By Gary Lambrecht 
Baltimore Sun, Aug. 20, 1995

   Carlos Huerta kicked a 20-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter, and Memphis coach Pepper Rodgers did the Baltimore Stallions an enormous favor with some questionable goal-line offensive strategy, as the Baltimore Stallions recovered from a disastrous start to escape with a 16-13 victory over the Mad Dogs at the Liberty Bowl last night. 
   The Stallions (6-3) reached the regular season's midpoint by stopping a two-game losing streak and maintaining their first-place position in the Canadian Football League's Southern Division. They did it with another terrific defensive effort and some assistance from the Mad Dogs. After Huerta kicked a 20-yard field goal, his third of the night, with 8:14 left in the game, the Mad Dogs, who managed only three points in the second half, stormed back. Kendrick Jones returned Huerta's ensuing kickoff 71 yards to the Baltimore 19. Two plays later, Stallions cornerback Courtney Griffin was called for pass interference in the end zone, giving Memphis a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. There, the Baltimore defense stood tall, stopping fullback Bruce Perkins twice on dive plays up the middle. But on third-and-goal, Rodgers elected to go for the touchdown instead of the tie, and Stallions nose tackle Jearld Baylis dropped running Charles Miles for no gain, giving Baltimore the ball. That was it for the Mad Dogs. 
   Memphis opened the game with something Baltimore hasn't managed in a long time - a time-consuming drive that produced points. Memphis also got help from two offside penalties against Baltimore that negated sacks by the Stallions. On the game's second play from scrimmage, Elfrid Payton dropped Memphis quarterback Rickey Foggie for a sack, but Payton was ruled offside, giving the Mad Dogs new life. That gave Foggie the chance to complete a 27-yard pass to slotback Gary Anderson to the Stallions' 37. Two plays later on second-and-six, Baltimore linebacker O.J. Brigance was called for offsides after dropping Foggie for a 7-yard loss, giving the Mad Dogs a first down at the 28. Foggie's 10-yard completion to Mark Walczak, followed by three runs by fullback Perkins up the middle that gave Memphis a second-and-goal at the Stallions' 6. There, Brigance burst up the middle to sack Foggie, forcing the Mad Dogs to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Nick Mystrom that gave Memphis a 3-0 lead with 7:56 to go in the quarter. 
   The Stallions' defense set up Baltimore's first score, which came on a 47-yard field goal by Huerta, on the second quarter's opening play. Late in the first quarter, Memphis decided to go for a first down on a third and-one at their 48, a strategy that worked near midfield on its opening possession. This time, however, defensive tackle Demetrious Maxis stopped Memphis running back Al Shipman for no gain, giving the Stallions the ball. A 9-yard pass play from Tracy Ham to Reggie Perry moved the ball to the Memphis 37, but disaster struck on the next play. Ham handed off to Robert Drummond, who ran into Pringle in the backfield, as Drummond was tackled for no gain. On the play, defensive end Alex Gordon dragged down Drummond and rolled into offensive tackle Shar Pourdanesh, sending him to the sidelines after re-spraining both ankles he had injured earlier this season. Ham was sacked by Tim Cofield on the next play, bringing on Huerta to salvage the drive. The teams exchanged punts, then turnovers, and Ham then struggled through a brutal sequence. 
   After Grant Carter recovered a fumbled hand-off exchange between Foggie and Shipman, stopping a Memphis drive at the Baltimore 18, Ham tried to hit Shannon Culver down the right sideline. But halfback Eric Nelson, who picked off Ham on the Memphis goal line last week, stepped in front of Culver near midfield, and returned the interception 33 yards to the Stallions' 17. On the next play, Foggie hit Jones over the middle for a 17-yard touchdown that put the Mad Dogs on top, 10-3 with 5:19 left in the half. Baltimore's next possession ended with Ham's second interception of the quarter, as he underthrew Culver and was picked off by Damion Lyons. But Baltimore linebacker Jason Bryant, starting in place of the injured Matt Goodwin, intercepted Foggie at midfield. The Stallions stalled again, but regained new life by executing a fake punt perfectly. Robert Davis snapped the ball to Peter Tuipulotu, who pitched to Drummond, who gained 18 yards for a first down at the Memphis 38. Ham then hit Tuipulotu for 14 yards, and found Perry for 23 to the Memphis one. Two plays later, Pringle scored from the 1 with 25 seconds left, bringing the contest to a 10-10 tie at the half. 
   The Stallions picked up where they left off to start the second half, marching 67 yards in 11 plays over five minutes, 35 seconds. Huerta ended it by giving Baltimore a 13-10 lead with a 13-yard field goal. Near the end of the drive, Ham bruised his hand when he hit a Memphis helmet while following through on a pass completion to Culver inside the Memphis 10. Shawn Jones came on in relief of Ham, completing a short pass to Perry to set up Huerta's field goal.
   Ham returned to start the fourth quarter. After Huerta's field goal, Memphis tied the score at 13 on a drive aided by a roughing the kicker call against Bryant, who took too much of an inside angle on punter Aaron Kanner and plowed into him after missing the block by inches.
   The Mad Dogs, with the help of the resulting 15-yard penalty, took over at the Stallions' 47. After Perkins ran for four yards, Foggie scrambled out of trouble and connected with Horn for 16 yards to the Baltimore 27. Three plays later, Mystrom kicked a 35-yard field goal to tie the score at 13 with 3:32 left in the quarter.

