The Philadelphia Stars (3-3), coming off their second win of the season last week against New Jersey, hosted the first-place New Orleans Breakers (4-1) on Sunday afternoon from Ford Field.
The Stars had a tough task ahead of them against the best-scoring team in the USFL with McLeod Bethel-Thompson behind center, along with Wes Hills and Sage Surratt. New Orleans was an eight-point favorite. However, the Breakers were coming off their first loss of the season last week against Memphis.
In the first quarter, Philadelphia went on a 13-play drive with quarterback Case Cookus scoring an eight-yard touchdown but a holding penalty on Diondre Overton wiped it out. Philadelphia had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Luis Aguilar for a 3-0 lead with 6:16 left.
On the other side, Philadelphia’s defense contained New Orleans in the first half. They forced two punts as the Stars led 3-0 after one quarter. Philadelphia had the ball to begin the second quarter. Philadelphia took a 6-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal by Luis Aguilar with 11:45 left.
On New Orleans’s next drive, quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s pass intended for Dee Anderson was picked off by Amani Dennis and he took it to the house for a pick-six 72-yard touchdown, making it 13-0 Philadelphia with 9:46 left.
New Orleans responded on their next drive. The drive went 13 plays for 54 yards when McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Dee Anderson. It was now 13-7 Stars with 2:35 left. During that drive, Philadelphia defensive back Cody Brown was called for two penalties, including an unsportsmanlike penalty after the extra point was made.
Philadelphia led New Orleans 13-7 at halftime. Philadelphia’s offense had 204 yards in the first half. Quarterback Case Cookus completed 11 of 18 passes (61.1%) for 161 yards, and six carries for 18 yards. Running back Dexter Williams had three carries for 19 yards and three catches for 19 yards. Wide receivers Cory Coleman and Terry Wright combined with six catches for 98 yards. They were averaging 6.8 yards per play. Philadelphia was penalized four times for 39 yards.
For New Orleans, the Breakers had 99 yards on offense. McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 7 of 15 passes (46.7%) for 47 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Running back Wes Hills had 12 carries for 52 yards, and tight end Sage Surratt had two catches for 15 yards.
In the third quarter, Quarterback Case Cookus missed a wide-open Matt Colburn II twice. Instead, they punted the ball to New Orleans. New Orleans got closer to the Stars when Matt Coghlin made a 44-yard field goal and it was now 13-10 Philadelphia with 4:49 left.
On Philadelphia’s next drive, quarterback Case Cookus made a bone-headed play when he ran with the ball. Just before stepping out of bounds, Cookus tried to shovel the ball into the hands of Terry Wright but it went right into the hands of Nevelle Clarke for an interception. There was pushing and shoving afterward as Terry Wright was ejected from the game. Luckily, New Orleans kicker Matt Coghlin missed a 42-yard field goal with 1:43 left.
For the second drive in a row, Case Cookus threw another interception over the head of Devin Gray and into the arms of New Orleans defensive back Alex Thomas. Thomas made a nice diving interception on that play. Philadelphia’s defense bailed out Cookus when LaDarius Wiley intercepted McLeod Bethel-Thompson in the fourth quarter.
Philadelphia tacked on three more points on a 24-yard field goal by Luis Aguilar. It was now 16-10 Philadelphia with 3:15 left. Philadelphia’s defense made two more crucial stops and the Stars defeated the Breakers by the final score of 16-10. With the win, Philadelphia is now in first place in the North Division.
This was a close game but Philadelphia should’ve had more points on the board had there not been three penalties that took away 21 points, two of them by Diondre Overton. In addition, the offensive line did not allow a sack in the game. Philadelphia’s defense did a nice job containing Thompson. They allowed 256 yards, with 55 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, one touchdown, and seven pass breakups.
Quarterback Case Cookus finished the afternoon completing 17 of 27 passes (63%) for 238 yards, two interceptions, and nine carries for 62 yards. Running back Matt Colburn II led the rushers with 13 carries for 62 yards, and two catches for 13 yards. Wide receivers Corey Coleman and Diondre Overton combined with eight catches for 124 yards. Kicker Luis Aguilar converted three of four field goals (75%) with a long of 31 yards and made one extra point.
New Orleans quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 22 of 38 passes for 190 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Running back Wes Hills had 18 carries for 74 yards, and five catches for 30 yards, and wide receiver Jonathan Adams led the receivers with three catches for 33 yards.
New Orleans’s defense allowed 362 yards, with 60 tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions, and six pass breakups.
Next Saturday, the New Orleans Breakers host the Birmingham Stallions at 4 pm on FOX, while the Stars visit the Pittsburgh Maulers at 9 pm on FS1. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2023 USFL Season, and tickets for both games are available today on StubHub and Viagogo.
