Stars, Stallions set for USFL title game
CANTON, Ohio - They know their record makes them the underdog. They also know they’ve handled adversity and other challenges all season long.
So the Philadelphia Stars are quite comfortable entering the USFL championship game as the underdog Sunday night against the Birmingham Stallions.
“Our record is what it is, but we feel ... any given time, particularly in pro football ... that any team can beat any team (on) any given day,” Stars head coach Bart Andrus said.
The title game is at 7:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The Stallions are 10-1 after winning last week’s semifinal against the New Orleans Breakers. Birmingham won the South Division title.
The Stars finished second in the North Division after a 6-4 regular season, but knocked off their division champ, the New Jersey Generals, in the semifinals.
The Stars have dealt with multiple adversities all season. Injuries played a major part in that. It started with losing their starting quarterback, Bryan Scott, early in the season with a knee injury. The Stars were up and down before winning four of the last five regular-season games.
According to Andrus, the mindset for the Stars is responding and not reacting. What it means to him is that responding through adversity is positive while reacting to it could lead to a negative result.
“These guys have come a long way,” Andrus said. “They fought with a lot of adversity. Every football team that I ever been associated with or been around ... always had to fight through adversity.”
The Stars’ next man up at QB, Case Cookus, accepted the challenge when his name was called after losing Scott. Cookus has thrown for 1,334 yards and 12 touchdowns in his nine games played.
His receivers never had an issue with chemistry. When Cookus replaced Scott, the first play he connected with receiver Jordan Suell on a post route.
“We got a bunch of playmakers that can break out with 50, 60 (yards), big touchdowns at any point,” Cookus said. “I don’t think there’s not any time in a game where we get too down on ourselves. We stay up and focus on the plays at hand.”
The Birmingham Stallions have been the top team in the USFL, including winning eight straight before losing to the Houston Gamblers on June 11.
“Our message for this game is we got to control what we need to control, and that is the product that goes between the lines,” Stallions head coach Skip Holtz said.
The last time the Stallions played the Stars was on May 15. Birmingham beat them 31-17, dropping the Stars to 2-3. The Stars then won four straight to lock up a playoff spot before a loss to end the regular season. The Stallions plan on not underestimating the Stars and are aware of how far they have come since their last meeting.