Crush turns back Rampage
March 5, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Colorado Crush News Release
DENVER -- Only the stragglers of the Grand Rapids Rampage kickoff-coverage unit kept Willis Marshall from the promised land.
Whether it was a tackle from behind or a diving, hit-absorbing stop by Rampage kicker Peter Martinez, Grand Rapids put up just enough roadblocks to keep Marshall out of the end zone on his seven kickoff returns. They didn't, however, preclude him from dashing upfield for an average of 28.3 yards on seven returns. That pace set the Colorado Crush in good field position from start to finish Sunday afternoon and helped propel them to a 66-54 win in front of 14,597 at the Pepsi Center.
"Our kickoff return team did a great job blocking," said Marshall, whose kickoff-return and all-purpose yardage tallies were the second-best in franchise history. "There were times I wasn't getting touched until the 10-yard-line, and my only job from then on out was to work on beating that kicker."
But the way Colorado's offense moved the ball, it wasn't an issue. It scored on 10 of its first 11 possessions, and at one point found the end zone on six consecutive drives, a streak that wasn't snapped until the game's final seconds, when the Crush looked merely to gain positive yardage and run out the clock, and not to extend a 12-point lead.
Nine of the Crush's 10 scoring drives found the end zone, and five of the nine touchdowns landed in Damian Harrell's hands, as he snagged nine passes for a season-high 149 yards. He wasted no time beginning his scoring, catching a 20-yard scoring pass from John Dutton on the game's first play from scrimmage.
"They were missing one of their best defensive backs (Johnnie Harris), and we knew we had to take advantage of that, and we did," Dutton said.
That touchdown commenced a day-long theme of running plays to get Harrell into single coverage or, in the case of that touchdown, into wide-open space. Dutton veered left upon taking the snap and the flow of the play went in that direction. Harrell, meanwhile moved to the right side of the field. By the time he got inside the 5-yard-line, no Rampage defenders were in sight, and Dutton threw across the field and found the offensive specialist at the goal line for the touchdown.
"We had some mismatches, and we knew coming into the game we were going to have some open receivers," Dutton said.
Three of Harrell's five touchdowns came on one-play possessions, including the game's first and last scores.
"He's such a great player," Crush head coach Mike Dailey said. "Sometimes he just comes out, plays at such a high level and gets us on a roll.
Colorado kicker Clay Rush missed the game with an upper-right leg strain. Jason Ball, who last kicked with the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of af2, filled in and made seven-of-nine extra-point attempts, along with a 25-yard field goal.
"(Rush is) going to be week to week," Dailey said. "We put him on emergency hold, which you can only do with the kicker. Everybody else has to be signed 48 hours before the game but a kicker can be put in that status an hour before the game. We'll know a little more (Monday) and then we have a couple of options. We can see where he is and then make that decision.
"I don't want to rush to judge and make that decision until I see how he is (Monday)."
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 5, 2006
- Crush turns back Rampage - Colorado Crush
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- Gladiators find rhythm against Soul, 67-49 - Las Vegas Gladiators
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- Brigade offense comes alive in thrilling 69-59 loss to Tampa Bay - Kansas City Brigade
- Rampage downed by champs, 66-52 - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Injuries, Desperados end Rush three-game winning streak - Chicago Rush
- Turnovers deny Blaze a win at home, 65-50 - Utah Blaze
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