The Dallas Diesel will move on in the World Football League playoffs after a 34-14 victory over the Kansas Kaos. The win will most likely send the Diesel to Iowa to play the Sharks.
The Diesel got off to a slow start Saturday night not scoring until 9:04 left in the second quarter. Both teams struggled to move the ball, and when they did, they were unable to finish with a score.
Diesel Helmet
“We have a tendency to start our train out a little slow,” said Diesel coach Jackie Bridges after the game. “We do know that playing against the better teams, that ain’t going to cut it. We have to start out from the word ‘go’, and we haven’t been doing that lately, but hopefully we can get it rolling [next week].”
For the Diesel, the running game once again was the strength of the team as running back Canoya “Coco” Jefferson scored two touchdowns. “They were a pretty tough defense, they were physical. But hey, you know, I’m a physical runner,” Jefferson said after the game. “I just try to take advantage of my power, my quickness and speed. I feel like I’m the total package, and I feel like I showed that here tonight.”
With 4:21 left in the second quarter, Jefferson scored his second touchdown putting the Diesel up 14-0. However, the scoring wasn’t over. The Kaos used a two-minute drill to move the ball down the field, and with 1:12 left in the half, got on the scoreboard making it 14-7.
Not to be outdone, the Diesel took advantage of a 75 yard kick-off return by Richard Morris putting the ball on the Kaos 10 yard line with 58 seconds left in the half. The Kaos dug in to keep the Diesel out of the end-zone, but the Diesel connected on a field goal to make it 17-7 at half time.
The second half was a little more exciting from the beginning. After a series of punts, Glen Johnson intercepted a Kaos pass returning the ball to the Kaos 15 yard line with 11:18 left in the third quarter. However, the Diesel was turned back on a turnover, squandering an opportunity to put distance between themselves and the Kaos. However, later in the third quarter, the Diesel got their chance gain as quarterback Trey Fields found an open Richard Morris with 3:25 left making the score 24-7.
Coco scored two touchdowns for the Diesel
The Diesel were able to receive more opportunities from the Kaos to get their final two touchdowns. With 2:28 left in the third quarter, the Diesel’s Rodrick Brown blocked a Kaos punt giving the Diesel the ball at the Kansas’ 16 yard line. Brown had just missed several punts all night even getting a partial block earlier. The Diesel wasted little time scoring as Fields hooked up with Chris Anderson at 1:31 left in the third giving the Diesel a 31-7 lead.
The Kaos scored with 11:25 in the fourth quarter making the score 31-14 Diesel. However, the Diesel extended the score with 7:08 left in the game when they kicked a field goal making the score 34-14. Finally, with a little over six minutes left in the game, Johnson intercepted a half back pass putting the game away for the Diesel and securing an appearance in the second round of the WFL Playoffs.
Slide Show from Diesel vs. Kaos
