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Colorado Crush game notes

January 23, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Colorado Crush News Release


Chicago Rush (0-0) vs. Colorado Crush (0-0)

Date: January 29, 2006
Kickoff: 1:00 MT
Site: Pepsi Center (18,093)
Television: NBC (Tom Hammond: play-by-play, Pat Haden: analyst, Lewis Johnson: sidelines)
Radio: KOA 850 AM (Marc Stout: play-by-play, David Diaz-Infante: color analyst)
Coaches: Mike Dailey, Colorado (88-58, 10th Year)
Mike Hohensee, Chicago (95-84,
13th Year)
Series Record: Chicago leads the series 4-2
@ Colorado 58, Chicago 76 (4/13/03)
Colorado 35, @ Chicago 65 (2/22/04)
@ Colorado 56, Chicago 47 (5/30/04)
@ Colorado 48, Chicago 51 (2/13/05)
Colorado 51, @ Chicago 75 (4/17/05)
@ Colorado 49, Chicago 43 OT* (6/5/05)
* indicates postseason game

THE OPPONENT:

The Chicago Rush enter the 2006 season with a something old-something new look. With the departure of QB Raymond Philyaw to Grand Rapids in the offseason, the Rush have left veterans Michael Bishop and
Matt D'Orazio to battle for the
position under center. While the QB may be new, the Rush return weapons WR/LB Etu Molden and FB/LB Bob McMillen, who was named one of the AFL's greatest 20 players last week.

THE GAME:

The 2005 ArenaBowl Champion Colorado Crush kickoff their fourth season and title defense at home on Sunday, January 29th at 1 p.m. MT against the Chicago Rush, their Central Division rival and the team they defeated in "The Confetti Game."

Regarded as one of the most exciting games in AFL history, "The Confetti Game" provided an exhilarating finish. Crush defensive specialist Rashad Floyd intercepted a pass in the end zone on the last play of regulation to apparently seal the 2005 American Conference championship for Colorado. Celebratory confetti showered the field at Pepsi Center, but a penalty flag had been thrown for defensive pass interference. Undaunted by the remaining confetti on the field, Rush kicker Keith Gispert kicked a 17-yard field goal to tie the game and force overtime.

But it was not to be for Chicago. On their second possession of overtime, Colorado wide receiver/linebacker Andy McCullough caught a 22-yard TD pass to send the Crush to their first ArenaBowl appearance.

The game also has an AFL 20th Season tie in. The second AFL game ever played took place on June 20, 1987 in Chicago between the Chicago Bruisers and the Denver Dynamite, who won 52-44 in overtime.

The Crush-Rush match-up features two of the AFL's top coaches. Chicago coach Mike Hohensee and Colorado coach Mike Dailey stand third and fourth respectively on the AFL's all-time winningest coaches list.

The Crush hold a 1-2 opening game record and a 2-1 record in home openers. Chicago currently leads the all-time series with Colorado four games to two.

With their sights set on a return trip to Las Vegas for ArenaBowl XX, Colorado's opening day roster will feature 17 players that were on the team's championship roster last season.

The mission of repeating will be not an easy one however as only two teams have accomplished the feat (Tampa Bay 1995 & 1996, Detroit 1988 & 1989 & 1990).



THE SCHEDULE:

COLORADO CRUSH (0-0)

Date OPPONENT RESULT SCORE
Jan. 29 CHICAGO
Feb. 5 at Georgia
Feb. 12 LAS VEGAS
Feb. 18 at Nashville
Feb. 26 at Philadelphia
March 5 GRAND RAPIDS
March 10 at Chicago
March 19 at Los Angeles
March 25 COLUMBUS
April 1 NASHVILLE
April 8 at Grand Rapids
April 16 at Kansas City
April 21 UTAH
April 28 ORLANDO
May 6 at San Jose
May 12 ARIZONA

CRUSH NEXT WEEK:

The Crush travel east for their first road game of the season to face the Georgia Force in a rematch of ArenaBowl XIX on Sunday, February 5th at 11:00 a.m. MT in Philips Arena.

