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Chicago Rush game notes

April 27, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Chicago Rush News Release


The Quick Facts
TV: NBC...Allen Bestwick, Ray Bentley, Marty Snider
Radio: WCKG 105.9 FM ... Tom Dore, John Jurkovic
Overall Series Record: Tied 3-3
Last Meeting: Fury 72, Rush 71 – March 28, 2004
Coaches (regular season records):
Mike Hohensee (75-68 — 11th season)
Tom Luginbill (4-7 — 1st season)
Officials: Pat Garvey (Referee), Rick Podraza (Umpire), Bill Ward (Head Linesman), Dana McKenzie (Line Judge), Greg Steed (Back Judge)

2004 Chicago Rush Schedule
February 8 Grand Rapids* W 50-30 15,552
February 14 @ New York W 56-54 10,720
February 22 Colorado* W 65-35 15,406
February 29 @ Indiana* W 49-46 12,198
March 7 @ Philadelphia L 47-53 17,597
March 14 BYE
March 21 Orlando W 58-15 14,552
March 28 Detroit* L 71-72 14,837
April 4 @ Las Vegas W 57-55 10,310
April 11 Tampa Bay W 51-36 11,412
April 16 @ San Jose L 43-51 12,147
April 25 Los Angeles L 35-71 13,927
May 2 @ Detroit * 2 p.m. NBC
May 8 @ Grand Rapids* 6:30 p.m.
May 16 Dallas 2 p.m. NBC
May 23 Indiana* 2 p.m. NBC
May 30 @ Colorado* 3 p.m. NBC

*Central Division Game ... All times Central


American Conference — Central Division
2004 Standings
W-L-T PF PA Division
Colorado 8-4-0 578 556 3-2
RUSH 7-4-0 582 518 3-1
Indiana 6-6-0 599 515 3-2
Detroit 4-7-0 523 573 2-2
Grand Rapids 1-10-0 406 609 1-5



MICHIGAN BOUND: The Rush hits the road the next two weeks to take on its Central Division rivals from the state of Michigan. Sunday, the Rush travels to Detroit to play the Fury, followed up by a Saturday, May 8 game at Grand Rapids.

ANOTHER SHOOTOUT?: When the Rush and Fury met at Allstate Arena on March 28, Fury quarterback Andy Kelly scored on a three-yard run with just three seconds remaining, giving the Fury a 72-71 victory. Kelly had a great game, completing 22 of 32 passes for 306 yards and seven touchdowns. His favorite target was Thabiti Davis who caught 12 passes for 194 yards and five TDs. For the Rush, Raymond Philyaw completed 14 of 22 passes for 244 yards and six touchdowns.

BURN THE FILM: Last week, Chicago suffered its worst loss in franchise history, a 71-35 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Avengers. LA used an interception return for a touchdown, a safety and a kick-recovery off the net to score 30 unanswered points in the second quarter, turning a close game into a 50-21 halftime lead.

PHILYAW LOST FOR 1-4 WEEKS: More costly for the Rush than the loss to LA was the loss of QB Raymond Philyaw. Philyaw suffered a mild sprain of the MCL in his right knee in the second quarter of Sunday's game. He is expected to miss 1-4 weeks.

In addition to Philyaw's injury the Rush played Los Angeles without WR/LB Lindsay Fleshman and OL/DL Riley Kleinhesselink. Fleshman injured his hamstring late in Chicago's game at San Jose, and Kleinhesselink has missed the team's last three games with a knee injury suffered in Las Vegas.

Here is a rundown of Chicago's other main injuries this season:
8 DS Malcom Moore suffered an open fracture of the left tibia and fibula March 21 while breaking up a pass intended for Orlando receiver Sean Riley. Moore underwent successful surgery to insert a stabilizing rod and will miss the remainder of the season.
8 WR/DB Donnie Caldwell suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the team's Week 3 win vs. Colorado. He underwent successful surgery and is out for the season.
8 Defensive specialist Greg Williams missed five games after undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his hand.
8 FB/LB Jamie McGourty missed two games with a sprained ankle suffered in the team's loss at Philadelphia.
8 Offensive specialist Jeremy McDaniel missed one game with a groin injury.

