UFL Debuts As Las Vegas Locomotives Defeat the California Redwoods

NFL News - October 9th, 2009 - Written by Scott

The UFL opened up their season on Thursday night featuring the California Redwoods against the Las Vegas Locomotives. The Locomotives would wind up the winner in the United Football League's debut football game 30-17. The UFL generally follows pretty much the same rules of the NFL. There are quite a few noticeable differences however. The referees wear solid red shirts with black pants. The yard line and end zone markers are lime green, as well as the side line crews vests. There are four teams in the UFL and each team will play a total of six games with the championship being held on November 27 in Las Vegas.

The Locomotives were led by their quarterback J.P. Losman who threw 2 touchdown passes on the night. Losman, who was previously with the Buffalo Bills, connected on 21 of 31 passes for 226 yards in the Locomotives win. Former Florida State place kicker scored the first points in the history of the UFL on a 33 yard field goal with 3:20 left in the first quarters to give Las Angeles a 3-0 lead. California quarterback Shane Boyd scored the league's first touchdown with 11:03 left in the second quarter to give the Redwoods a 7-3 lead. Cory Ross would extend California's lead to 14-3 on a 4 yard touchdown run. The Locomotives would respond with a one yard touchdown pass from Losman to running back Dede Dorsey to cut California's lead to 4 with 13 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

The Locomotives would take the lead for good early in the third quarter on an 11 yard touchdown pass from Losman to tight end Adam Bergen. Gano would later nail a 39 yard field goal to give Las Vegas a 20-14 lead. The Redwoods would respond on a 26 yard field goal from Parker Douglas to bring the California within 3. Gano would answer with his third field goal of the night from 53 yards out and give the Locomotives a 23-17 lead.

The debut game of the UFL did not have quite the turnout that some had anticipated. The game was played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Nevada which holds 40,000 and there were only 14,209 in attendance. The UFL could be a tough draw with their league running at the same time as the NFL. Despite the low turnout, the league seems to have gotten off to a good start.

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