The Southern California Sun
were off to a 3-1 start in the second World Football League season as they
hosted the Philadelphia Bell on August 29, 1975. Under the guidance of Head
Coach Tom Fears, the Sun were benefiting from the presence of rookie RB Anthony
Davis, a local star out of USC who had spurned the New York Jets to become the
troubled WFL’s lone high-profile rookie signing for ’75. It had been
anticipated that ex-Raider Daryle Lamonica would take over at quarterback for
departed 1974 co-MVP Tony Adams, but injuries kept him off the field and
another rookie from Southern Cal, Pat Haden (pictured at right), stepped into the starting role
after overcoming a preseason injury. But while the offense could put points on
the board, there were concerns about the defense, especially when star DT Dave
Roller was knocked out of action with an injury the previous week.
Philadelphia
had undergone coaching turmoil during the preseason, but was now guided by
ex-Green Bay Hall of Famer Willie Wood, a pioneering African-American head
coach. The Bell had also picked up QB Bob Davis
from the Florida Blazers, who beat out the flamboyant Jim “King” Corcoran for
the starting job, as well as RB J.J. Jennings from Memphis and TE Ted Kwalick from the NFL
49ers. The Bell
came into the contest at 2-2.
There was a paltry crowd of 17,811 on hand at Anaheim
Stadium for the Friday night game. Philadelphia
had the first scoring opportunity, but a 38-yard field goal by Bob Cooper was
nullified by a penalty and the follow-up attempt was blocked.
On Southern California’s
first play, Anthony Davis threw an option pass to wide-open WR Dave Williams
that resulted in a 51-yard touchdown. Davis
successfully ran for the action point (in the WFL, touchdowns were good for
seven points and were then followed up by an “action point” that could not be
kicked). It was the beginning of a big first half for the 10th-year
veteran Williams.
The Bell evened the score when RB John Land ran for a
two-yard TD to cap a seven-play, 54-yard drive, followed by Bob Davis throwing
to Land for the action point, but the Sun came right back when Anthony Davis
returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for another touchdown. While they failed
to convert the action point attempt, the Sun had a 15-8 lead – and had run just
one play from scrimmage.
Before the first quarter was over, Williams scored again to
cap a 72-yard drive, this time on a pass from Haden that covered 37 yards. The
Sun again failed to add the action point but still held a 22-8 lead.
The Sun poured it on in the second quarter, with FB Greg
Herd scoring on a one-yard carry set up by a pass interference call in the end
zone (followed by a successful action point conversion on a run by backup QB
Mike Ernst), and Williams adding two more TD catches from Haden on plays that
covered 15 and 38 yards. Ted Kwalick caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Bob
Davis (and caught another pass to convert the action point), but Southern California maintained a solid 44-16 lead at the
half.
The Bell didn’t give up as Davis tossed three more
touchdown passes in the second half, of eight yards to WR Ron Holliday in the
third quarter and, in the final period, of 13 yards to ex-Eagles veteran WR Ben
Hawkins and 49 yards to a future Eagles special teams star, WR Vince Papale.
Two of the action point attempts were successful.
The Sun added a one-yard TD carry by RB Bill Kramer in the
third quarter and an eight-yard run by RB Gary Dixon in the fourth. Both action
point attempts failed, but they weren’t needed as Southern
California prevailed by a score of 58-39. To add insult to injury
for the Bell, the local television station that
was showing the game in Philadelphia
pulled the plug on the telecast because it was running too late.
The 97 points scored made it the highest-scoring game in the
WFL’s brief history. The Sun rolled up 508 total yards – with 233 coming on the
ground – to 436 for Philadelphia,
trying vainly to play catch-up throughout most of the game. Southern California
also had the edge in first downs (25 to 22) while the Bell led in turnovers (3 to 2) and penalties
(14, at a cost of 152 yards, to 10 flags for 96 yards thrown on the home team).
Anthony Davis (pictured below) had another noteworthy performance, rushing
for 115 yards on 21 carries, throwing a touchdown pass, and returning a kickoff
for another TD. Pat Haden completed 13 of 21 passes for 207 yards with three
touchdowns and had one intercepted. Dave Williams was the receiving star with 6
catches for 179 yards and four scores.
For the Bell,
Bob Davis was successful on 21 of 46 throws for 285 yards and four TDs along
with two interceptions. John Land ran for 55 yards on 12 carries that included
a touchdown and J.J. Jennings was right behind with 10 attempts for 52 yards. Land
and Ben Hawkins each caught 5 passes (for 44 and 42 yards, respectively) and
Ted Kwalick gained 93 yards on his four receptions.
“All week we talked about containing (Anthony) Davis,” said a
disappointed Coach Willie Wood. “Then the first time the Sun has the ball he
goes around end and throws for the 51-yard touchdown. We got flat, we lost
concentration because of that play.”
Southern California
compiled a 7-5 record and was in first place in the Western Division when the
WFL abruptly folded in October. The Bell
were at the bottom of the Eastern Division at 4-7.
Anthony Davis was outstanding, comfortably leading the
league in rushing (1200 yards), rushing touchdowns (16), and scoring (133
points) after 12 games. He went on to play in the CFL, NFL, and USFL, but never
came close to the same level of performance.
Pat Haden was off to Oxford
as a Rhodes Scholar before the league folded, but would return to pro football
with the NFL’s Rams for six years. Dave Williams finished off his pro career by
catching 21 passes, 9 of which were good for touchdowns. He gained 327 yards
(15.6 avg.) and the scoring reception from Anthony Davis was his longest of the
year.
