Former Troy Trojan rallies Memphis Express past Birmingham Iron in overtime

The Birmingham Iron (4-3) squandered a two touchdown lead in the fourth quarter as the Memphis Express (2-5) rallied to earn a 31-25 win in overtime on March 24.

A win would have all but guaranteed the Iron a slot in the Eastern Conference Championship in the postseason, but the Express win keeps them alive in the playoff hunt while putting Birmingham’s fate in doubt.

The Iron has struggled all season on offense but seemed to gain some footing in last week’s win over San Diego and in the first two drives against Memphis this week.

Former Troy Trojan Brandon Silvers earned his first AAF star against Birmingham and led the Express to midfield before bogging down and being forced to punt.

The Iron then went on an 11-play, 94-yard scoring drive that saw Birmingham put together a well-balanced attack with former Alabama star Trent Richardson gaining 18 yards on three carries, while Iron quarterback Luis Perez completed all but one pass on the drive. Perez capped off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Braedon Bowman in the corner of the end zone.

The catch came in Bowman’s first game action since injuring his knee in week one. Richardson then pounded his way into the end-zone to convert the two-point try as the Iron took an 8-0 lead with 5:29 left in the first quarter.

Silvers then answered by driving the Express right down the field on a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped off by Terrence Magee’s 1-yard touchdown run with 14:56 left in the second quarter.

Silvers converted the two-point try with a pass to Daniel Williams to tie the game up 8-8.

Perez then completed a 28-yard pass to Quinton Patton and a 46-yard pass to Jamal Robinson to move the Iron down to the Memphis 1-yard line in just two plays.

Richardson then scored on the next play on a 1-yard plunge. Richardson converted the two-point try and Birmingham led 16-8 with 13:44 left in the second quarter.

That would be Richardson’s final run until the final seconds of the half.

Both teams offensively bogged down for the rest of the half with Birmingham’s final two drives being three-and-outs.

Midway through the second quarter former Texas A&M Heisman winning quarterback Johnny Manziel made his first AAF appearance for the Express and drove Memphis down the field. Memphis was unable to earn points on the drive, however, and missed on a 34-yard field goal.

With just under two minutes to go Birmingham’s Richardson took a screen pass 42 yards down to the Memphis 34-yard line but an offensive pass interference penalty thrown on Bowman wiped out the play and seemed to force the air out of the Iron offense.

Birmingham then simply ran the clock out rather than attempting to get into scoring position again.

Birmingham’s Nick Novak extended the Iron lead to 19-8 with a 28-yard field goal on the Iron’s first drive of the half in another drive that saw Birmingham mix things up with the run and the pass.

Silvers and Manziel traded possessions for the first few drives of the second half, but then the Iron offense again got bogged down and the Express special teams came alive.

The Express blocked an Iron punt and cornerback Terrell Bonds scooped the ball up and raced 50 yards for an Express touchdown to cut the Birmingham lead to 19-14 after a failed two-point try with 3:54 left in the third quarter.

The Iron marched down the field again in the fourth quarter on a 12-play, 75-yard drive once again keeping the Express defense off balance with the run and the pass. Perez capped off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Wes Saxton with 9:01 left in the game. The two-point try failed and Birmingham led 25-14.

Silvers then led Memphis on an excellent 9-play, 71-yard drive that was capped off by a 22-yard field goal by Austin MacGinnis with 4:16 left in the game to cut the Birmingham lead to 25-17.

Despite Memphis having just one timeout left in the game and just over four minutes left, the Iron did not attempt a single running play on its next drive. Perez threw three straight incompletions – which stopped the clock after each one – and gave the Express the ball back with more than three minutes remaining.

Silvers then marched the Express right down the field and scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Reece Horn with 24 seconds left to cut the lead 25-23.

Silvers then converted the two-point attempt with a pass to Brandon Barnes to tie the game up at 25-25.

The Iron didn’t attempt to score again in the fourth quarter and simply kneeled down once and took the game into overtime.

The Alliance’s overtime rules are that each team gets the ball on the opposing 10-yard line. No field goal attempts are allowed and if either both teams score a touchdown or neither team scores a touchdown then the game ends in a tie.

Birmingham attempted four straight passes, which resulted in three incompletions and a sack on the Iron’s overtime possession.

Perez was sacked on third down and then simply threw the ball out of the back of the end-zone on fourth down rather than at least throwing a jump ball to his receivers.

Birmingham’s final three drives of the game will certainly eat at the Iron, especially if the team ends up missing the playoffs.

Silvers wasted no time on his possession as he threw a 10-yard strike to Dan Williams on the second play of the drive for the game-winning touchdown as the Express came away with a 31-25 win.

Silvers went 24-for-35 with 266 yards and two touchdowns for Memphis, while Perez completed 16-of-37 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

All of the hype coming into this game was on new Memphis quarterback Manziel but other than a 36-yard pass in the first half his only other highlight was a near-fight he had with Iron defenders as Silvers took control of the offense.

Richardson rushed for 56 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown, but seven of his carries on the game came either on the goal line or in a short yardage situation. Another three attempts came as Birmingham ran the clock out in the first half.

The Birmingham defense – which was the top rated defense in the league for the first four weeks of the season – has come to pieces in the last three weeks giving up 468 yards to Orlando, 378 yards to San Diego and 339 yards to Memphis.

The Iron can still secure a playoff spot, no matter what else happens, if they win two of their final three games. The Iron will host the Atlanta Legends this Sunday, March 31, in Birmingham’s final home game of the season.