SALISBURY TO START: With the injury to Philyaw, Chad Salisbury will make his first start of the season this week against Detroit. Salisbury started two games for Chicago last season, going 1-1 in road games at Indiana (L) and Las Vegas (W). He also saw action at Dallas and at home vs. San Jose. This year, Salisbury has taken snaps in three games (Philadelphia, Orlando and LA), connecting on 19 of 28 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

STREAK BREAKERS: The Rush now has lost back-to-back games for the first time in more than a year (March 23, 2003 vs. New York and March 29, 2003 at Grand Rapids). The Rush is hoping the cure for this year's losing streak will be the same as last year's – a trip to Detroit. The Rush broke its last two-game losing streak with a 62-45 win in Detroit on April 4, 2003, starting a stretch in which the team won four of its next five games.

PLAYOFF SEEDINGS TAKING SHAPE: With just five weeks remaining in the regular season, 11 of the league's 19 teams have .500 or better records. With the top 8 teams making the playoffs, the Rush – currently tied for fourth place overall – is in good position to qualify for the postseason for the fourth-consecutive year.

Here is a look at the current seedings:

Team W L
New Orleans 9 2
San Jose 9 2
Colorado 8 4
Chicago 7 4
Los Angeles 7 4
Arizona 7 5
Austin 6 5
Dallas 6 5
New York 6 5
Orlando 6 5
Indiana 6 6

Key games this week: New Orleans at San Jose, Arizona at Los Angeles, New York at Dallas.

IN GOOD COMPANY: Since entering the league in 2001, the Rush has been one of the most consistent teams in the league, appearing in the playoffs in each of its three seasons in the AFL. In fact, over the past three-plus seasons, only four teams have won more games than Chicago. Here are the AFL's best records since 2001:

San Jose 44-11
Arizona 36-20
Orlando 33-22
Tampa Bay 33-23
Chicago 31-23
Los Angeles 31-24

TURNOVER TURNAROUND: Last season the Rush struggled with turnovers, giving the ball away 31 times during the season. This year, however, the Rush only has turned the ball over 10 times in 11 games. The Rush ranks second in the AFL in fewest turnovers behind Los Angeles and fourth in turnover ratio, with a +9 differential for the season.
HOHENSEE GETS 80TH: Rush head coach Mike Hohensee became just the fourth head coach in AFL history to win 80 career games, reaching the mark with the team's 51-36 win over Tampa Bay. Hohensee, in his 11th season as a head coach in the AFL, was hired as the first coach in Rush history on September 26, 2000. He
8 has a regular season record of 75-68 (including a
31-24 mark with the Rush) ... has a career 5-7 mark in the postseason.
8 has led the Rush to three-consecutive playoff berths and a 2002 Central Division title.
8 is 3-3 vs. the Fury.

All-Time Winningest AFL Coaches
Including Postseason
Coach Team Wins This Week
Tim Marcum Tampa Bay 163 at Orlando
Danny White Arizona 130 at Los Angeles
Perry Moss 86
Mike Hohensee Rush 80 at Detroit
Michael Trigg Philadelphia 78 at Colorado
John Gregory 73

McMILLEN ECLIPSES 1,000: Earlier this year Rush FB Bob McMillen became just the fifth player in AFL history to rush for 1,000 career yards. McMillen, fourth in the AFL with 156 yards this year, has set a Rush record for rushing yards in a season, breaking Jamie McGourty's team record of 122 yards set last year. In addition, McMillen has 56 career rushing touchdowns, which ranks him 6th on the AFL's all-time list. Earlier this season, McMillen became the first player in AFL history to rush for 100 or more yards in six-consecutive seasons.

AFL Rushing Leaders:
Player Team G Att. Yards Avg. Long TD
Curran NO 11 56 246 4.4 29 16
Moye-Moore Orl 8 42 179 4.3 15 6
McPherson Ind 10 50 158 3.2 27 15
McMillen Chi 11 47 156 3.3 9 13
Thomas Geo 11 35 154 4.4 17 8

GROUND GAME: As a team the Rush has gained 310 yards and scored 32 touchdowns on the ground this season. With five games remaining the Rush should easily break its team record of 333 rushing yards in a season and has an outside chance to break the league single-season record of 47 rushing touchdowns, set last year by the San Jose SaberCats.

TRULY SPECIAL TEAMS: The Rush special teams blocked another kick Sunday. This week it was lineman Frank Moore who broke through the line and blocked Remy Hamilton's 50-yard field goal attempt. In addition to Moore's blocked field goal, the Rush has blocked six extra point attempts this season – three by John Moyer and three by James Baron. Three of the six blocked PATs have been scooped up by the Rush and returned for two points.

Also, in the team's first 11 games the Rush has returned four kickoffs for touchdowns – the second most in the AFL. Last season the Rush tied for the league lead, returning seven kickoffs for touchdowns.