This will only be the second regular season meeting between Colorado and Georgia. The Crush fell to the Force 40-44 in the team's inaugural game on February 3, 2003. Georgia is currently riding a 10-game home winning streak at Philips Arena becoming one of only two teams (Tampa Bay 2005) to go undefeated at home since the AFL moved to a 16-game schedule in 2003.

CONNECTIONS:

Crush Head Coach Mike Dailey and Chicago Head Coach Mike Hohensee are best friends, having spent a great deal of time on the same coaching staffs. Dailey was Hohensee's best man in his wedding and is the godfather to his children. They both began as assistant coaches at Montgomery Junior College in Rockville, Md...Crush OS Damian Harrell played two seasons under Hohensee in New England.

STATISTICS:

A look at how Colorado and Chicago match-up on both sides of the ball based on 2005 final regular season statistics:

Statistical COLORADO CHICAGO
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 3rd 54.6 13th 49.2
Scoring Defense 13th 54.4 4th 47.8
Total Offense (yds/g) 11th 275.2 4th 295.2
Total Defense (yds/g) 17th 315.4 11th 290.7
Pass Offense 9th 263.8 6th 273.6
Pass Defense 17th 291.3 12th 267.8
Rushing Offense 16th 11.4 5th 21.6
Rushing Defense 13th 24.1 11th 22.9
Pass Rating 10th 111.1 4th 116.9
Pass Def. Rating 14th 118.1 13th 116.8
Kickoff Returns 8th 17.8 12th 16.7
MFG Returns 5th 20.0 7th 18.0
Interceptions (int-yds) 6th 17-189 15th 10-52
Turnover Margin 4th +6 15th -6
Field Goals 9th 14-31 2nd 11-18
PAT Kicking 7th 105-118 8th 91-104
Sacks By (sks-yds) 3rd 21-105 11th 13-41
Sacks Against (sks-yds) 3rd 6-32 5th 8-45
First Downs 8th 322 7th 330
Opp. First Downs 17th 357 5th 309
Penalties (yds/gm) 3rd 48.8 4th 49.6
Opp. Penalties (yds/gm) 11th 51.7 9th 52.0
Red Zone Offense 7th 68-82 4th 65-77
Red Zone Defense 15th 73-83 8th 51-65
Time of Possession 12th 29:34 5th 31:22

HEAD COACHES:

MIKE DAILIEY, Colorado (88-58, 10th Year): Dailey enters his third season in Colorado and tenth as head coach in the AFL, after becoming the Crush's second head coach on June 26, 2003. Dailey joined the Crush following 13 seasons in the Albany/Indiana Firebirds organization, including the final seven as head coach.

One of the most successful and well-respected coaches in AFL history, his teams have made seven postseason appearances and he has won four division titles and two championships.

Last season under Dailey's guidance, the Crush captured their first Central Division title en route to claiming a 51-48 victory in ArenaBowl XIX giving Colorado their first AFL championship in only their third year of existence. With the team's win over Chicago in the American Conference championship game on June 5th, Dailey became the fourth winningest coach in AFL history surpassing Perry Moss.

In his first season in Colorado, Dailey helped guide the Crush to the largest turnaround in AFL history, inheriting a 2-14 team and leading them to an 11-5 record in 2004, tied for the best in the league. He also led the Crush to their first playoff appearance and first win, advancing to the AFL Semifinals.

In 1999, Dailey led the Firebirds to their only ArenaBowl championship and was named AFL Coach of the Year. Before being named head coach of the Firebirds in 1997,
Dailey served as an assistant in Albany for five seasons.

Dailey began his AFL coaching career with the Washington Commandos where he served as offensive/defensive line coach in 1990. He joined the Firebirds organization in the same capacity in 1991.

Prior to the AFL, Dailey worked as an assistant coach at Towson State University and was the offensive coordinator at Montgomery College-Rockville (Md.). Dailey got his start in coaching in 1981 as a 22-year-old assistant at Georgetown Prep High School in Rockville, Md. The move to coaching followed a semi-pro football career in the Washington D.C. area.

