Former Palos Verdes High School and Occidental College standout Bryan Scott threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth score leading the Philadelphia Stars to a 30-23 victory over the Pittsburgh Maulers Saturday in a United States Football League game in Birmingham, Alabama.
With Philadelphia trailing 23-21, Scott threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Alexander with eight minutes, 51 seconds to play. Under USFL rules, teams can attempt a 3-point conversion from the 10-yard line, which Stars coach Bart Andrus opted to attempt. Running back Paul Terry caught a pass from Scott at 9-yard line and ran into the end zone for the conversion.
Scott completed 26 of 36 passes for 272 yards with one interception and was sacked four times. The 272 passing yards were the most in the six-game history of the league. Scott’s 202 yards in the 23-17 loss to the New Orleans Breakers Sunday were the most in the league’s first week of play.
Pittsburgh (0-2) had taken the 23-21 lead on Josh Love’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Bailey Gaither with 2:43 left in the third quarter.
Philadelphia (1-1) was outgained 348 yards to 303 and trailed 31:45-28:15 in time of possession.
Scott’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Diondre Overton and 1-yard touchdown run on the following possession gave the Stars a 14-3 lead 12:05 before halftime. The Maulers cut the lead to 14-10 with 9:01 remaining in the first half when Carlo Kemp stripped the ball from Scott with Jaylon McClain-Sapp recovering and running 79 yards for a touchdown.
Pittsburgh took a 16-14 lead on its next possession, with Love culminating an eight-play, 76-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Thedford with 3:25 to play in the first half. Ramiz Ahmed missed the extra point.
Scott responded with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Alexander with 1:14 left in the first half.
The Maulers opened the scoring on Ahmed’s 25-yard field goal with 3:44 remaining in the first quarter.
Love completed 21 of 39 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns, had two passes intercepted and was sacked three times.
Philadelphia’s roster also includes UCLA alumnus Matt Mengel, who punted five times for an average of 35 yards and made all three extra point attempts.
The league’s entire regular season is being played in Birmingham in an attempt to reduce costs. The playoffs and championship game will be played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame because Protective Stadium, the league’s main Birmingham venue, is not available because of the World Games.
While the USFL uses team names from the league of the same name that played from 1983-85 it is not affiliated with it.
Scott quarterbacked Palos Verdes to the 2012 Southern Section Northern Division championship. He set Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference career records for total offense (9,475 yards), passing yards (9,073) and completions (763) while playing for Occidental from 2013-16.
Scott played in The Spring League in 2018 and 2020 and was on the practice roster of the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos briefly in 2019.
Andrus, the Stars’ coach, was raised in what is now North Hills and played quarterback for Monroe High, Los Angeles Valley College and College of the Canyons.