
Chicago tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Aaron Humphrey 7-4-0, Ray
Austin 5-4-0, Jamie Baisley 4-2-0, Larry Fitzpatrick 5-1-0, Dorian
Brew 4-1-0, Jason Bray 4-1-0, Kevin Mccullar 2-2-0, Jason Chorak
4-0-0, Kerry Cooks 2-1-0, Matt Finkes 1-1-0, Quincy Coleman 1-1-0,
Corey Ivy 1-1-0, Charles Wiley 0-1-0, John Avery 0-1-0, Leshon
Johnson 0-1-0, Aaron Bailey 0-1-0, Chike Egbuniwe 0-1-0, Hubert
Thompson 0-1-0, Donald Mccall 0-1-0.
Birmingham tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): James Willis 6-5-0,
Duane Butler 7-2-0, Chris Shelling 5-3-0, Dion Foxx 3-3-0, Keith
Franklin 3-2-0, Sedrick Curry 4-0-0, Johnny Mitchell 2-1-1, Charles
Preston 1-1-0, Jarett Loggins 1-1-0, Quinton Reese 1-1-1, Jimmy
Brumbaugh 0-2-0, Malcolm Hamilton 1-0-0, Eric Sloan 1-0-0, Patrick
Scott 0-1-0.
Interceptions: Birmingham (Duane Butler 1 for 98 yards, Calvin
Jackson 1 for 0 yards).
Fumbles lost: Chicago (John Avery).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Birmingham (Calvin Jackson).
Officials: Referee-Steve Pamon, Umpire-Richard Brown, Head
linesman-Derick Bowers, Line judge-Tod Reese, Back judge-Scott
Helverson, Side judge-Michael Sheahan, Field judge-Michael Banks.
A: 17,582; T: 2:43.