All-Time Winningest AFL Coaches
Including Postseason

Rank Name-Team Wins
1. Tim Marcum- Tampa Bay 176
2. Danny White- Utah 141
3. Mike Hohensee- Chicago 95
4. Mike Dailey- Colorado 88
5. Perry Moss- not active 86
6. Darren Arbet- San Jose 82
7. Michael Trigg- not active 80
8. John Gregory- not active 73


MIKE HOHENSEE, Chicago (95-84, 13th Year): With Chicago's 51-48 win in Colorado February 13th, Rush head coach Mike Hohensee moved into sole possession of third place on the AFL's all-time wins list. Hohensee, in his 13th season as a head coach in the AFL, was hired as the first coach in Rush history on September 26, 2000. He has a regular season record of 95-84 (including a 44-33 mark with the Rush). He has a career 7-9 mark in the postseason. He has led the Rush to five-consecutive playoff berths and two Central Division titles (2002 and 2004). Hohensee is 4-2 all-time when taking on the Crush.
Hohensee joined the Rush after spending the previous two seasons as head coach and director of player personnel for the New England Sea Wolves. He has spent a total of 12 seasons coaching in the Arena Football League, including prior head coaching stints with the Washington Commandos (1990), the Albany Firebirds (1994-96), the Anaheim Piranhas (1997) and the New England Sea Wolves (1999-2000).
He began his coaching career as an assistant for the Chicago Bruisers in 1989 before becoming the youngest head coach in league history for the Washington Commandos in 1990.
Hohensee played professional football for the Washington Federals of the USFL, the CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders and Toronto Argonauts and the Pittsburgh Gladiators of the AFL- where he is credited with throwing the first touchdown pass in AFL history. He also saw action with the Chicago Bears during the 1987 season.
Hohensee was an all-America quarterback at San Antonio Junior College before transferring to the University of Minnesota.

LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET:

DENVER - Andy McCullough's leaping, 22-yard touchdown grab in double coverage 9:44 into overtime sent the Colorado Crush to ArenaBowl XIX via a 49-43 win over the Chicago Rush and capped one of the wildest and emotional games in Arena Football League history.

McCullough's score came after both the Crush and Rush had gone scoreless on their opening overtime possessions, sending the already memorable contest into sudden death. It marked the first time that an AFL semifinal game had ever gone to that point; only two semifinals before had ever gone into overtime, but both ended on the opening exchange of drives, when each team is required to have at least one possession.

Colorado's initial overtime chance had gone astray when Chicago's Todd Howard intercepted a John Dutton pass in the end zone. Five plays later, Chicago's Bob McMillen rambled around left end for a 15-yard touchdown that could have ended the game, but an offsides penalty on the Rush nullified the score. Two plays later, Rush kicker Keith Gispert was wide right on a 36-yard field-goal attempt, sending the contest into sudden death and setting the stage for McCullough's heroics.

The events in the final moments of regulation that set up the overtime bordered on the bizarre. The Crush thought it had the game won when Rashad Floyd intercepted a pass on the last play of regulation. But a flag flew, signaling pass interference against Floyd that nullified the play.

As the flag sailed to the turf, so too did a blizzard of confetti, as the worker responsible was not aware of the flag amidst the celebratory ruckus among the 13,719 on hand at Pepsi Center. The game paused as Rush players brushed the confetti aside as if it was snow to give Gispert space with which to attempt a 17-yard field goal, which he nailed to force overtime.

Even without the rare sudden-death overtime and the premature dispensing of celebratory paper, the game was one of the most memorable in Arena Football history. Colorado sprinted to a 20-0 second-quarter lead and had possession of the football with a chance to push the lead to four scores midway through the period, but John Moyer

sacked Dutton, forcing a fumble that Rush wide receiver/linebacker Etu Molden recovered. Two plays later, the Rush scored its first touchdown of the game, and its rally was under way.

