Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got playoff football in June. The rebooted USFL — unlike the AAF and XFL before it — completed a full 10-game regular season and is now kicking off the postseason with a pair of Saturday semifinals in Canton, Ohio. The winners will play for the championship a week from Sunday.
Saturday started with a thrilling game between the New Jersey Generals (9-1) and the Philadelphia Stars (6-4). The Stars, who lost both of their regular-season games against the Generals, recorded a 19-14 win on Saturday to snap New Jersey’s nine-game winning streak. Philadelphia took the lead for good on Maurice Alexander’s 88-yard punt return for a score with 1:41 left. Amani Dennis’ pick moments later sealed the win for the Stars, who have won five of their last six games.
The Stars took a 10-0 halftime lead on the strength of QB Case Cookus and a defense that forced a key turnover in the red zone that led to Cookus’ touchdown run. Philadelphia looked poised to tack on to their lead at the start of the second forcing and recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff. But the Generals responded with safety Mike Bell’s critical interception deep in New Jersey territory.
Following the pick, Perez hit Darius Shepard for a 59-yard gain to set up USFL Offensive Player of the Year Darius Victor’s touchdown run on fourth-and-goal. USFL MVP KaVontae Turpin then gave the Generals their first lead on a 78-yard punt return for a score with 10:30 remaining. Down 14-13, the Stars’ defense forced a critical stop that ultimately led to Alexander’s game-winning score.
Saturday’s second semifinal pits the Birmingham Stallions (9-1) against the New Orleans Breakers (6-4) at 8 p.m. ET on NBC (stream on fuboTV, try for free). Birmingham was unbeaten until Week 9 and beat the Breakers twice, but won the most recent meeting by a single point. The Stallions are a 5-point favorite.
Keep it locked here all day for the latest updates from both playoff games in our live blog below:
USFL semifinals
Philadelphia Stars 19, New Jersey Generals 14
Birmingham Stallions vs. New Orleans Breakers, 8 p.m. ET
