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Chicago Rush Game Notes

April 29, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Chicago Rush News Release


The Quick Facts
Radio: ESPN Radio 1000 ... Tom Dore, John Jurkovic
Overall Series Record: 1-0
Last Meeting: April 28, 2001 ... Rush won 41-38
Coaches (regular season records): Mike Hohensee (66-63 — 10th season) Eddie Khayat (23-15 — 4th season)
Officials: Pat Garvey (Referee), Tony Payne (Umpire), Rusty Spindel (Head Linesman), James Mello (Line Judge), Rich Wilborn (Back Judge)

HEADING FOR .500: Chicago will travel to Carolina for its final road trip of the regular season this weekend trying to reach the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Rush has won 3 of its last 4 contests and is back in the playoff hunt. The Cobras are struggling through their first season in Charlotte at 0-13.

Chicago picked up a huge 54-46 win last Sunday against Grand Rapids. The Rush needed a victory to remain in the postseason picture. The Rush used a balanced attack, throwing for 4 touchdowns and rushing for 4 scores. Billy Dicken played his best game of the year, completing 20-of-24 passes for 235 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jamie McGourty became the first Rush player to rush for over 100 yards in a season.

The Cobras were defeated last Saturday in Arizona 62-22 by the Rattlers. Carolina will be playing its first game under interim head coach Eddie Khayat. The Cobras fired first-year head coach Mike Hold on Monday. Carolina is loaded with former Rush players, including Derek Stingley, Stewart Patridge, Ben Crosland, Curt Lessman and Larry Casher.

Next week, the Rush will return home to face the Arizona Rattlers while Carolina will travel to Orlando.

DICKEN NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Quarterback Billy Dicken has been named the league's Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Grand Rapids. Dicken completed 20-of-24 passes (83.3 percent) for 235 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Of his 4 incomplete passes, one was the interception and one was thrown out-of-bounds to end the game.

It is the second career player of the week award for Dicken. He also earned the honor after his first career start May 12, 2001, in which he threw for 351 yards and 8 touchdowns. Dicken becomes the fourth Rush player to win a weekly award this season.

McGOURTY REACHES 100 YARDS: Fullback Jamie McGourty became the first Chicago player to rush for over 100 yards in a season. McGourty has rushed for a career-high 114 yards on 35 carries this year. The previous Rush record was 67 yards, also set by McGourty.

McGourty becomes only the second player in Mike Hohensee head coaching career to rush for 100 yards. Jim Kitts rushed for 104 yards (22 carries) while playing for Hohensee in 1995 at Albany.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Rush will be looking to extend its road winning streak to 3 games at Carolina. With a win, the Rush will finish the season with a 5-3 road record.

NICE MONTH OF APRIL: Chicago won 3 of its 4 games during the month of April with the only blemish being an overtime loss. The offense did its part by averaging 61.5 points per game and only committing 4 turnovers. The defense also stepped up, allowing 52.3 points per game in addition to recording 8 interceptions, 5 sacks and recovering 4 fumbles. There were also some impressive individual performances during the month.

Billy Dicken — threw for 22 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions while completing 71-of-102 passes (70 percent) for 884 yards.

Antonio Chatman — accounted for 930 all-purpose yards and scored 10 touchdowns. Chatman caught 26 passes for 362 yards and returned 24 kicks for 560 yards.

Jamie McGourty — rushed for 60 yards on 14 carries (average of 4.3 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns.

Bob McMillen — rushed for a team-high 4 touchdowns and 27 yards (12 carries).

John Moyer — recorded 8.5 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 2.0 sacks.

Marvin Taylor — made 16.5 tackles, intercepted 3 passes and had 7 passes defended.

POSTSEASON SITUATION: This is how the playoffs would look if they started today.
- the best 12 teams will make the playoffs, with the top 4 teams receiving a bye in the first round ... the division winners are guaranteed a home game.
- the quest for the league championship will begin May 24-May 25 with ArenaBowl XVII scheduled for June 22 ... the ArenaBowl will be played at the home site of the highest remaining seed.

OH, BROTHER: Fullback/linebacker Levelle Brown's younger brother, Chris, was selected in the 3rd round of the NFL draft. Chris, from the University of Colorado, was chosen with the 93rd selection by the Tennessee Titans.