Colorado managed to work its lead back to 20 points in the final seconds of the half, but Chicago narrowed the Crush edge to 33-20 at inermission after Philyaw found Molden for a 26-yard, "Hail Mary" completion off the right rebound net as time expired before halftime. The score sent the Rush on a 27-3 run that eventually gave them a 40-36 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Four plays later, the Rush had Colorado backed up in fourth-and-11 at its own 4-yard-line. But Dutton found McCullough for an 18-yard gain, keeping the drive alive. Two plays later, McCullough made a leaping, 8-yard reception in the back of the end zone to put the Crush back in front 43-40 with 2:52 remaining.

Chicago got possession once again and drove to the brink of the end zone before the wild confluence of circumstances at the end of regulation.

Colorado (12-6) moves on to ArenaBowl XIX, where it will make its first title-game appearance against the Georgia Force, also in its first ArenaBowl. Chicago's season ends at 10-8.

Score 1 2 3 4 OT Total
Chicago 0 20 13 10 0 43
Colorado 13 20 0 10 6 49
LEADERS

PASSING:
CHI- Raymond Philyaw, 29-51-350-5-1
COL- John Dutton, 28-43-299-5-1

RUSHING:
CHI- Charlie Cook, 2-6-1
COL- John Peaua, 3-5-1

RECEIVING:
CHI- CJ Johnson, 11-162-3
COL- Andy McCullough, 11-137-4

OFFENSIVE MVP: Andy McCullough, Colorado
DEFENSIVE MVP: John Moyer, Chicago
IRONMAN: Willis Marshall, Colorado

THINGS TO WATCH:

OPENING GAMES:

The Crush are 1-2 in season openers, losing their first franchise game to Georgia 44-40 on 2/2/03. In the 2004 opener, John Dutton connected twice with Damian Harrell in the final 12 seconds of a miraculous 43-42 win over Las Vegas at Pepsi Center on 2/6/04. That game marked the first home win in Pepsi Center in franchise history. Last season, Colorado opened the season for the first time on the road falling to Orlando 36-39 on 1/30/06.

Date Opponent Result Score
2/2/03 GEORGIA L 40-44
2/6/04 LAS VEGAS W 43-42
1/30/05 at Orlando L 36-39

BUILDING A WINNING TRADITION:

The Crush are the winningest team in the AFL since head coach Mike Dailey's arrival, having tied for the league's best record in 2004 (11-5) and finishing with the American Conference's top seed in 2005 (10-6).

Team 2004 W 2005 W Total
Colorado 11 10 21
San Jose 11 9 20
Chicago 11 9 20
New Orleans 11 9 20
Orlando 10 10 20
Los Angeles 9 10 19
New York 9 10 19
Tampa Bay 9 10 19

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH:

After finishing their inaugural season 0-8 at home, the Crush are now 15-3 under Mike Dailey (2-0 in the postseason) at the Pepsi Center. Two of the three losses consist of an overtime field goal by Indiana's kicker Clay Rush (now with Colorado) last season, and a 51-48 Chicago win this season on a field goal with 3 seconds remaining.

CRADLE OF COACHES:

Strangely enough, little Montgomery Junior College in Rockville, Md., is the cradle of AFL coaches. Crush head coach Mike Dailey (offensive coordinator) and Chicago head coach Mike Hohensee (quarterbacks coach) were assistants on the same staff there. Los Angeles head coach Ed Hodgkiss also coached there. Seven future NFL players played at Montgomery as well as Columbus quarterback John Kaleo, who finished his collegiate career at Maryland after leading Montgomery to the national championship game. Sadly, despite all of these successes and an all-time record of 315-154-13, Montgomery JC discontinued the football program in 2002.

Former Montgomery Junior College Coaches
Mike Dailey (current Colorado head coach) Ernesto Purnsley (1997-98, 2000-03)
Mike Hohensee (current Chicago head coach)
Ed Hodgkiss (current Los Angeles head coach)
Brent Winter (current Los Angeles assistant head coach)
Earl Hoffman (former Albany Firebirds quarterback coach)

STEEL CURTAIN:

After allowing 14 sacks in 2003 (12 on Dutton), the Crush pass protection has been stellar under head coach Mike Dailey. The team allowed just four sacks in 2004, and none after Week 6 at San Jose (3/14). Colorado did not allow a sack in their final 446 offensive plays of the 2004 regular season (10+ games). They allowed just six sacks in 2005, which includes an unforced fumble by QB John Dutton that the Crush recovered, on the opening play vs. Los Angele (2/27/05). After holding 10 opponents in 2005 sackless, the Crush have now allowed just those six sacks in their last 24 games (total of 1,152 plays).

