Editor’s Note: The games for the Legends of the American Football League simulation are played on computer with Action! PC Football. The contests are played with the “coaching” by a human as well as computer simulation. One season per franchise was selected for league play with the 10 teams that merged with the National Football League competing for the championship. Stories from the action will appear on Press Room Pass each Sunday until the completion of the 14-week regular season and playoffs.
For the second straight week, Babe Parilli was the best player in the American Football League.
After leading the Boston Patriots a comeback win just seven days ago, Parilli threw for 404 yards and six touchdowns in a 45-35 victory over the Houston Oilers.
Parilli’s favorite target in the contest as he completed 20-of-37 passes was Gino Cappelletti, who finished with eight grabs for 100 yards and three scores.
In addition to his receiving scores, Cappelletti booted a 48-yard field goal and kicked six PATs to finish with 27 points.
Art Graham caught Parilli’s first TD pass in the opening stanza as the Patriots took an early 7-0 lead.
Houston tied at the 6:23 mark of the second quarter as George Blanda hooked up with Bill Groman on a 19-yard scoring strike.
However, the period really belonged to Parilli and Cappelletti as the duo combined for touchdown passes of 10 and seven yards in the final two minutes.
Cappelletti kicked his field goal as time ran out just before the intermission as the Patriots led 24-7 at the break.
Blanda answered with a pair of touchdown passes as the Oilers closed the gap by the end of the third quarter to 24-21 as Charley Hennigan (11 yards) and Groman (14 yards) had the receptions.
Early in the final period, Mark Johnston intercepted a Parilli pass and returned it 42 yards as the Oilers took a 28-24 lead.
Parilli responded by throwing three touchdown passes to Cappeletti (25 yards), Tony Romeo (33 yards) and Graham (27 yards) to put the game away with a 45-28 advantage.
Blanda found Hennigan for a 22-yard score with 5:29 remaining. However from that point, the Boston defense clamped down on the Oilers.
64 Boston 45, 60 Houston 35
Scoring Summary
1 4:24 64 Boston TD Parilli 24 pass to Graham (Cappelletti) (7-80-3:44) 0-7
2 6:23 60 Houston TD Blanda 19 pass to Groman (Blanda) (2-19-0:54) 7-7
2 2:06 64 Boston TD Parilli 10 pass to Cappelletti (Cappelletti) (7-60-3:05 7-14
2 1:29 64 Boston TD Parilli 7 pass to Cappelletti (Cappelletti) (2-17-0:18) 7-21
2 0:00 64 Boston FG Cappelletti 48 (3-36-0:28) 7-24
3 10:17 60 Houston TD Blanda 11 pass to Hennigan (Blanda) (9-63-4:30) 14-24
3 7:00 60 Houston TD Blanda 14 pass to Groman (Blanda) (4-42-2:03) 21-24
4 14:49 60 Houston TD Johnston 42 interception return (Blanda) 28-24
