By Gary Lambrecht 
Baltimore Sun, Sept. 11, 1995

   The Baltimore Stallions recovered from a persistent offensive slump by scoring 17 fourth-quarter points to post a come-from-behind, 28-20 victory over the Birmingham Barracudas before 29,013 at Memorial Stadium last night. In a game that saw the lead change hands four times in the second half, Baltimore had the last word, as quarterback Tracy Ham and slotback Chris Armstrong teamed up for a 4-yard touchdown with 5:52 left to give the Stallions a 25-20 lead. Carlos Huerta sealed the victory with a 24-yard field goal with 1:26 left, his fourth of the evening. "I think that is a classic example of finding a way to win when things aren't going right for you," Baltimore coach Don Matthews said. "Things weren't going right. We were drawing too many penalties and shooting ourselves in the foot, but the players hung in there." The Stallions (9-3) won their third straight game and dropped Birmingham (6-5) into a second-place tie with San Antonio in the Canadian Football League's Southern Division. 
   The Stallions opened the game with a seven play, 58-yard drive to take a 3-0 lead. On the drive's second play, Ham hooked up with Armstrong for a 39-yard gain down the left sideline to move the ball to the Birmingham 27. Ham perfectly executed a naked bootleg on the next play for a 14-yard gain around the right side. Three plays later, Huerta kicked an 18-yard field goal to give Baltimore the early lead. The Stallions then botched an onside kick attempt, although they forced a Birmingham punt quickly. The Barracudas were able to pin the Stallions back on their 3. No problem. Baltimore, led by Ham's precise touch, coverted four straight second-down opportunities to move the ball just across midfield. On the first two changes, Ham hit Armstrong for gains of 12 and 14 yards, then teamed up with fullback Peter Tuipulotu for 14 yards to the Baltimore 45. The drive stalled shortly after that, but Josh Miller's 50-yard punt pinned the Barracudas inside their 5. 
   On Birmingham's first play from scrimmage, Matt Dunigan dropped back in the end zone, and Baltimore linebacker O.J. Brigance charged around the right side untouched to drop Dunigan for a safety touch that put Baltimore on top, 5-0, with 4:38 left in the half. The Barracudas didn't gain a yard until late in the first quarter, when Dunigan completed a 13-yard pass to Marcus Grant, giving Birmingham 10 yards to show for the quarter. The Barracudas finally showed some life early in the second quarter, when Dunigan threw a swing pass to Keith Woodside, who, with the help of a great block by Fred Childress, rambled for a 39-yard gain to the Baltimore 19. Still, Birmingham couldn't cash in, as Birmingham kicker Luis Zendejas' 19-yard field goal attempt hit the left upright with 8:03 left in the half. Birmingham finally scored on its next possession, after Jason Phillips beat Baltimore halfback Charles Anthony down the left sideline for a 54-yard completion from Dunigan. But a face mask penalty ruined that drive, leaving Scott Player to score by booming a 48-yard punt into the Stallions' end zone, where Chris Wright downed it for a Birmingham single. With 4:33 left in the half, Baltimore led, 5-1. The rest of the half was little more than a battle of the punters, as the ball changed hands five times, with no points to show for those possessions. 
   After rolling up seven first downs and 132 yards in the first quarter, the Stallions managed only three first downs and 36 yards in the second half. Ham was sacked five times in the half. Dunigan brought Birmingham right back, hitting Woodside for 12 yards, the Phillips for 26, who shook two Baltimore tacklers with an excellent move. Zendejas' 42-yard field goal pulled the Barracudas to within 8-7 with 8:57 left in the quarter. Wright's 60-yard return then set up a 38-yard field goal by Huerta with 7:46 left, giving the Stallions an 11-7 lead. But Birmingham finally scored the game's first touchdown, as Dunigan opened the Barracudas' next drive with a 39-yard completion to Phillips. Two offsides penalties against Baltimore then gave Dunigan the chance to throw a perfect, 35-yard strike to Grant to give Birmingham a 14-11 lead, its first of the game, with 5:34 left in the period. Wright fumbled away the ensuing kickoff return, setting up Zendejas' 33-yard field goal, making it 17-11 with 4:17 to go. 
   The Stallions then suddenly put together their best drive of the night, an 11-play, 71-yard march that was saved by a fake punt, when Tuipulotu took the short snap and gained 13 yards to the Birmingham 52. Ham completed 16-yard passes to Armstrong and Tuipulot, then scrambled for seven yards. Two plays later, Wright, filling for Tuipulotu, who was temporarily shaken up, took a swing pass from Ham, burst down the left sideline, broke a tackle at the five, and scored to complete a 20-yard touchdown, Baltimore's first of the night.

