Stars lean on Case Cookus-Corey Coleman connection in comeback win over Maulers

Eric Williams

NFC West writer

CANTON, Ohio – All Corey Coleman wanted was a chance.

Late in the third quarter with his team trailing, Philadelphia Stars quarterback Case Cookus called Coleman’s number, and he made a big play that turned the game around.

After a missed 54-yard field goal by Pittsburgh Maulers kicker Chris Blewitt, Cookus found Coleman wide open for a 56-yard throw and catch for a score—Philadelphia’s longest play of the year—giving the Stars the lead for good in a 37- 31 win on Saturday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

With the win, the Stars secured their third successive win and improved to 4–3 on the year at the top of the North Division. The Maulers fell to 2-5.

The piece was Coleman’s second TD of the year. He shook himself free from Pittsburgh cornerback Keith Gibson Jr. in press coverage at the line of scrimmage. After Gibson fell, Coleman was faster than Mauler’s safety Eli Walker to the pylon.

Highlights: Cookus, Coleman leading for Stars

“I came to Case and Coach (head coach Bart Andrus) and said, ‘Let’s go to the left side,’” Coleman said. “That’s just the confidence they have in me. We called the play. We picked it up and lit the tape.”

Baylor’s former NFL first-round draft pick finished with four receptions for 75 yards, while fellow Philadelphia receiver Devin Gray also added four receptions for 75 yards.

Cookus finished 18 of 30 for 235 yards with two touchdowns. However, Cookus threw his eighth interception of the season through seven games. He only had five interceptions during the regular season last year.

Taking part in Saturday’s game, both teams struggled to get points on the board, but in the first half they scored a combined 44 points. The Maulers scored on four of their first five possessions in the first half, but were held to just a touchdown in the second half.

The Stars entered Saturday’s USFL game last in a rush, but relied on the running game to create balance and get the football moving. Philadelphia also played fast early on, using pace to keep one of the Maulers, one of the top defenses in the USFL, off balance.

The Stars entered Saturday’s game after failing to score a touchdown in two games, settling for 11 field goals on 19 drives. But running back Matthew Colburn II hit 83 yards on 20 carries and two rushing touchdowns.

Colburn, Philadelphia’s leading rusher last season, entered Saturday’s game with just 169 rushing yards in six games.

“At the beginning of the season, we started off a little rough in terms of the run game,” said Colburn. “But I believe we’ve gotten better every week. We’ve focused on our assignments and we’ve focused on our technique — everything you need to have a successful running game. And we’re starting a really good bunch on this moment.”

Pittsburgh quarterback Troy Williams led the Maulers offensively, finishing 18-of-28 for 145 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Williams also topped the Maulers in rushing with 48 yards.

Receiver Isiah Hennie had a 17-yard touchdown reception and a 69-yard punt return late, leading to a 1-yard touchdown run by Garrett Groshek with 2:01 left in the game, cutting Philadelphia’s lead to 34- 31.

The Maulers went for the fourth and twelfth conversion games, but Williams was sacked by Stars edge rusher Adam Rodriguez. Williams was fired five times.

Aguilar added a 38-yard field goal for the final score. Horton lamented that the Maulers missed a 58-yard field goal from Blewitt because Pittsburgh was called for a game delay, which would have meant the Maulers needed only a field goal at the end to tie the game.

Pittsburgh finished with seven accepted penalty kicks for 50 yards and has a total of 17 penalty kicks for 140 yards over the last two games.

“I need to get my team to be more disciplined,” said Horton. “It’s not them, it’s me. I told the team I apologize for the number of penalties we got. That’s a reflection of me.”

Simmons proves an asset in terms of returns

Kick returner Joshua Simmons had an impressive night for Pittsburgh on special teams. Simmons had an impressive 88-yard kick return for a first quarter score that put the Maulers up 14-10.

And at the end of the first half, Simmons smartly stepped out of bounds before hitting the kickoff on the 8-yard line that might have stayed in bounds. Instead, Lirim Hajrullahu’s kick was disallowed and the Maulers got the ball in midfield.

The Maulers moved the ball to the Philadelphia 31-yard line and Blewitt made a 49-yard field goal to put Pittsburgh up 24–20 at halftime.

In the second half, Simmons had another big return, but was stripped of the ball by Samuel Akem, with Amani Dennis recovering the fumble and returning the ball to the Pittsburgh 48-yard line.

But Simmons was saved when Cookus threw an interception to Pittsburgh defensive back Arnold Tarpley III in the end zone.

Injury updates

Philadelphia Stars receiver Terry Wright had to leave the game due to shortness of breath. Early on, Wright had two big returns to put the Stars in good field position to start the game, one for 58 and one for 48 yards.

Cookus also left the game in the first half after he seemed to get the wind out of him and fell on the football after being tripped by Pittsburgh linebacker Kyahva Tezino. Cookus returned to the field for the next series.

Eric D. Williams has covered the NFL for more than a decade, including the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @eric_d_williams.

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