4 10:43 64 Boston TD Parilli 25 pass to Cappelletti (Cappelletti) (6-45-0:54 28-31
4 7:24 64 Boston TD Parilli 33 pass to Romeo (Cappelletti) (2-56-1:05) 28-38
4 6:45 64 Boston TD Parilli 27 pass to Graham (Cappelletti) (1-27-0:15) 28-45
4 5:29 60 Houston TD Blanda 22 pass to Hennigan (Blanda) (3-64-1:06) 35-45
Passing
Hou: Blanda 43/21 295 Yds 4 TDs 4 Int
Bos: Parilli 37/20 404 Yds 6 TDs Int
Rushing
Hou: Cannon 8/46, Tolar 8/35, Cline 3/10, Smith 1/6, Blanda 1/2
Bos: Garron 16/31, Garrett 6/8, Burton 4/3
Receiving
Hou: Hennigan 9/134 2 TDs, Groman 8/124 2 TDs, Carson 2/14, Tolar 2/24, Cannon 1/8
Bos: Cappelletti 8/128 3 TDs, Garron 4/68, Graham 4/90 2 TDs, Romeo 3/92 TD
Defense
Hou: Johnston Int(TD) 7-Tk, Allen Sk FF 4-Tk, Dukes Sk FF 4-Tk, Floyd Sk 5-Tk
Bos: Webb 2-Int 7-Tk, O’Hanley Int 9-Tk, Addison Int FF 3-Tk, Buoniconti 8-Tk
Here’s a look at the rest of the week four box scores
68 New York 49, 68 Miami 21
Scoring Summary
1 9:33 68 New York TD Namath 10 pass to Sauer (Turner,J) (7-36-4:11) 7-0
2 11:59 68 Miami TD Griese 7 pass to Moreau (Keyes) (3-57-1:51) 7-7
2 11:26 68 New York TD Snell 67 run (Turner,J) (1-67-0:23) 14-7
2 6:50 68 Miami TD Csonka 13 run (Keyes) (8-71-4:24) 14-14
2 0:47 68 New York TD Boozer 11 run (Turner,J) (13-74-5:53) 21-14
3 11:21 68 New York TD Sample 9 interception return (Turner,J) 28-14
3 10:02 68 New York TD McAdams blk punt ret -14 (Turner,J) 35-14
3 0:13 68 New York TD Namath 7 pass to Maynard (Turner,J) (9-81-6:12) 42-14
4 10:17 68 New York TD Namath 15 pass to Sauer (Turner,J) (1-15-0:11) 49-14
4 7:40 68 Miami TD Griese 22 pass to Twilley (Keyes) (5-74-2:30) 49-21
Passing
NYA: Namath 20/15 229 Yds 3 TDs Int
Mia: Griese 32/12 159 Yds 2 TDs 4 Int
Rushing
NYA: Snell 10/98 TD, Boozer 11/63 TD, Mathis 9/26, Joe 1/2, Namath 1/1, Smolinski 3/1
Mia: Csonka 10/117 TD, Griese 4/14, Kiick 5/14
Receiving
NYA: Sauer 7/113 2 TDs, Maynard 4/53 TD, Lammons 4/63
Mia: Noonan 5/86, Twilley 3/37 TD, Kiick 2/19, Moreau 2/17 TD
Defense
NYA: Philbin 2-Sks 3-Tk, Elliott Sk FF 5-Tk, Baker 2-Int Tk, Sample Int(TD) 2-Tk
Mia: Westmoreland Int 6-Tk
69 Kansas City 21, 69 Cincinnati 7
Scoring Summary
2 14:43 69 Kansas City TD Hayes 18 run (Stenerud) (12-86-7:56) 7-0
2 8:07 69 Kansas City TD Dawson 13 pass to Taylor (Stenerud) (8-61-4:53) 14-0
4 12:53 69 Kansas City TD Hayes 2 run (Stenerud) (8-66-4:39) 21-0
4 1:00 69 Cincinnati TD Cook 7 pass to Trumpy (Muhlmann) (10-77-1:49) 21-7
Passing
KC: Dawson 18/12 153 Yds TD Int
Cin: Cook 22/12 160 Yds TD Int
Rushing
KC: Hayes 13/98 2 TDs, McVea 21/92, Garrett 4/23, Holmes 3/13
Cin: Robinson 15/39, Phillips 7/29
Receiving
KC: Taylor 5/71 TD, Pitts 4/51, Garrett 1/5, Arbanas 1/13, McVea 1/13
Cin: Trumpy 5/67 TD, Robinson 2/12, Thomas 2/32, Crabtree 2/45, Phillips 1/4
Defense
KC: Culp 2-Sks 4-Tk, Bell Sk FF 6-Tk, Brown 2-Sks 3-Tk, Mays Sk FF 2-Tk, Robinson Int
