USFL Week 7: Stars rally in fourth to stun Gamblers

After an action-packed weekend, Week 7 of the USFL season concluded Sunday with a stunning finish, as the Philadelphia Stars rallied to beat the Houston Gamblers, 35-24.

It was the sixth straight defeat for the Gamblers (1-6), who have not won a game since Week 1.

Meanwhile, Philly (4-3) has kicked things into gear, winning three of its last four. 

Here are the top plays from Sunday’s game.

Philadelphia Stars 35, Houston Gamblers 24

That was fast

Houston was well aware of the stakes and struck early with an aggressive approach on defense. 

The Gamblers rushed Case Cookus with a storm of pressure, hitting him to force a wobbly underthrow. The pass was picked off and taken to the house by Houston’s Donald Payne Jr.

With four minutes to spare before halftime, the Stars’ Matt Colburn III rushed for a 4-yard touchdown, putting Philly in the lead, 13-10.  

But Houston managed to squeeze in one more touchdown before the end of the half. Kenji Bahar completed a 6-yard pass to Brandon Barnes for a TD, putting the Gamblers back up 17-13 just 17 seconds before the break. 

After both teams punted on their initial third-quarter drives, the Gamblers put together a seven-play, 70-yard drive, extending their lead to 24-13 thanks to Mark Thompson’s 9-yard touchdown run.

The Stars tried to answer back, going for it on fourth down, but the Gamblers hunkered down and stopped them.

At the end of the third, the Gamblers led 24-13. 

In the first few seconds of the final quarter, Case Cookus threw the ball up for Jordan Suell for a 39-yard touchdown pass. That helped the Stars cut the deficit to 24-20 with 14:55 left in the fourth. 

Philadelphia then took advantage of a Houston missed field goal, taking a 27-24 lead after Darnell Holland capped a 10-play 61-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. 

On Houston’s next drive Channing Stribling intercepted a pass attempt by Bahar. 

Philly immediately flipped that into a field goal, taking a one-touchdown lead, 30-24 with 2:25 left in the game. 

After a Bahar fumble, Stars kicker Luis Aguilar nailed a 41-yard field goal to extend the lead to 33-24.

Then, to top everything off, the game ended with a safety. Philly outscored Houston 22-0 in the fourth quarter. Once again after leading in the second half, the Gamblers fall to 1-6 on the season and Philly improved to 4-3. 

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USFL – Stars vs. Gamblers – 5/29/2022