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Bills No. 2 Quarterback Shines as Buffalo Beats Jets, 34-24

Oct. 24, 1964 - Daryle Lamonica (right), Buffalo’s No. 2 quarterback, came off the bench in the second half tonight to guide the undefeated Bills to a convincing 34‐24 victory over the Jets at War Memorial Stadium.

Before a near‐capacity crowd of 39,621, the Bills came from a third‐quarter deficit of 24‐10 to gain their seventh victory of the AFL season.

The triumph gave Buffalo a 1½-game lead over second-place Boston. The Jets, who failed to muster any sustained drives in the second half, went down to their second loss of the campaign against three victories and one tie.

This was a game that New York regarded as a “must” victory, and at the half the Jets looked as though they might pull off an upset. They left the field with a 14‐10 margin and had played the vaunted Buffalo offense almost to a standstill. But after Lamonica replaced Jack Kemp (left), Buffalo’s top quarterback, the Bills’ defensive unit clamped down hard on Dick Wood and his mates.

Still, it took Lamonica until the final play of the third quarter to put the Bills within range of a victory. By then, the Jets had capitalized on two breaks to run their margin to 14 points.

Lamonica found the touchdown touch when he handed off to rookie Bob Smith on the 13‐yard line. Smith burst off his right tackle and twisted and squirmed his way over the line.

Two long passes to Elbert Dubenion and Ernie Warwick, good for a total of 57 yards, sparked the touchdown drive that began on the Buffalo 20 and ended six plays later in the end zone.

At 7:16 of the final period, the Bills took over on their 44 following Curley Johnson’s punt. On the first play, Lamonica faded back and threw on a 46‐yard pass‐run play to Dubenion for the score. Pete Gogolak, Buffalo’s placekicker, kicked his third of four successive extra points to bring the Bills all even at 24-24.

Within four minutes, the Bills took over the lead for good. They marched 35 yards in seven plays, Lamonica plunging for the final 3 yards.

“It was an audible,” said Daryle. “I saw the 5-1 defense [five-man line, one linebacker]. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the linebacker move to his left. I just followed Billy Shaw’s block into the end zone.”

For the first time this season, the Jets gave up more than 100 yards on the ground. Still, they held Cookie Gilchrist to 27 yards in 15 carries.

“We stopped Cookie,” said coach Weeb Ewbank in the stillness of the New York dressing room, “but that rookie, Bob Smith, turned the game against us — his speed and those 98 yards he gathered in the second half.”

Jets owner Sonny Werblin marked the difference in the game: “We’d go the limit to buy a quarterback like Kemp or Lamonica. But nobody helps you in this game, and money won’t. We need six or seven more top men to match the Bills.”



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