Galen Hall adds another title as his Rhein Fire win World Bowl

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Jim Arellanes showed off when he finally got his chance.

A Seattle Seahawks allocatee, Arellanes was told just an hour before kickoff that he was starting for the injured Mike Quinn, the Pittsburgh Steelers' player who is the NFL Europe league's top-rated quarterback.

Arellanes had thrown just one pass and taken two snaps, right after Quinn sprained his ankle in the final regular season game.

Sunday, though, was something special. Arellanes responded to his first start by throwing for three touchdowns as the Rhein Fire upended the Frankfurt Galaxy 34-10 in Sunday's World Bowl.

Despite a muddy field after a first-quarter downburst, Arellanes hooked up with Dialleo Burks for 15 and 27 yards and Marcus Robinson for 74 yards.

Arellanes finished 12-of-18 for 263 yards passing in front of 47,546 wildly cheering German fans at Waldstadium -- NFL Europe's largest crowd of the season.

"I'm not surprised at the way he played. He's thrown very well in practice," said Fire coach Galen Hall. "He's got a good NFL future ahead of him."

It was Hall's first World Bowl title after twice being thwarted in the championship game, in 1992 and 1997. But winning is old hat to the 58-year-old coach.

Hall's 1984 Florida Gators won the national championship in some polls and he was an assistant coach on two Oklahoma teams that were elected unanimously.

"You can't compare, because the situation is so different," said Hall. "But this one is especially gratifying because you have to take 42 new players and get them to work together."

An unlikely candidate led the Fire to the title in the NFL's developmental league, which ripens talent for the big leagues.

Before the German fans, who like to blow horns and sing throughout the contest, had even settled into their seats, Arellanes had launched his first pass. A flea-flicker play, it fooled the Galaxy and landed 40 yards downfield in Robinson's arms.

"I wasn't nervous at all. I think I was well prepared," said Arellanes, who wore crib notes on his arm with plays in case the crowd noise became overbearing.

Arellanes wasn't the only Fire weapon against the Galaxy. The team, which started out 6-0, showed a solid running game with 158 yards.

Robinson, the league's offensive MVP who is headed to the Chicago Bears, gained 114 yards on just two passes. Ed Philion, who led the league in the category, sacked Galaxy quarterback Chris Dittoe twice and helped pressure him into just an 111-yard passing performance.

"This is a very good team," said Hall, who will lose a number of his players to the NFL next season.

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