MAN OF STEEL:

A true AFL Ironman, Kyle Moore-Brown is in his 12th season in the league and has never missed a game. ArenaBowl XIX marked his AFL record 176th consecutive start. The first 139 all came with the Firebirds organization before he signed with the Crush prior to the 2004 season.

With Grand Rapids (and former Crush) OL/DL Otis Moore missing two games in 2005, Moore-Brown now stands alone in the record books with 158 straight regular season games. Each had appeared in every game since 1995, with Moore-Brown having the overall edge with more playoff appearances.

AFL Record for Consecutive Games
Player (current team) Reg. Season Playoffs Total
Kyle Moore-Brown (Colo.)* 158 17 175
Otis Moore (Gra.) 153 1 155
*streak current

TACKLING MACHINE:

After setting an AFL record with 122.0 tackles in 2004, Rashad Floyd smashed his record while recording the second most tackles in the league, 129.5, for the 2005 regular season. Floyd made a league-leading 123 solo tackles. This despite missing almost the entire game vs. Columbus (3/20) and being inactive in the game at Grand Rapids (4/30). Floyd also set an AFL record with 17.5 tackles vs. Los Angeles (2/27), besting the previous record of 17.0 set by L.A.'s Kevin Cobb at Houston (6/23/00). Floyd finished 30.0 tackles ahead of second place in 2004 Indiana's Anthony Derricks (93.0).

AFL Record - Most Tackle in a Season
Player Team Year Total Gms Avg.
Damon Mason Orl/GRR 2005 133.5* 17 7.85
Rashad Floyd Colorado 2005 129.5 15 8.63
Rashad Floyd Colorado 2004 122.0 16 7.63
Cornelius Coe Indiana 2001 121.5 14 8.68
Damon Mason Orlando 2000 108.0 14 7.71
Damon Mason Orlando 1999 103.0 14 7.36
Damon Mason Orlando 2001 101.0 14 7.21
* After being released by Orlando at the midway of the point of the season, Mason joined Grand Rapids for the team's final nine games. Mason missed both teams' bye week, therefore, he played in 17 games. Typically, regular season statistics are based on a 16-game season.

A BROKEN RECORD:

Damian Harrell has caught a touchdown pass in an AFL record 49 straight regular season games, including all 46 games as a member of the Crush. That streak is also the longest active streak of consecutive games scoring a TD. He broke the record for consecutive games with a receiving touchdown on 4/3/05 in the win over Las Vegas. It is also second-longest streak of consecutive games with a TD. Harrell's streak began with the Toronto Phantoms vs. Carolina on 7/4/02.

AFL Consecutive Games with a TD Reception
Year (Week)
Player (team) Stk began Stk ended # Games
Damian Harrell (Tor/Col) 2002 (Wk 12) --- 49
Eddie Brown (Albany) 1997 (Wk 3) 2000 (Wk 1) 41
Eddie Brown (Albany) 1994 (Wk 1) 1996 (Wk 14) 33
Chris Jackson (LA) 2000 (Wk 1) 2002 (Wk 7) 28

AFL Consecutive Games Scoring a Touchdown
Year (Week)
Player (team) Stk began Stk ended # Games
Eddie Brown (Alb/Ind) 1997 (Wk 3) 2002 (Wk 3) 65
Damian Harrell (Tor/Col) 2002 (Wk 12) --- 49
Chris Jackson (LA) 2000 (Wk 1) 2003 (Wk 14) 47
Barry Wagner (Orlando) 1992 (Wk 10) 1996 (Wk 11) 43
Eddie Brown (Albany) 1994 (Wk 1) 1996 (Wk 14) 33



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from January 23, 2006


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