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Chicago Rush Game Notes

May 6, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Chicago Rush News Release


The Quick Facts
TV: NBC ... Mike Breen, Ray Bentley, Dave Burns
Radio: WAIT (850 AM) ... Tom Dore, John Jurkovic
Regular Season Series Record: 0-1
Overall Series Record: 0-2
Last Meeting: August 11, 2002 ... Rattlers won 46-35
Coaches (regular season records): Mike Hohensee (67-63 — 10th season) Danny White (108-50 — 11th season)
Officials: Tom McCabe (Referee), Thomas Laverty (Umpire), Brent Durbin (Head Linesman), Bob McElwee (Line Judge), James Anderson (Back Judge)

FINALLY AT .500: Chicago has finally reached the .500 mark for the season by winning 4 of its last 5 games. The Rush has two home games remaining with Arizona and division-rival Indiana. The Rattlers have beaten the Rush in the teams two previous meetings, including a semifinal contest last season. The Firebirds are slumping as the season draws to a close. Last season, Indiana ruined the Chicago opportunity to have a perfect division and home record.

Chicago fought its way back to the .500 mark by defeating the winless Carolina Cobras 57-38. The Rush was led for the second week in a row by a balanced attack, scoring 3 rushing touchdowns and 3 passing touchdowns. Antonio Chatman continued his big season by scoring 3 more touchdowns, including his sixth kickoff for touchdown. The defense was led by Cedric Walker's 6.5 tackles and interceptions by DeJuan Alfonzo and Bob McMillen.

The Rattlers dropped a 63-49 decision to Los Angeles at America West Arena. Arizona spotted the Avengers a 35-14 halftime lead and couldn't catch up in the second half. Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner threw for 308 yards (22-30), 7 touchdowns and only 1 interception while Randy Gatewood caught 10 passes for 117 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Next week in the regular-season finales, the Rush will face Indiana while Arizona travels to Colorado.

RUSH TO HONOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: The Chicago Rush has teamed up with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, Y-Me Chicagoland and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to honor breast cancer survivors, and raise money for the fight against breast cancer, on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 11.

One hundred breast cancer survivors will participate in a halftime ceremony to honor all breast cancer survivors. During the ceremony the survivors and their guests (representing the fact that nobody faces breast cancer alone) will join in a parade on the field saluting all breast cancer survivors. In addition, the Rush coaches and staff will wear pink ribbons symbolizing the fight against breast cancer. ROAD WARRIORS: The Rush finished the season 5-3 on the road. Chicago started the campaign 0-2 on the road before closing with a 5-1 record. The only blemish was a loss at Grand Rapids March 29. Chicago is now 10-12 on the road during its first three seasons. ALL-PURPOSE CHATMAN: Antonio Chatman became 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. Last Sunday at Carolina, Chatman caught 10 passes for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns plus added 108 return yards, including a record-tying 58-yard touchdown.

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

A.C. AND OTHER RECORDS: Antonio Chatman is also carving his name into a few other AFL records. Chatman is averaging 23.7 yards per kick return, which should be the highest overall average in league history. Chatman will end up in the top five in AFL history in kick return yards (1,632 with 2 games to go) and kick return touchdowns (6). The record for kick return touchdowns in a season is 7, held by four players (most recently, San Jose's Clevan Thomas last season).

Chatman has 8 games with over 200 all-purpose yards this season, giving him 17 for his career — both of which rank in the top 5.

SCORING MACHINE: Antonio Chatman has scored 198 points this season, breaking Joe Douglass' Rush mark of 188. Chatman has scored 32 touchdowns this season — 26 receiving and 6 on kick returns. In addition, he has caught three 2-point conversions.

Chatman is also the Rush's career scoring leader at 354 points.

FINISH LINE AHEAD: 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 29 touchdowns in his last 10 games.

During the 10-game hot streak, Chatman has caught 71 passes for 994 yards (14.0 yards per catch) and 24 touchdowns. He is averaging 26.6 yards per kickoff return in the 10 contests (48-1,272) with 6 touchdowns.

For the season, Chatman has caught 103 passes for 1,319 yards and 26 touchdowns. He is on pace to record 118 receptions and 1,507 yards, both of which would shatter existing Rush records. LET'S "CHAT" WITH A LEADER: Antonio Chatman is leading the AFL with 3,080 all-purpose yards. Chatman is on pace to record 3,520 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 12 other categories, including scoring, receptions and kick return touchdowns. Chatman has recorded at least 100 all-purpose yards in each of the 26 games that he has started.

McGOURTY HITS 100, McMILLEN NEXT: Fullback Jamie McGourty became the first Chicago player to rush for over 100 yards in a season April 27 vs. Grand Rapids. McGourty has rushed for a career-high 118 yards on 40 carries this year. McGourty held the previous Rush record with 67 yards. McGourty is only the second player in Mike Hohensee's head coaching career to rush for 100 yards. Jim Kitts rushed for 104 yards (22 carries) while playing for Hohensee in 1995 at Albany.

McGourty is about to get company in the 100-yard club from teammate Bob McMillen. McMillen, who has rushed for 95 yards on 29 carries, needs 5 yards in the final two games to join McGourty. McMillen has achieved the century mark in rushing in each of the last 4 seasons.

In case you were wondering if it is rare in the AFL to have teammates rush for 100 yards each, the answer is no. Two teams this season already have two 100-yard rushers (San Jose and Indiana). Three more teams, including the Rush, are trying to accomplish the feat (Orlando and Tampa Bay).

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.

TURN AROUND ON TURNOVERS: Heading into the April 4 game at Detroit with a 3-6 record, the Rush had a –10 turnover margin (15th in the league). Five weeks later, Chicago has reached the even mark on turnovers while going 4-1. The Rush has forced 14 turnovers in the 5 contests while committing only 4.

MORE BOBBY MAC: Fullback/linebacker Bob McMillen rushed for a season-high 28 yards (on 6 carries) last Sunday at Carolina. With the 28 yards, McMillen moves into 5th place on the all-time AFL career rushing yards list with 847 yards. Next on the list for McMillen is Arizona's Bo Kelly, who has 1,014 yards.

McMillen is also 5th all-time in career rushing attempts with 269, chasing San Jose's Barry Wagner at 292.

GISPERT'S STAYING POWER: Kicker Keith Gispert has kicked in 11 games this season for the Rush. Gispert has connected on 55-of-68 extra point attempts and 6-of-14 field goals tries in his rookie season. Gispert is coming off one of his best games May 4 at Carolina, where he hit all 7 of his extra points and 2-of-3 field goals (the miss was from 55 yards). Assuming Gispert kicks this Sunday, he will tie Pete Elezovic's record for most games by a kicker. Elezovic kicked in 12 games during the 2001 season.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCUS: Lineman Marcus McKenzie will be celebrating his 27th birthday on Sunday. McKenzie has appeared in all 14 games for the Rush this season and has made a career-high 6.5 tackles.

DICKEN EN FUEGO: In the last 9 quarters of play, Billy Dicken has completed 47-of-61 passes (77 percent) for 575 yards and 10 touchdowns. Dicken has led the Rush to a 4-1 mark in its last 5 games as he continues to recover from a broken jaw. Dicken has also rushed for a pair of scores.

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 67-63 (including a 23-19 mark with the Rush) ... has a career 5-6 mark in the postseason.

- is 1-6 against the Rattlers in the regular season and 0-1 in the postseason.

- 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 May 6, 2003


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.

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