1992: Surge Edge Dragons in WLAF Playoff Game

The World League of American Football Semifinal playoff game in Sacramento on May 31, 1992 featured the Sacramento Surge, 8-2 winners of the North American West Division, and the Barcelona Dragons, who went 5-5 in placing first in the European Division.

The Surge were coached by Kay Stephenson and featured the WLAF’s Offensive Player of the Year in QB David Archer, a 30-year-old NFL journeyman.  RB Mike Pringle, who had been on Atlanta’s practice squad and would go on to a Hall of Fame career in Canada, and WR Eddie Brown from the CFL were the other key offensive stars. Future Seattle Seahawks star DE Michael Sinclair recorded 10 sacks on defense.

Barcelona had made it to the WLAF Championship game, the World Bowl, in ’91 but, after starting strong in 1992, lost five straight games to close out the regular season, although it didn’t cost the Dragons their division title. Former Boston College coach Jack Bicknell was the team’s head coach while QB Scott Erney (pictured above) directed the offense and WR Thomas Woods was the top receiver.

There were 23,640 fans in attendance on a hot midafternoon at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium. The first quarter was scoreless, with Barcelona’s defense effectively shutting down Sacramento’s attack, but less than three minutes into the second quarter the Surge took the lead on a 12-yard interception return by CB Louis Riddick. Cary Blanchard added the extra point.

That was it until the closing seconds of the half when Teddy Garcia kicked a 35-yard field goal for Barcelona that made the halftime score 7-3 in favor of Sacramento.

Early in the third quarter the Surge scored again (and again not on offense) when Eddie Brown returned a punt 86 yards for a TD. Blanchard successfully converted. Down by 14-3, the Dragons began to mount a comeback that started with a big play of their own. Scott Erney completed a pass to WR Dempsey Norman for a 90-yard touchdown. The try for a two-point conversion failed, but the Surge’s lead was narrowed to 14-9.

Late in the period, Erney threw another scoring pass, this time to TE Demetrius Davis from nine yards out. Again the attempt to add two points failed, but Barcelona now was ahead by 15-14.

Barcelona failed to add points when Garcia was wide on a 43-yard field goal try with 7:43 left to play. In response, the offensively-stymied Surge put together their best series of the game and Blanchard kicked a 46-yard field goal that just made it over the crossbar with 3:54 remaining on the clock.

The Dragons still had an opportunity to pull the game out, but an apparent 60-yard touchdown on a pass from Erney to Thomas Wood was nullified by an illegal motion penalty on Davis. Sacramento held on to win by a 17-15 score.

Barcelona significantly outgained the Surge, 341 yards to 82, had 18 first downs to Sacramento’s eight, and dominated time of possession by 40:17 to 19:43. Each team had a turnover, but the Dragons were hurt by nine penalties, at a cost of 75 yards, to four flags thrown on the Surge.

David Archer completed only 9 of 26 passes for 76 yards and gave up an interception. RB Tony Burse was Sacramento’s top receiver, hauling in four catches for 34 yards. Eddie Brown, the Surge’s most productive receiver during the regular season, failed to catch any passes although he had the long punt return for a score. Mike Pringle led the equally anemic running attack with 18 yards on 7 carries.

For the Dragons, Scott Erney was successful on 24 of 45 throws for 271 yards and two touchdowns, giving up one interception. He also rushed for 27 yards on five carries while RB Joe Mickles led the club with 43 yards on 10 attempts. Thomas Woods and WR Tony Moss each had 6 pass receptions, for 44 and 26 yards, respectively, while Dempsey Norman, thanks to the long scoring catch, gained 104 yards on his three receptions.

Sacramento advanced to the World Bowl and defeated the Orlando Thunder for the WLAF Championship. It was the end for the two-year-old franchise, as the developmental league went on hiatus and, when it returned in 1995, was a strictly European circuit. The Dragons were part of that revamped NFL Europe, appearing in three World Bowls and winning one of them, until folding following the 2003 season.

1992: Sacramento Defeats Orlando for WLAF Championship

The second season of the World League of American Football, the NFL’s Spring developmental league, concluded with the Sacramento Surge facing the Orlando Thunder in the World Bowl on June 6, 1992.