300-YARD PASSERS: The last time Chicago and Detroit met, Fury QB Andy Kelly passed for 306 yards against the Rush defense, marking only the seventh time in the team's history that it has allowed a 300-yard passer. Kelly became just the fourth different quarterback to accomplish the feat, joining Aaron Garcia, Donnie Davis and Clint Dolezel.

Rush opponent's 300-yard passing games:
Player Date Opponent Yards
Clint Dolezel 7/7/01 @ Grand Rapids 342
Aaron Garcia 3/23/03 vs. New York 339
Clint Dolezel 5/4/02 vs. Grand Rapids 321
Clint Dolezel 3/29/03 @ Grand Rapids 317
Andy Kelly 3/28/04 vs. Detroit 306
Donnie Davis 5/18/02 vs. Georgia 304
Aaron Garcia 6/30/02 vs. New York 303

BETTER AFTER THE BREAK: The Rush reached the midpoint of its season with a 6-2 record – the best record at the midpoint of a season in the team's four-year history. In each of the past two seasons the Rush has improved in the second half of the season. Here is a look at the team's record in the first and second halves of the past three seasons:

First Half Second Half Final Record
2001 4-3 3-4 7-7
2002 4-3 5-2 9-5
2003 3-5 5-3 8-8
2004 6-2 1-2 ?

1-2 PUNCH: John Moyer and James Baron might be the best pair of linemen in the AFL. Moyer ranks third in the AFL with six sacks, while Baron is tied for 12th with three. In addition, the pair has combined to block six PAT attempts this year (three each), three of which have been scooped up by the Rush and returned for two points. Baron also leads the league in forced fumbles with five.

MOLDEN FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rush WR/LB Etu Molden has emerged as one of the league's leading candidates for Rookie of the Year honors. He is the team's leading receiver with 67 receptions for 850 yards and 16 touchdowns. Molden also has added three rushing touchdowns and one kick return TD this season. Molden leads all rookies in receptions while ranking second in receiving yards and third in receiving TDs.

Here is how Molden stacks up against the league's other top rookie receivers:

AFL Rookie Receiving Leaders:
Player Team G Rec. Yards Avg TD
Molden Chi 11 67 850 12.7 16
Fontaine Aus 8 56 919 16.4 20
Hines Ind 12 52 712 13.7 12
Sippio Dal 11 48 788 16.4 23

Molden also does the job on defense, recording 19.5 tackles and two interceptions this season.

SACK ATTACK: The Rush defense continues to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, recording 17 sacks this season – second most in the AFL (Orlando 21). John Moyer leads the Rush with six sacks, with James Baron close behind with three. The Rush team record for sacks in a season is 19 (2003).

Here are Chicago's season and career sack leaders:
Player Season Player Career
John Moyer 9.0 (2003) John Moyer 19.0
John Moyer 6.0 (2004) James Baron 10.0
Anthony Hutch 5.5 (2001) Anthony Hutch 6.5
John Moyer 4.0 (2002) Riley Kleinhesselink 5.0
James Baron 4.0 (2003) Jamie McGourty 4.5
Tony Henderson 4.0 (2001) Tony Henderson 4.0
James Baron 3.0 (2004)
James Baron 3.0 (2002)

PROTECT THAT QB: In addition to putting pressure on opposing QBs, Chicago ranks second in the AFL in fewest sacks allowed, giving up only four QB sacks this season. In 2002 the Rush led the league, allowing only three QB sacks all season. Last season, the Rush ranked fifth in the AFL, giving up 12 sacks.

SAWYER ANCHORS SECONDARY: Defensive specialist Corey Sawyer is the team's leader in the secondary. Sawyer heads into this week's game as Chicago's leader in tackles (57) and passes defended (15). He also ranks among the league leaders in tackles (10th) and passes defended (6th).

TOPPING THE CENTURY MARK: Lineman James Baron has played in 111 consecutive regular season AFL games, having never missed a game in his seven-year career. Including postseason, Baron's consecutive game streak stands at 124 games.

Baron has played in more AFL games than any other Rush player. Next on the Rush list for AFL regular season service are Bob McMillen (106), John Moyer (75), John Sikora (71), Frank Moore (70) and Jamie McGourty (62).

RUSH PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Practice for the week of April 26:
Tuesday, April 27 – Players Off
Wednesday, April 28 – 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Thursday, April 29 – 10:30 a.m. to noon
Friday, April 30 – 10:30 a.m. to noon
Saturday, May 1 – 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Palace

All practices will be held at the team's Palatine practice facility, Soccer Enterprise, with the exception of Saturday's walk-thru, which will be held in Detroit.


