Alliance of American Football 2019 Results: Week 4 Scores from Saturday

Week 4 of the Alliance of American Football kicked off Saturday afternoon in Memphis as the hometown Express captured their first franchise win against the visiting San Diego Fleet.

After benching quarterback Christian Hackenberg during their game in Week 3 against Orlando, the Express gave quarterback Zach Mettenberger his first AAF start.

The Fleet made a quarterback change, too, but it was unexpected as starter Philip Nelson suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter.

Regardless of who was under center for either team, the star of the game was the Express defensive unit. Led by defensive end Corey Vereen and linebacker Drew Jackson, the Express forced the Fleet to commit crucial turnovers that allowed Memphis to complete the comeback victory.

Saturday night saw Steve Spurrier's undefeated Orlando Apollos squad pay a visit to the Salt Lake City Stallions and left Salt Lake still undefeated.

It marked the first time Spurrier has coached against Stallions head coach Dennis Erickson, who was head coach for six universities and also served as head coach for the Seattle Seahawks (1995-98) and San Francisco 49ers (2003-04) before landing in the AAF.

Erickson is a College Football Hall of Fame inductee as is Spurrier, who successfully led the Florida Gators (1990-2001) and South Carolina Gamecocks (2005-2015).

On the field, the Apollos and Stallions present different strengths. Apollos quarterback Garrett Gilbert leads the AAF's highest-scoring offensive, while Stallions defensive end Karter Schult entered Week 4 leading the AAF with four sacks. Ultimately, the Apollos' offense came out on top.

Below is a look at the results, recap and highlights from Week 4.

Schedule and Results—March 2

Memphis Express (1-3) 26, San Diego Fleet (2-2) 23

Orlando Apollos (4-0) 20, Salt Lake Stallions (1-3) 11

Memphis Express 26, San Diego Fleet 23

Mettenberger's first start began with a three-and-out on Memphis's first possession. San Diego Fleet defensive back Ron Brooks then pulled off the first punt return for a touchdown in AAF history, a 58-yarder with 13:16 in the first quarter.

San Diego kicker Donny Hageman missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt midway through the opening quarter, and Express kicker Austin MacGinnis answered by making a 46-yarder to cut the Fleet's lead to 6-3.

Any morsel of momentum Memphis may have gained was erased by a 54-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Philip Nelson to wide receiver Dontez Ford. The drive ended in a six-yard touchdown—again from Nelson to Ford—and the first quarter closed with the Fleet holding a 14-3 lead.

The second quarter started with a Nelson fumble, recovered by Express linebacker Davis Tull. Memphis was only able to get a field goal out of the turnover, making it 14-6 in favor of the Fleet. The following drive, San Diego found the end zone again with a 30-yard pass by quarterback Alex Ross to tight end Marcus Baugh.

Ross replaced Nelson, who would later be confirmed out for the rest of the game with a shoulder injury.

The story of the first half was the Fleet scoring touchdowns while Memphis could only manage to squeak out field goals until Memphis linebacker Drew Jackson picked off Ross with 1:43 remaining.

The turnover resulted in a Mettenberger quarterback sneak and the Express' first touchdown of the game, which cut San Diego's lead to 20-15 as the half expired. Mettenberger finished the half 10-of-14 through the air for 131 yards and one rushing touchdown.

The third quarter came and went, and the score remained 20-15. The Fleet tacked on a 46-yard field goal within the first minute of the fourth quarter to stretch their lead to eight.

The Express lingered. Defensive tackle Latarius Brady, a Memphis native, sacked Ross on third down with 10:35 remaining to give Memphis a chance to tie the game. However, Mettenberger and the offense couldn't take advantage of the opportunities their defense kept giving them.

So, the Express defense took matters into their own hands when defensive end Corey Vereen sacked Ross to force a fumble recovered by defensive back Jeremy Cutrer. Memphis took over at the San Diego 21 with 7:40 to go.

This time, Memphis was able to cash in with a lob from Mettenberger to running back Terrence Magee for the touchdown. Mettenberger then ran the ball in for a successful two-point conversion and tied the game at 23 with 6:01 left to play.

The Express defense again came up huge on the following drive when San Diego attempted a fake punt on fourth down, and Memphis wasn't fooled. The Express offense took over—again—deep in San Diego territory at the 28-yard line.

MacGinnis capped off his Express debut with what turned out to be the game-winning 45-yard field goal after Vereen forced the Fleet to cough up yet another fumble to seal the Express' first win in team history.

Vereen finished the game with two sacks, while linebacker Drew Jackson led all players with 13 tackles and one interception.

Orlando Apollos 20, Salt Lake City 11

Alex Goodlett/AAF/Getty Images

The Apollos and Stallions battled it out in relentless Salt Lake City snow. However, it wasn't the cold weather that had the Stallions holding their breath but rather the sight of Schult going down late in the first quarter.

Fortunately for Salt Lake, Schult returned a few plays later, though he was kept relatively in check for the game. The first quarter ended with the Apollos leading 3-0 thanks to a 43-yard Elliott Fry field goal.

The final play of the first quarter, though, was when Stallions quarterback John Woodrum connected with wide receiver Adonis Jennings for 38 yards to the Orlando 31. With 11:42 in the second quarter, Stallions kicker Taylor Bertolet tied the game with a 41-yard field goal.

The Apollos went into the locker room at halftime with a 6-3 lead.

At halftime, the NFL Network broadcast caught Erickson telling his Stallions to "just keep playing. Things are gonna happen." The Stallions started the second half with the ball and had to punt. Still, Stallions fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium kept the faith:

The contest's first touchdown came at the end of a 10-play, 91-yard drive by the Apollos. As he was getting hit, Gilbert found receiver Donteea Dye Jr. for his first touchdown reception as an Apollo. A fake jet sweep successfully converted the two-point try, and Orlando took a 14-3 lead.

The Stallions smacked back with their own 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by a Joel Bouagnon rushing touchdown. A successful two-point conversion cut the Apollos' lead to 14-11 as the third quarter expired.

With 11:23 left to play in regulation, Orlando running back Akeem Hunt punched in a touchdown from two yards out to extend the Apollos' lead to 20-11 (failed two-point).

From there, Orlando ran down the clock but eventually was forced to punt with 2:55 remaining. The Stallions offense turned the ball over on downs a little over a minute later, and Gilbert knelt in the victory formation to clinch Orlando's fourth victory.

Gilbert ended the game with a game-leading 244 yards and has at least one touchdown pass in each Apollos game this season. Apollos wide receiver Charles Johnson topped the box score with 105 yards through the air. On defense, Apollos linebacker Andrew Ankrah contributed two sacks.

On the field after the game, Spurrier told NFL Network's AAF sideline reporter Jason Fisher, "This was a fun one. I told the guys beforehand if us Florida boys can come up and win one in the snow in Utah, we'll have something to talk about."

Orlando will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, in Week 5 to face the 3-0 Iron. Should the Iron beat San Antonio on Sunday, next week's matchup will determine the sole undefeated team in the AAF.

Salt Lake will travel to San Diego to play the Fleet on Saturday, March 9.