AFL Iowa Barnstormers

Barnstormers Drop Overtime Heartbreaker

Published on April 1, 2012 under Arena Football League (AFL)
Iowa Barnstormers News Release


Des Moines, Iowa - The Iowa Barnstormers dropped another hard fought battle as they fell to the Chicago Rush 62-61 in overtime on Saturday night before 8,472 fans at Wells Fargo Arena. With the loss, the Barnstormers fall to 1-2 on the young season, while Chicago keeps their perfect record intact, improving to 3-0.

Chicago opened the scoring when QB Russ Michna found WR Terrance Turner to take a 7-0 lead. Iowa responded to tie the game 7-7 when QB J.J. Raterink connected with WR Jesse Schmidt for the first of 3 touchdowns. The Barnstormers exploded in the second quarter, scoring 33 points and taking a 40-28 lead into halftime.

The team's traded scores throughout the third quarter but Chicago rallied from a 47-34 deficit to take a 48-47 lead as Michna hooked up with WR Reggie Gray for two scores. The Barnstormers responded as FB Rodney Filer found the end zone from 1 yard out for his third rushing TD of the night. A two point conversion by Schmidt put Iowa up 55-48, but once again Chicago rallied as Michna found WR Jared Perry with :17 seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime.

In Overtime Iowa had possession first and drove the length of the field. Raterink connected with rookie WR Chris Matthews on a spectacular play from 14 yards out. However Barnstormers kicker Craig Camay missed a costly PAT giving Iowa just a 6 point lead. Chicago replied with a 35 yard drive that was capped by a 1 yard TD run by former Barnstormer, J.J. Payne to tie the game at 61-61. Rush kicker Mike Salerno came on and redeemed himself for several earlier misses by drilling the PAT through the uprights to give Chicago the 62-61 victory.

The Barnstormers are back on the road next week, as they head to Pittsburgh to battle the Power on Friday April 6. Iowa returns home on Saturday, April 14 when they take on the Arizona Rattlers at 7:05pm. Great seats are available for purchase at the Wells Fargo Arena box office, by calling the Barnstormers at 515.633.2255 online at www.theiowabarnstormers.com .

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Arena Football League Stories from April 1, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central