NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The New Orleans Breakers (5-3) stopped a three-game slide with a 24-20 win over the Michigan Panthers (3-5) in Birmingham, Ala., on Sunday.
The Breakers got big-play production from wide receivers Johnnie Dixon and Jonathan Adams, who combined for 17 catches, 253 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Dixon contributed with 9 receptions for 136 yards and both TDs, while Adams caught 8 passes on nine targets for 117 yards.
“They were fantastic. I mean, they were fantastic,” Breakers head coach John DeFilippo told WGNO Sports. “The thing that you watch with both those guys was the yards they got after contact and after the catch. The play that that that Jonathan made, you know, get that get us down to the one-yard line was an incredible effort by him.
“And then, you know you look at Johnnie Dixon on the sluggo route and [McCleod Bethel-Thompson] throws a really good ball, it was man-to-man coverage and we back-shoulder them and made the guy miss and went in and scored.
“It was just two really great individual efforts by those guys. I challenged them all week that we were gonna have to beat man coverage and they rose to the occasion.”
Over the weekend, the South Division went a perfect 4-0 against the North, leaving the playoff race a near dead heat.
Birmingham, who won the league championship last year, sits atop the ladder at 6-2, while Memphis, New Orleans and Houston fight for the other playoff spot at 5-3. All teams in both divisions are 2-2 in conference play and still post-season viable.
“When I was coaching in the NFL, we always talked about, you know, meaningful games in December,” said Coach Flip. “Now, at this level, we want meaningful games in June, and that’s what it is. And our players have done a really nice job of getting to this point where we are playing these games.”
The Breakers travel to Memphis (5-3) in Week 9 in hopes of avenging their Week 5 loss to former Southeastern Lions quarterback Cole Kelley and the Showboats, winners of five straight.
Kickoff is set for Saturday, 3 p.m.
