'85 Chronology-Defense Rests

Event Date: June 17th, 1985

Event Description: Advance Notice

Source: PFW-UPI

The nickel defense paid big dividends for the Houston Gamblers on Sunday afternoon.

Dennis DeVaughn picked off Vince Evans and raced 57 yards for a touchdown with just over a minute left in the game to help defending USFL champion Houston to a 46-30 victory over the Denver Gold.

“We were in the nickel defense with an extra back,” said Houston coach Jack Pardee. “This was a real good victory for this team. We showed class in the game. I'm proud of this team as we fought hard from beginning to end.”

“We were in double rotation nickel coverage, and I had a short area of responsibility,” DeVaughn said. “I made a hell of a break for the ball and then took it in. My main thing was to make sure I had the ball. I think he (Evans) never really saw me. We disguised the defense to make him think it was a man-to-man.’

Evans attributed the loss to errors.

“I can't throw deep on them. We just made a couple of mistakes, and mine were the most glaring.”

Leonard Harris hauled in a 41-yard touchdown pass from Evans giving the Gold an early 10-0 lead only to see Houston score 21 unanswered points in the second quarter.

The first Houston score came via a ten-yard run from Jim Kelly which was quickly followed up with a 43-yard punt return by Gerald McNeil as the Gamblers moved out to a 14-10 lead. 

Houston took a 28-17 lead into the intermission when Kelly found McNeil for a 51-yard scoring strike with just over one minute left to play in the half.

In the final frame, Bill Johnson powered his way into the end zone after with a 12-yard run as Denver cut the Houston lead down to 31-23.

Houston took a 39-23 lead when Kelly connected with Ricky Sanders on a nine-yard score and Todd Fowler converted a two-point conversion try.

A 62-yard pass from Evans to Bill Johnson pulled the Gold to within 39-30 with just over three minutes left in the contest.

The other game of the day saw the Michigan Panthers blowout Los Angeles by a score of 48-14 as Bobby Hebert tossed five touchdowns and John Williams rushed for 137 yards with one score.

The Panthers shredded the Los Angeles secondary as both Anthony Carter and Derek Holloway went over the 100-yard mark with Carter scoring twice and Holloway finding paydirt three more times.

The Panthers will now host Houston in next weeks’ western Conference title game.

Story-(UPI Modified)