Stallions Gallop Past Showboats to Stay Unbeaten

The Birmingham Stallions continued their dominant start to the 1986 season with a commanding 31–7 road victory over the winless Memphis Showboats on Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Bowl. Running back Joe Cribbs delivered a vintage performance, piling up 204 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just 19 carries, while also leading the team in receiving with 98 yards on nine catches. Cribbs opened the scoring with a pair of first-quarter touchdowns and closed the door late with a 20-yard burst, capping off a 7-play, 80-yard drive that exemplified Birmingham’s balance and control.

Quarterback Cliff Stoudt managed the offense effectively, completing 22 of 48 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown to Joey Jones, but it was the Stallions’ ground game and swarming defense that stole the show. Birmingham racked up 514 yards of total offense and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes, wearing down a Memphis defense that struggled with missed tackles and couldn’t find answers for Cribbs. Meanwhile, the Stallions’ pass rush harassed Memphis quarterback Walter Lewis all game, sacking him six times and intercepting three passes—including picks by Tommy Haynes, David Evans, and Dennis Wood.

Memphis briefly showed signs of life with a 13-play, 78-yard scoring drive late in the third quarter, capped by Leonard Williams’ 1-yard plunge. But the Showboats’ offense was too inconsistent to mount a serious comeback. Despite a couple of big plays from receiver Greg Moser and a solid return effort from Williams, the turnovers and lack of protection for Lewis proved costly. Birmingham improves to 3–0 with the win and looks every bit the Southern Division favorite, while Memphis falls to 0–3 and continues to search for stability on both sides of the ball.