LOS ANGELES 38, SAN FRANCISCO 6

April 22, 2001

LOS ANGELES, California (Ticker) -- Tommy Maddox collected the Player of the Year award in the XFL and then made sure his teammates could share the wealth.

Maddox passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns and Jose Cortez kicked four field goals as the Los Angeles Xtreme routed the San Francisco Demons, 38-6, in the inaugural XFL million-dollar game.

"Give Vince McMahon a lot of credit for giving us a chance to play," said Maddox referring to the founder of the league. "And thank the fans of L.A. for their support. Championships are the things you think about a lot. I've said all along it doesn't matter what league you are in, to play for a championship is great. I'm so excited, I don't know what to say."

Maddox completed 16-of-28 passes as Los Angeles (9-3) defeated San Francisco for the second time in three meetings. He gave the Xtreme a 9-0 lead when he capped an eight-play, 79-yard drive with a one-yard pass to Josh Wilcox.

Maddox also tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jeremaine Copeland, pushing the margin to 28-0 just 5:23 into the third quarter. Maddox left the game with 10 1/2 minutes remaining.

"No matter what level, a championship is a championship, both of them feel great," said Copeland, who was a member of Tennessee's 1998 national championship team. "There really is no difference."

Saladin McCullough led the Xtreme's rushing attack, gaining 109 yards on 20 carries.

"We felt very confident that we could win this game and the championship," McCullough said. "We were just comfortable with our game plan. We knew we were going to win."

Cortez kicked four field goals, including a 50-yarder as time expired in the first half to make it 21-0.

The Xtreme's 38 active players plus five on the practice squad will split $1 million, an average of $23,255.

San Francisco (6-6), which was coming off a 26-25 upset of the Orlando Rage, was shut down by the Xtreme for the second time in three weeks. Each player on the Demons' roster received $5,000 for reaching the final game.

"They just whipped our butts," San Francisco coach Jim Skipper said. "We have a ways to go. We weren't happy to just be in the game. We wanted to win the game. It was one of those days. When it goes bad it goes bad. We played poor football. You have to make plays."

Mike Pawlawski was 8-of-20 for 74 yards and two interceptions for the Demons, who made it past midfield on only one possession in the first half. San Francisco drove to the Los Angeles 26 with 7:14 left in the second quarter, but Mike Panasuk hooked a 44-yard field goal attempt.

The Demons stayed close for 15 minutes as Cortez's 37-yard field goal with just over six minutes into the contest was the only scoring of the first quarter. But Los Angeles pushed the lead to 15-0 just 5:21 into the second quarter on a 71-yard punt return by cornerback Reginald Durden.

Cortez booted a 22-yard field goal to give the Xtreme a 31-0 bulge with 91 seconds left in the third. Rashaan Shehee threw a 10-yard TD pass to Latario Rachal on a halfback option with 3:16 to play in the fourth.

San Francisco avoided a shutout with 25 seconds left when backup quarterback Oteman Sampson scrambled for a 21-yard TD.

>> Million Dollar Game Stats >> Nando Game Recap >> Home