STALLIONS' GOAL-LINE STAND IS SHINING MOMENT IN WIN
Pourdanesh re-sprains both ankles

By Gary Lambrecht 
Baltimore Sun, Aug. 21, 1995

   The Baltimore Stallions lost a star offensive lineman, nearly lost their quarterback, and with five minutes left in Saturday's rematch with the Memphis Mad Dogs, appeared on the verge of losing a heartbreaking decision. But, with their backs to their own end zone, Baltimore's defense produced the defining moment of its season to save a 16-13 victory at the Liberty Bowl. 
   The Stallions (6-3) reached the regular season's midpoint by snapping a two-game losing streak to remain in first place in the Canadian Football League's Southern Division. And they won because they refused to allow the Mad Dogs, who had shredded Baltimore's defense for 168 yards in last week's 25-15 Memphis victory, to gain one yard on three straight attempts.
   Carlos Huerta had kicked a 19-yard field goal with 8:14 left to give Baltimore a 16-13 lead, completing its comeback from a 10-3 first-half deficit. But Kendrick Jones returned Huerta's ensuing kickoff 73 yards to the Baltimore 19-yard line. Two plays later, Stallions cornerback Courtney Griffin committed pass interference in the Baltimore end zone, giving Memphis (4-5) a first-and-goal at the Stallions' 1. Twice, fullback Bruce Perkins went up the middle, where he was stopped, first by rookie linebacker Jason Bryant, then rookie tackle Demetrious Maxie.
   Then, on third down, Memphis coach Pepper Rodgers elected to go for the touchdown instead of a short, game-tying field goal. This time, running back Charles Miles got the call. Stallions tackles Jearld Baylis and Robert Davis dragged him down for no gain. Baltimore took over at the 1, then ran out the clock with two efficient possessions. "Me and Swac [rush end Elfrid Payton] probably had the best view, because we were outside, protecting against the bootleg," said end Grant Carter, who earlier had recovered a fumble, knocked down a pass and sacked quarterback Rickey Foggie. "It was pretty to watch. This is some kind of defense. Baylis wasn't surprised at Rodgers' decision. "I thought they would try to put it in the end zone. That way, they would force us to score again. That's exactly the way I'd feel [in that situation]."
   From there, quarterback Tracy Ham, who had left the game early in the third quarter after he hurt his hand by hitting it on the helmet of a Memphis player, put the finishing touches on another gutsy performance. Dropping back into the end zone on first down, he completed a 27-yard pass to Chris Armstrong to give Baltimore breathing room. Baltimore's offensive line, hit by the loss of left tackle Shar Pourdanesh after he re-sprained both ankles on a second-quarter play - he was replaced capably by the versatile Mike Withycombe - then sealed the victory by opening holes for Mike Pringle, who gained valuable chunks of his 122 rushing yards in the closing minutes. The defense came up big again. It held the Mad Dogs to 205 yards, including just 71 on the ground. They limited Memphis to a field goal and 31 yards in the second half and sacked Foggie three times. 
   The only touchdown the Stallions surrendered came during a disastrous second quarter, when Pourdanesh - who is doubtful for Saturday's game against Toronto - was helped off the field and Ham threw two interceptions. Ham showed his mettle by returning from his hand injury to complete eight straight passes. He finished with 14 completions in 18 attempts for 144 yards.
   Initially, Ham said his hand was numb. Then, the pain was so bad that he could not take a snap from under center until late in the game. "Once I got it X-rayed and they were negative, I knew I was going back in," Ham said. "This is one of those games where you don't want to call it a must-win, but you know you've got to win it."