Sacramento, coached by Kay Stephenson, topped the North American West Division with an 8-2 record.  QB David Archer (pictured above), a veteran NFL backup, was the league’s top passer and WR Eddie Brown, a product of the CFL, topped the developmental circuit with 1011 yards on 48 catches, 12 of which were good for touchdowns. RB Mike Pringle, also from the CFL, was effective both running and catching the ball out of the backfield. The defense was anchored by DE Michael Sinclair, who recorded 10 sacks and would go on to become a Pro Bowl player for the Seahawks. The Surge edged Barcelona 17-15 in the first playoff round to advance to the World Bowl.

The Thunder were coached by Galen Hall and also went 8-2 in finishing first in the North American East Division. QB Scott Mitchell was on loan from the Miami Dolphins and showed his potential by passing for 2213 yards, which ranked second in the league. WR Joe Johnson was the best of the receivers, while Darryl Clack, a disappointment with the Dallas Cowboys who had gone to Canada, was the best of the ground gainers. Orlando thrashed the Birmingham Fire by a score of 45-7 to qualify for the World Bowl.

There were 43,759 fans in attendance for the Saturday night game at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Orlando took the early lead in the first quarter thanks to a 12-play, 98-yard drive that was helped along by penalties. Scott Mitchell capped the series with a 10-yard scoring pass to WR Chris Ford and Tracy Bennett added the extra point.

Cary Blanchard kicked a 32-yard field goal at 4:16 into the second quarter to get the Surge on the board, but the Thunder got a break when Eddie Brown fumbled a punt inside his ten yard line. Mitchell threw to WR Willie Davis along the sideline for an eight-yard TD and Bennett’s successful point after made the score 14-3.

With 54 seconds remaining in the half, Orlando’s Bennett added a 20-yard field goal to make it a 14-point margin, but the scoring wasn’t yet over when Archer threw to Brown for a 35-yard gain that set up a 24-yard Blanchard field goal with one second left on the clock. The tally stood at 17-6 in favor of Orlando at halftime.

The third quarter was scoreless and Sacramento was still down by 11 points entering the final period, but the Surge narrowed the gap. Less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, David Archer threw to TE Paul Green for a 12-yard touchdown and then tossed a pass to WR Mark Stock for a two-point conversion that made it a 17-14 contest.

The Surge had a chance to tie the score on their next possession, but Blanchard was wide on a 31-yard field goal attempt. However, Sacramento got the ball back on an interception of a Mitchell pass by LB Mike Jones, who returned it 12 yards to the Orlando 34. Archer tossed a screen pass to Mike Pringle that gained 31 yards to the three and three plays later, with 5:44 to play, Archer connected with Brown in the left corner of the end zone for a three-yard touchdown. Blanchard added the extra point, and that was it as the Surge held on for a 21-17 win and the Championship.

The Surge significantly outgained Orlando (402 yards to 203) and had more first downs (24 to 15). Sacramento also led in turnovers with four, however, to three suffered by the Thunder. Each team recorded two sacks.

David Archer completed 22 of 33 passes for 286 yards and the two fourth quarter touchdowns while giving up one interception. Mike Pringle rushed for 84 yards on 17 carries and caught two passes for 37 more yards. Eddie Brown topped the Sacramento receivers with 8 catches for 78 yards and included the game-winning TD.

For the Thunder, Scott Mitchell was successful on 18 of 41 throws for 187 yards, also with two TDs and one interception. Joe Johnson had 7 pass receptions for 79 yards. The running game was practically nonexistent, with a total of just 35 yards on 11 attempts, and the individual leader was Darryl Clack, who gained 20 yards on 8 carries.

The 1992 season marked the end for both Sacramento and Orlando as the league went on hiatus and, when it returned in ’95, it was based entirely in Europe. The CFL expanded to Sacramento and David Archer was that team’s quarterback. Mike Pringle also played for the CFL’s Sacramento club for a year before moving on to Baltimore, Montreal, and Edmonton in what ended up being a Hall of Fame career. He led the league in rushing six times and finished as the CFL’s career ground-gaining leader with 16,424 yards. Eddie Brown also continued on in Canada, catching 532 passes for 8663 yards and 60 TDs with six teams (he also had a brief hiatus in the Arena Football League).

Scott Mitchell backed up Dan Marino in Miami for two seasons, performing well enough when starting in the place of the injured Marino in 1993 to gain a large free agent contract from the Lions. While he showed some flashes of ability, most notably in ’95 when he threw for 4338 yards and 32 TDs, his career ultimately failed to live up to that early promise.