Cin: Bergey Int 9-Tk, Peterson 11-Tk
64 Buffalo 31, 62 Denver 14
Scoring Summary
1 2:48 64 Buffalo TD Gilchrist 2 run (Gogolak) (11-87-6:43) 7-0
2 2:00 64 Buffalo TD Saimes 13 interception return (Gogolak) 14-0
3 11:54 64 Buffalo FG Gogolak 26 (5-51-2:59) 17-0
3 11:20 62 Denver TD Tripucka 75 pass to Scarpitto (Fraser) (1-75-0:20) 17-7
3 7:07 64 Buffalo TD Kemp 31 pass to Dubenion (Gogolak) (6-73-4:02) 24-7
3 0:58 62 Denver TD Tripucka 21 pass to Scarpitto (Fraser) (5-55-3:14) 24-14
4 9:56 64 Buffalo TD Kemp 18 pass to Dubenion (Gogolak) (10-64-5:49) 31-14
Passing
Buf: Kemp 19/9 191 Yds 2 TDs
Den: Tripucka 40/23 321 Yds 2 TDs 3 Int, Stone 2/2 22 Yds
Rushing
Buf: Gilchrist 20/73 TD, Kemp 1/44, Auer 16/38
Den: Stone 10/28, Dickinson 5/10
Receiving
Buf: Dubenion 5/100 2 TDs, Bass 3/64, Warlick 1/27
Den: Scarpitto 6/157 2 TDs, Taylor 6/72, Dickinson 4/31, Olszewski 3/27, Mingo 2/21
Defense
Buf: Saimes 2-Int(TD) 2-Tk, Stratton Sk FF 7-Tk, Tracey Sk 9-Tk, Edgerson Int 6-Tk
Den: NA
63 San Diego 27, 67 Oakland 21
Scoring Summary
1 10:47 63 San Diego TD Rote 9 pass to McDougall (Blair) (6-74-3:59) 7-0
1 3:15 63 San Diego FG Blair 20 (9-68-4:30) 10-0
2 11:37 63 San Diego TD Rote 9 pass to McDougall (Blair) (4-39-2:28) 17-0
2 2:18 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 32 pass to Cannon (Blanda) (4-44-0:55) 17-7
2 1:23 63 San Diego TD Lowe 43 run (Blair) (4-87-0:44) 24-7
3 1:47 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 37 pass to Biletnikoff (Blanda) (2-58-1:05) 24-14
4 8:32 63 San Diego FG Blair 25 (12-72-6:40) 27-14
4 3:40 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 17 pass to Daniels (Blanda) (5-51-1:27) 27-21
Passing
SD: Rote 23/18 237 Yds 2 TDs
Oak: Lamonica 29/12 249 Yds 3 TDs 2 Int
Rushing
SD: Lincoln 23/172, Lowe 8/70 TD, McDougall 11/52, Rote 1/2
Oak: Dixon 6/29, Daniels 8/23
Receiving
SD: Alworth 6/69, Lincoln 5/75, McDougall 3/36 2 TDs, MacKinnon 2/35, Lowe 1/5
Oak: Biletnikoff 3/96 TD, Miller 3/44, Cannon 3/67 TD, Dixon 2/25, Daniels 1/17 TD
Defense
SD: Allen Sk 7-Tk, Petrich Sk FF 3-Tk, Harris Int 3-Tk
Oak: Conners FF 11-Tk, McCloughan 13-Tk, Brown FF 6-Tk, Grayson FF 6-Tk, Davidson
Legends of the AFL Standings
East Division
1964 Boston Patriots (3-1)
1964 Buffalo Bills (3-1)
1960 Houston Oilers (3-1)
1968 New York Jets (3-1)
1968 Miami Dolphins (1-3)
West Division
1963 San Diego Chargers (4-0)
1969 Kansas City Chiefs (2-2)
1967 Oakland Raiders (1-3)
1969 Cincinnati Bengals (0-4)
1962 Denver Broncos (0-4)
Week Five Schedule
64 Buffalo @ 64 Boston
68 Miami @ 60 Houston
62 Denver @ 69 Cincinnati
67 Oakland @ 69 Kansas City
63 San Diego @ 68 New York
Week Four Results
64 Boston 45, 60 Houston 35
68 New York 49, 68 Miami 21
69 Kansas City 21, 69 Cincinnati 7
64 Buffalo 31, 62 Denver 14
63 San Diego 27, 67 Oakland 21