ARMSTRONG CATCHES ON IN WIN 
6 receptions help fill Pringle void

By Kent Baker 
Baltimore Sun, Sept. 10, 1995

   Mike Pringle, their all-purpose yardage leader, was on the sidelines with a tight left hamstring. The Birmingham defense was jammed into the middle, predicated on stopping Robert Drummind, Pringle's stand-in, and whomever else tried to run. So, the Baltimore Stallions went airborne last night and the result was the first 100-yard receiving game of the season for Chris Armstrong, who also scored the key touchdown in their 28-20 victory over the Barracudas at Memorial Stadium. 
   "It was time for me to step my play up," said Armstrong, who caught six passes for 103 yards, including a 4-yarder with 6:02 to play in the game that gave Baltimore the lead for good. "I haven't had as much emotion as I had last year and I've been frustrated with some of the things they've been doing to me defensively. "It has been getting me down and I've allowed that. Tonight, I just wanted to play and have fun." Armstrong had been rationed to just one touchdown pass in the previous games as opponents concentrated heavy coverage on the Stallions' top reciever this year and last. 
   "He's been getting doubled a lot," said quarterback Tracy Ham, whose 315 yards passing was his best output of 1995. "People tend to take away what's been good for you. "The only thing I can do is look for him on my next read." Armstrong said the Stallions simply "had to stay together and show our maturity" after the team suffered through a lackluster first half offensively. "We were moving the ball well the first half, but not scoring. One thing or another, a penalty, a dropped ball, was stopping us." "They [Birmingham] had a lot of people in the box to stop our run. It would have been nice to have Mike, but we have a lot of good running backs. They were just geared to stop us." 
   "Fortunately, I was able to pick it up and the offensive line did a good job in the second half." After routing the Barracudas during the exhibition season and by 36-8 in their first regular-season meeting, the Stallions were running into a good team that figured to be inspired. "When you see a team for the third time, the guy on the other side knows your moves and you know his," said Armstrong. "So, it comes down to getting yourself more mentally ready than him." 
   Another Stallion who was obviously prepared was Chris Wright, whose 271 all-purpose yards enabled him to leapfrog the idle Pringle into the CFL lead. "I was up and down like a roller coaster," said Wright, whose lost fumble set up the Birmingham field goal that put the Stallions behind, 17-11, late in the third quarter. But he also caught the scoring pass that regained the lead for Baltimore, 18-17, and returned a kickoff 60 yards to pave the way for a field goal. "I didn't get down on myself after the fumble," said Wright. "They gave me the opportunity to make some plays and it worked out." Wright, perhaps the leading candidate for CFL rookie of the year, now has 1,817 all-purpose yards to Pringle's 1,726. "That's what football is about, excitement," said Wright. "We found a way to win tonight. We were a little frustrated at one point, but we got back together. "I know I don't want to see Birmingham again, although we might in the playoffs. Every game it seems like they're getting better and better."

STALLIONS' HAM PICKS UP PACE IN SATURDAY WIN

By Gary Lambrecht 
Baltimore Sun, Sept. 11, 1995

   The defense turned in its usual fine effort, as did the special teams. But more than anything, Baltimore's come-from-behind, 28-20 victory over the Birmingham Barracudas on Saturday showed the Stallions are still Tracy Ham's team. Baltimore veteran quarterback produced his best game of the season, on a night when the Stallions, without the services of star running back Mike Pringle, needed Ham to do so. Trailing 17-11 late in the third quarter, Ham led the Stallions on two critical touchdown drives, each of which he ended with scoring passes. "We made some mistakes early in the game," said Ham, alluding to a first half in which Baltimore produced only a 5-1 halftime lead, despite holding the ball for nearly 20 minutes. 
   The Stallions, hurt by the loss of right guard John Earle to a sprained ankle - Mark Dixon played the rest of the game in his place - punted eight times in the half, when Ham was sacked five times. "It's so critical in our offense, for everybody to be where they're supposed to be," Ham said. "There's a lot of little things that nobody understands but us players." 
   What everyone understood was in the fourth quarter, Ham made the right decisions and accurate throws at key points to lead the Stallions (9-3) to their fourth consecutive victory, extending their first-place lead in the CFL's Southern Division. His 20-yard touchdown pass to backup running back Chris Wright, who gained most of his 181 all-purpose yards with excellent kickoff returns, gave the Stallions an 18-17 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. That drive was aided immeasurably by fullback Peter Tuipulotu. On third-and-nine, he took a short punt snap and gained 13 yards. Then, after the Barracudas retook the lead on a field goal by Luis Zendejas five minutes into the quarter, Ham led the Stallions on a game-winning, 69-yard march. He completed four of five passes on the drive. 
   "The offense slowed down a little bit, but they still put the ball in the red zone," said linebacker O.J. Brigance, who contributed four special-teams tackles and sacked Birmingham quarterback Matt Dunigan in the end zone for a safety touch in the first half. "And when the key time came, they put the ball in the end zone." 
   NOTES: Receiver Mike Cook, who was first activated last week, strained ligaments in his left knee and will be out four to six weeks....Tuipulotu also had his most productive game of this season with 81 all-purpose yards, 67 of them coming on six pass receptions....Chuck Thompson was added to the Memorial Stadium Ring of Honor at halftime....The Stallions play back-to-back, home-and-home series against Shreveport and Saskatchewan over the next month.