August 15, 1974
By Marty Fischbein
NEW YORK - "We breathed a little easier with this one," said a happy New York Stars' Coach Babe Parilli as he followed his team off the field last night after a 38-16 win over the Portland Storm, in a World Football League game at Downing Stadium.
A crowd of 16,222 watched the Stars roll to their fourth straight victory after two defeats, giving them sole possession of second in the Eastern Division, a game behind the Florida Blazers.
Parilli said "We were all aware of what happened to us against Birmingham when we blew a 29-3 lead in the last quarter. We talked about it at halftime, and we weren't about to let it happen again."
"Although we were the top running team in the league, we knew we could pass against them and started throwing early.
"Sauer (George) really broke out, but we would still like to hit our backs more."
Sauer, who came into the game as the club's leading receiver with 16 catches for 215 yards, caught seven for 92 yards and two touchdowns.
The Stars took advantage of a fumbled punt by Darrell Mitchell, which Ed White recovered on the six yard line, to start the scoring.
Bob Gladieux was stopped for no gain, but quarterback Tom Sherman ran the end for a touchdown.
With Andy Huff carrying on four of six plays, the Stars went 57 yards for another score. Huff carried over from the four. An action point pass from Sherman to Sauer was stopped short of the goal line, and the Stars led 23-0 at halftime.
Richards took the second half kickoff from his own three to the 31, and the Stars went the rest of the way in eight plays with Sherman passing to Sauer from the three for a touchdown.
Sherman said, "On the second touchdown pass to Sauer, he wasn't the primary receiver. He got loose and was all alone waving at me so I threw to him."
The Storm got both its touchdowns in the final minute and 43 seconds of the game.
Greg Barton, who relieved starting quarterback Ken Johnson midway in the third period, capped a 12-play 69-yard march with a 15-yard pass to Jim Krieg. After the Storm recovered a blocked kick on the New York 12, Barton hit Ken Matthews for another touchdown at the gun.
Bob Hermanni, former Toms River High School South star, ran back two punts for nine yards and a kickoff for 14.
He was inserted in the lineup as a wide receiver with 6:25 left, but was used mainly as a decoy.
Hermanni said. "I thought we played well, except for the two late touchdowns they got.
"I felt we let up when we got 38-0 ahead."