TALE OF THE TAPE:
Chicago Category Detroit
11 Games 11
52.9 (5) Scoring Offense 47.5 (14)
47.1 (6) Scoring Defense 52.1 (13)
253.9 (12) Total Offense 288.4 (3)
261.8 (8) Total Defense 261.9 (9)
51-58, 87.9% Red Zone Offense 51-65, 78.5%
40-47, 85.1% Red Zone Defense 37-45, 82.2%
221.6 (16) Pass Offense 273.7 (3)
227.7 (4) Pass Defense 231.5 (7)
32.3 (3) Rushing Offense 14.6 (16)
34.1 (19) Rushing Defense 30.4 (17)
582 (5) Scoring 523 (14)
84 (10) Scoring (Kicking) 95 (6)
65-1,253-4 Kickoff Returns 62-1,072-2
19.3 Kick Return Average 17.3
66-1,253-4 Combined Returns 70-1,222-2
18.9 Combined Return Average 17.4
+9 Turnover Margin -16 (18)
7-13, 53.8% Field Goals 11-19, 57.8%
63-74, 85.1% PAT Kicking 62-66, 93.9%
17-83 Sacks By 10-51
3-23 Sacks Against 8-59
30-54, 55.5% Third Down Conversion 38-77, 39.4%
7-11, 63.6% Fourth Down Conversion 10-19, 52.6%
104-651 Penalties (#-Yards) 78-451
94-538 Opp. Penalties (#-Yards) 108-613

INDIVIDUAL LEAGUE LEADERS: The following Rush players are among the 2004 AFL league leaders.

Raymond Philyaw: average gain (5th—8.16 yards), passer rating (4th—119.7), completion percentage (7th—64.6), interceptions thrown (T-4th—4), rushing touchdowns (T-5th—9), fumble recoveries (T-7th—3), fourth-quarter passing (3rd —128.2)

Lindsay Fleshman: interceptions (T-5th—3), interception returns for touchdown (T-3rd—1)

Keith Gispert: field goal percentage (min. 10 att.) (6th—53.8, 7-13), scoring (kickers) (8th—84 points), touchbacks on kickoffs (4th —25)

Bob McMillen: rushing yards (4th—156), rushing attempts (2nd—46), rushing touchdowns (3rd—13), fumble recoveries (T-7th—3)

John Moyer: sacks (3rd—6.0), tackles for loss (8th — 2)

Etu Molden: receptions (11th — 67), receiving yards (14 —850), interceptions (T-14th-2), scoring-non-kickers (12th—126)

James Baron: sacks (T-12th—3.0), forced fumbles (1st – 5)

Corey Sawyer: tackles (10th – 57), passes defended (T-6th – 13), interceptions (T-14th—2)

*Hamin Milligan: interceptions (T-14th—2)
*including stats from Arizona

RUSH GAME AWARD WINNERS: The following Rush players have won individual game awards for their play this season:

Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game:
Raymond Philyaw (2/8 vs. Grand Rapids, 2/22 vs. Colorado)
Lindsay Fleshman (2/14 @ New York)
Jeremy McDaniel (3/21 vs. Orlando)
Etu Molden (4/4 @ Las Vegas, 4/11 vs. Tampa Bay)

ADT Defensive Player of the Game:
Corey Sawyer (2/8 vs. Grand Rapids, 4/11 vs. Tampa Bay)
Donnie Caldwell (2/14 @ New York)
John Moyer (2/22 vs. Colorado, 4/4 @ Las Vegas)
James Baron (3/21 vs. Orlando)
Lindsay Fleshman (3/28 vs. Detroit)

U.S. Army Ironman of the Game:
Lindsay Fleshman (2/8 vs. Grand Rapids, 3/28 vs. Detroit)
DeJuan Alfonzo (2/14 @ New York)
Jamie McGourty (2/22 vs. Colorado)
Kareem Larrimore (2/29 @ Indiana)
Bob McMillen (3/21 vs. Orlando, 4/11 vs. Tampa Bay)

AFL WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS: The following Rush players have won AFL weekly awards for their play this season:

ADT Defensive Player of the Week:
John Moyer (2/22 vs. Colorado)
Bob McMillen (3/21 vs. Orlando)

AFL MONTHLY AWARD WINNERS: The following Rush players have won AFL monthly awards for their play this season:

ADT Defensive Player of the Month:
John Moyer (February)



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 27, 2004


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