Who says there’s no offense in the XFL?
Certainly not the Memphis Maniax, who scored four touchdowns in its first win ever in front of a home crowd (an announced 17,434) at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The final touchdown came on a 26-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jim Druckenmiller to wide receiver Daryl Hobbs with 20 seconds left in the game, giving the Maniax (3-3) a 29-23 win over the Chicago Enforcers (1-5).
After the game, Maniax head coach Kippy Brown told his team, “It doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win.”
Giving the home fans that first win came against unlikely odds. The Maniax started the game without top wide-receiver Kevin Prentiss who tore the ACL in his knee during last week’s loss to the still-undefeated Orlando Rage. However, during the second half of Saturday’s game, the Maniax had to do without either of their top-two running backs as well. Rashaan Salaam suffered a game-ending right shoulder bruise and Rafael Cooper left the game with a right knee strain. Before leaving the game, Salaam ran for 35 yards on 8 plays and scored a touchdown.
Without their powerful running attack, Brown knew the Maniax had to rely on its passing game. Says Brown, “I told my receivers at half-time, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got to come to you.’ And I put it on our offensive line [as well].”
They responded in a big way.
Druckenmiller completed 26 out of 40 passes for a combined 413 yards, 3 TD, and 1 interception (a play brought about by what Brown calls a moment of “temporary insanity” on Druck’s part). Druckenmiller also ran the ball 6 times for 54 yards.
Complementing Druckenmiller, Maniax wide-receiver Charles Jordan caught 10 catches for 240 yards and a touchdown while Hobbs caught 7 passes for 101 yards and including the game-winning score.
The win puts Memphis back in the Western Division playoff hunt with four games left. Next week, the Maniax travel to play the New York/New Jersey Hitmen.
