Express Gets Pinned by the Invaders, 30-6, as Record Slips to 1-5

It was almost scary, really. Nearly an hour before the game, cars were backed up on Harbor Freeway exits leading to the Coliseum. Scalpers, hustling choice tickets, roamed between idling cars on street corners. Three-dollar, front-yard parking spots were going fast around Exposition Park.

Could there possibly be such a thing as gridlock for a Los Angeles Express game? What happened to the team’s easy drive-up service for fans? Were all these people really here to see the Oakland Invaders?

No, and not surprisingly, all the commotion was at the Sports Arena, where a sellout crowd of 8,500 watched a closed-circuit telecast of a professional wrestling extravaganza in New York.

It was the same old story next door at the Coliseum. There, the Invaders did the ol’ flying drop-kick on Los Angeles, beating the Express, 30-6, in front of a paid crowd of 11,619.

It was a day the Express could have used Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.

Instead, the same Express team that was one win away from the title game last season continued its slide into oblivion.

The Express is 1-5. The Invaders, who took advantage of five L.A. turnovers, improved to 4-1-1, and they made it look easy.

Express Coach John Hadl couldn’t figure it out. “We’re running the same plays as last year with the same players,” he said. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

You can start with the offense and those same plays that the Express ran last year. They’re not working.

Against the Invaders, the Express gained only 177 yards in total offense, the lowest in team history.

And did the Express ever even think of passing to its leading receiver, Jojo Townsell? Does he have a no-catch clause in his contract?

Quarterback Frank Seurer, playing for the injured Steve Young, had a game he’d just as soon seen stricken from the record.

Seurer threw four passes that were intercepted. Two led directly to Oakland touchdowns, and another came in the Invaders’ end zone.

“They pay me to do a job,” Seurer said. “I let everyone down.”

Oakland was leading, 6-0, early in the second quarter when a badly thrown Seurer pass was intercepted by John Sullivan at the Oakland 49.

The Invaders turned that mistake into a rather unconventional touchdown. Oakland quarterback Bobby Hebert passed 15 yards to Brian Williams, who fumbled at the Express’ one-yard line. The ball rolled into the end zone and was recovered by receiver Anthony Carter, who was in all the right places Sunday.

Leading, 16-3, in the third quarter, Tim Lucas intercepted a Seurer pass and returned it 18 yards to the Express’ 21.

Two plays later, Hebert threw 18 yards to Carter for a touchdown.

With 42 seconds left in the third quarter, Hebert threw five yards to Gordon Banks to give Oakland a 30-3 lead.

It was then that Express fans started walking out, making the Coliseum acoustics even better.

Once again, the Express offense continued to shake, rattle and roll over.

“Our offense was lousy,” Hadl said. “We have no offense at all.”

Except, of course, for kicker Tony Zendejas, who dazzled the crowd with field goals of 48 and 43 yards.

So what’s wrong with the Express?

“The talent is out there,” said the Invaders’ Carter, who caught 4 passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.

That’s what all the other teams are saying about the Express.

It doesn’t get any easier.

This week, it was Oakland and Hebert, who completed 15-of-26 passes for 221 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Next the Express plays host to defending champion Baltimore. The week after that the Express meets Jim Kelly in Houston.

Can Hulk Hogan block?

Express Notes The Express announced Sunday morning that it had signed veteran quarterback Mike Rae to a contract. Rae started 13 games for the team in 1983 but was traded early last season to the Michigan Panthers, where he spent the season as a reserve. This season, Rae had been working as a salesman in Irvine. . . . To make room for Rae on the roster, the Express released quarterback Eric Thompson, who was only signed last week. “Our quarterback situation, in light of (Steve) Young’s injury, has now been secured,” General Manager Don Klosterman said.

Express receiver Kris Haines (left) juggles the ball but makes the catch in Sunday’s 30-6 loss to the Oakland Invaders at Coliseum.