Week 7 will see an exciting game on Saturday evening, as the San Antonio Commanders, first in the Western Conference with a 4-2 record, welcome the Salt Lake Stallions to town, last in the conference. San Antonio is riding a three-game winning streak after demolishing Atlanta last weekend, 37-6. Salt Lake is also coming off a victory, crushing Memphis 22-9.
These two teams have not met yet this season.
Saturday, March 23, 2019 at 8:00 ET at Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Woodrum Lead Stallions to 22-9 Taming of Express
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After a disappointing two point loss to San Diego week before, the Salt Lake Stallions rebounded by jumping out to a 19 point lead over the Memphis Express before closing it out with a 22-9 victory. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Salt Lake.
It was all Stallions coming out of the first quarter. Quarterback Josh Woodrum threw two touchdown passes in the quarter and added two two-point conversion tosses to stake his team to a 16-0 lead. Taylor Bertolet would add a 26 yard field goal before Memphis would finally get on the board with nine straight points. However, Bertolet would add a late field goal to extend the lead back to 13, sealing the victory.
Woodrum threw for 243 yards, completing 24 of 37 passes for two touchdowns. Joel Bouagnon rushed for 60 yards on 19 carries and Nick Truesdell had five receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown. Karter Schult, Tenny Palepoi, and Chris Odom were a force in this contest, with each recording two sacks.
Woodrum is settling into the quarterback position, completing 64.2% of his passes for 1066 yards. He has thrown five touchdowns this season but has also thrown five interceptions. The running game is led by Bouagnon, who has 280 yards rushing on 77 carries, a mediocre 3.6 yards per carry average, but he also has five rushing touchdowns. De-Mornay Pierson-El leads the team in receiving with 28 catches for 317 yards. Truesdell has three touchdown receptions the season.
The defense is getting plenty of pressure on quarterbacks, recording 17 sacks this season. That starts with Schult, who has seven to lead the AAF. They have only generated five turnovers, however.
Commanders Thrash Legends, 37-6
After struggling out of the gate, the San Antonio Commanders have won their last three games to climb to the top of the Western Conference in the AAF. The win streak began with two narrow victories, defeating Birmingham by one in Arizona by four, but last week the team rode their defense and special teams to a 37-6 thrashing of the Atlanta Legends.
After Kenneth Farrow scored from 13 yards out to give his team a 6-0 lead coming out of the first quarter, the Commanders would get a pair of touchdown passes from Logan Woodside to extend their lead to 20. Atlanta was able to cut the lead to 14, but a 79 yard punt return by Greg Ward, Jr. and a 32 yard interception return for a touchdown by Derron Smith would help stake San Antonio to the 37-6 victory.
The offense only had the ball for 25:43, but made the most of their opportunities. Woodside finished the day 17 of 23 passing for 164 yards and two scores. Cam Clear led the team with five receptions for 45 yards. The defense recorded three interceptions on the day and recovered a fumble.
Woodside is getting more comfortable with the offense, completing 99 of 173 passes for a 57.2 completion percentage. He has thrown for 1189 yards and six touchdowns this season, but also has six interceptions. Farrow leads the team in rushing with 340 yards and four touchdowns on 87 carries and Mekale McKay is the team’s leading receiver with 21 receptions for 354 yards and three touchdowns.
The defense has been outstanding this season at making plays. They have recorded 12 interceptions already, including four by defensive back De’Vante Bausby. Smith and Zack Sanchez followed close behind with three apiece.
The Winner Prediction
San Antonio is the better team at this point, but the deciding factor in this contest is going to be turnovers. Both quarterbacks have been a little loose with the ball, and that will likely be the difference maker in this game. Considering the fact that San Antonio has a group of ball hawks on defense, this bodes well for them to have another big day defensively. Look for San Antonio to dominate in the second half on their way to victory.
The Pick:San Antonio Commanders (-8.0) (-110)
The Total
The total is set at 41.0 in this contest, and we would normally think that’s a little high. However, we are expecting to see at least five interceptions in this contest, giving opposing offenses good field position. That’s going to result in a higher scoring affair, as we expect the San Antonio Commanders to win, 35-17.
The Pick:over 41.0(-110)