ALL-PURPOSE PLAYER: Antonio Chatman is trying to add another record to his collection. Chatman is attempting to become the 4th player in AFL history to record 25 receiving touchdowns, 100 receptions, 1,000 receiving yards and 1,000 return yards in a season. Chatman needs 7 receptions and 1 receiving touchdown in the final 3 games to reach the milestone.

Former Rush offensive specialist Joe Douglass fell 1 reception short of joining the group back in 2001.

DICKEN EN FUEGO: In the last 5 quarters of play, Billy Dicken has completed 28-of-33 passes (85 percent) for 345 yards and 7 touchdowns. Dicken has led the Rush to a 3-1 mark in its last 4 games as he continues to recover from a broken jaw. Dicken has also rushed for a pair of scores.

Dicken suffered a fractured jaw on the first series March 1 at Buffalo but still threw for 246 yards and 6 touchdowns in the contest. Dicken served as the emergency quarterback for the next two games (March 9 vs. San Jose and March 16 at Las Vegas) before returning to the lineup March 23 vs. New York. Dicken struggled in losses against New York and Grand Rapids (March 29) before starting his current hot streak.

WALKER GETS 450: Defensive specialist Cedric Walker recorded the 450th tackle of his career last Sunday against Grand Rapids. He becomes the fifth player in league history to reach that mark. Walker had missed the previous 5-plus games with a severely bruised left quadriceps.

FIFTH TIME, MAYBE: The Rush will be trying for the fifth time to reach the .500 mark this season. Chicago has had chances to even its record at 1-1 at Dallas and at 3-3 against San Jose. Two weeks later, the Rush was striving for 4-4 but fell to New York. The last time Chicago tried to reach the .500 mark, Dallas denied it in overtime.

I'LL TAKE THAT: The Rush defensive unit has intercepted 18 passes in the last 11 games after being shutout in the first 3 contests of the season. Chicago is 4 picks off league leader Arizona. The Rush has had 8 different players intercept at least one pass. Last season, the Rush led the AFL with 22 picks. RACE TO THE FINISH: After a slow start to the season, offensive specialist Antonio Chatman is in a sprint to the finish. Chatman only scored 3 touchdowns in the season's first 4 weeks. Since March 1 at Buffalo, Chatman has averaged almost 3 touchdowns a week, scoring 26 touchdowns in his last 9 games. During the 9-game hot streak, Chatman has caught 61 passes for 875 yards (14.3 yards per catch) and 22 touchdowns. He is averaging 26.2 yards per kickoff return in the 8 contests (45-1,177) with 4 touchdowns.

For the season, Chatman has caught 93 passes for 1,200 yards and 24 touchdowns. He is on pace to record 114 receptions and 1,477 yards, both of which would shatter existing Rush records.

CHATTIN' WITH A LEAGUE LEADER: Antonio Chatman is leading the AFL with 2,853 all-purpose yards. Chatman is on pace to record 3,511 all-purpose yards, which would be the highest total in league history (3,459 yards by Oklahoma's Lamont Cooper in 2001). Against Dallas April 20, Chatman recorded 335 yards — the 2nd-best all-purpose total of his career. Chatman is also among the league leaders in 13 other categories, including scoring, receptions and kick return touchdowns. Chatman has recorded at least 100 all-purpose yards in every game that he has started.

AWARD WINNERS: The Rush has had four weekly league award winners this season — Dameon Porter, Lindsay Fleshman, John Moyer and Billy Dicken. Porter (Week 4) and Moyer (Week 10) have won ADT Defensive Player of the Week honors while Fleshman earned Ironman of the Week for Week 5. Dicken is the newest member of the group, winning Offensive Player of the Week honors for Week 13.

COACH MIKE HOHENSEE is in his 10th season as a head coach in the Arena Football League. Hohensee was hired as the first coach in Rush history on September 26, 2000.
- has a regular-season record of 65-63 (including a 22-19 mark with the Rush) ... has a career 5-6 mark in the postseason.
- is 2-0 against the Carolina Cobras and went 4-1 vs. the Charlotte Rage (1994-1996).
- signed a two-year contract extension through the 2005 season on August 1, 2002.
- became the sixth head coach in AFL history to achieve 70 career wins ... his 70th win was April 13, 2003, at Colorado (76-58).
- was the sixth coach in league history to record 60 regular-season victories when the Rush defeated Dallas (58-52 in overtime) July 13, 2002.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 29, 2003


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