CANTON, Ohio — The New Orleans Breakers season comes to a close after a 31-17 loss to the Birmingham Stallions Saturday night in the USFL playoffs.
With the loss, the Breakers finish the USFL season with a 6-5 record, 0-3 against the Stallions, and 1-4 in games played on a Saturday.
Breakers head coach Larry Fedora says the loss Saturday night boiled down to just two things, explosive plays and turnovers.
Just before the half, Birmingham’s Victor Bolden ripped off a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to give the Stallions a 21-14 lead at the break.
The Stallions defense held the Breakers to just 62 yards rushing and forced quarterback Kyle Sloter to throw two interceptions in the first half.
The first resulted in a pick-six that gave Birmingham a14-7 lead. The second happened in enemy territory at the Stallions 33-yard line.
Sloter finished the night with 327 yards passing with one touchdown and the two picks.
“They made fewer mistakes than we did and that’s why they came out on top. The team that made the most mistakes didn’t win. So, we’ve got to give them credit for the flawless game that they played. I’m sure Skip(Holtz) wouldn’t probably say it was flawless but they didn’t turn the ball over. They took care of the ball and did the things you need to do to win and make the plays you need to make,” says New Orleans Breakers head coach Larry Fedora.
Former Louisiana Tech and current Birmingham quarterback, J’Mar Smith was bright spot for the Stallions with 190 yards passing and one touchdown.
Smith added 48-yards rushing and the 2-yard touchdown run that sealed their semi-final win Saturday night.
A bright spot for the Breakers all season long has been tight end Sal Cannella who finished Saturday night’s game with 12 catches for 154 yards.
“Sal had a great game. Sal is a great player. I would imagine Sal is going to have a chance to play beyond this,” says Fedora.
