Locos in position to play for title

The United Football League didn't implement a playoff system in its inaugural season. The postseason consists of a one-game, winner-take-all championship set for Nov. 27 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The top two teams will play for the title, and the undefeated Florida Tuskers already have earned one of the spots in the game. The other spot will go to the Locomotives or California Redwoods, who square off tonight at San Jose State's Spartan Stadium.

Both teams are tied for second at 2-2, and as far as Locos coach Jim Fassel is concerned, today's 6 p.m. game is the playoffs.

"It can be defined that way," Fassel said Friday by phone from the team's training camp in Casa Grande, Ariz. "It is like a playoff game. Either you get eliminated or you move forward."

Technically, the loser of tonight's game is not eliminated. Each team has one game remaining after tonight -- the Locos host 0-5 New York on Friday night, and the Redwoods host 5-0 Florida on Thursday night.

If things were to hold to form, Las Vegas should handle the winless Sentinels at home while the undefeated Tuskers would be looking to sweep the regular season against California.

That could create an interesting tiebreaker scenario should the Locos lose tonight and win next week and the Redwoods lose to Florida. The league is still finalizing its tiebreaker procedure and probably hopes it doesn't have to use it.

The Locos can make it easy on the UFL by winning tonight and Friday.

"We've got to go get this game," Fassel said of the rematch with the Redwoods. "I think they're better. They've improved."

The teams met in the first-ever UFL game Oct. 8 at Sam Boyd Stadium, and the Locos rallied from a 14-3 second-quarter deficit for a 30-17 victory.

Fassel said his team also has moved forward since the opener.

He was proud, he said, of the way his defense performed in limiting the Sentinels to 83 yards rushing, and Locos quarterback J.P. Losman threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-10 rout of New York on Nov. 4.

"What really impressed me was how we responded with a short week," Fassel said, referring to his team playing two games in five days with travel in between. "Our passing game has come along.

"We've run the ball well throughout the season, but our line has played better, and J.P. is getting a little more time and making better decisions with the ball.

"In a short season like this, you want to get better all the time. You want to see progress. This team has done that."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.