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Grand Rapids Rampage game notes

February 10, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Grand Rapids Rampage News Release


RAMPAGE QUICK FACTS
Grand Rapids Rampage (0-1) vs. Colorado Crush (1-0)
Date: Saturday, February 14, 2004
Kickoff: 12:00 p.m. (EST)
Site: Van Andel Arena (10,594)
Officials: Referee: Tom McCabe; Umpire:
Matt Jordan; Head Linesman: Neil Brunner
Line Judge: Bob McElwee; Back Judge: Joe Duncan

Radio: WBBL 1340 AM, Joe Parson & Tom Sullivan. Coverage begins at 11:40am (EST)

2004 Rampage Schedule/Results
Feb. 8 at Chicago L 30-50 *
Feb. 14 COLORADO 12:00
Feb. 22 LAS VEGAS 3:00
Feb. 29 at San Jose 10:30
March 6 at Dallas 8:30
March 14 LOS ANGELES 12:00 *
--- BYE ---
March 29 at Indiana 7:30
April 4 ARIZONA 12:00
April 10 at Detroit 7:30
April 17 INDIANA 7:30
April 23 at Colorado 9:00
May 1 AUSTIN 7:30
May 8 CHICAGO 7:30
May 15 at Columbus 7:30
May 22 at Carolina 7:30
May 29 DETROIT 7:30

* indicates a game broadcast on NBC

All times are Eastern, in the PM and subject to change.


ON THE TELEVISION
NBC will televise two Rampage games this season, include this week’s contest in Chicago vs. the Rush. The other game will be the March 14th battle against the LA Avengers.

ON YOUR RADIO DIAL
All Rampage games can be heard live on WBBL 1340 AM with Joe Parson & Tom Sullivan calling all the action. Pre-game starts twenty minutes before kickoff.

Join radio Analyst Tom Sullivan and Head Coach Bob Cortese for Rampage Roundup each Wednesday night from 6-7pm for all the news on the Rampage straight from the Coach.

AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
The Grand Rapids Rampage also maintains a comprehensive website, featuring latest information on every Rampage related.

THIS WEEK’S GAME – ALTELL KICKOFF CLASSIC
The Grand Rapids Rampage (0-1) host the Colorado Crush (1-0) at Van Andel Arena for the ALTELL Kickoff Classic in a matchup of Central Division foes. Last year in week two (2/07/03), the teams met for the first time in Denver with the Rampage squeaking by with a 57-55 win thanks to 23-yard field goal with nine seconds left by Brian Gowins. A complete recap of that game is detailed later in these notes.

RAMPAGE IN HOME OPENERS
Saturday marks the seventh home opener in franchise history with the Rampage winning five of the previous six. The lone loss coming in 1999 when San Jose kicked a 36-yard field goal with a second left to give the SaberCats a 54-53 victory.

1998 WIN 45-27 over the Iowa Barnstormers
1999 LOSS 53-54 to the San Jose SaberCats
2000 WIN 51-31 over the Los Angeles Avengers
2001 WIN 50-42 over the Milwaukee Mustangs
2002 WIN 49-45 over the Detroit Fury
2003 WIN 66-63 over the New York Dragons

SMITH RETURNING HIS WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
On Sunday in Chicago, Steve Smith scored the Rampage’s first points of 2004 when he returned a kickoff 54 yards for a touchdown. It was his third career return for a score. By the end of the game, he returned seven kicks for 168 yards – both career highs for the third-year veteran which was good enough to enter the top tens in both categories and were the tops in the AFL in Week 1.

GATTO KICKS AND HITS
Rampage kicker Nick Gatto started his career with Grand Rapids last Sunday with a bang – literally! On the season’s opening kickoff, he made his first of two touchdown-saving tackle, however, he suffered a hip flexor on the play. Despite the injury, Gatto went on to tie his AFL career best with a 47-yard field goal and had great distance on all six of his kickoffs, including four nailing the metal part of the net structure. Hitting metal means that the ball bounces harder off the structure and make returning it much harder. With two assisted tackles on the day, Gatto has recorded 16.0 in his AFL career which ranks as third all-time in AFL history among kickers. Strangely enough, all three have played for the Rampage (Remy Hamilton, 1998-99 & Brian Gowins, 2000-03). His 47-yard field goal was the longest made by any kicker in Week 1.

GATTO’S 2004 KICKOFF SUMMARY
TOTAL KICKS HIT METAL HIT NET
6 4 3 (1 middle, 1 right)

AFL All-time Tackle Leaders – by kickers
PLAYER TACKLES AFL YEARS
Remy Hamilton 64.5 7
Brian Gowins 32.0 5
Nick Gatto 16.0 3

DOGGETTE GOES FOR 400th TACKLE
With just half a tackle, Cecil Doggette will become the 10th player in AFL history with as many stops. He and Mark Ricks will become the first teammates in league history to have at least 400 career tackles each. The two of them have played in a combined 195 regular season AFL games, which also is the most by any active defensive specialist tandem.

STATS DOGGETTE RICKS
AFL Games Played 89 106
Tackles 399.5 (10th) 423.0 (7TH)
Interceptions 27 41 (4TH)
Pass Breakups 108 (3rd) 102 (4TH)

LOWLIGHTS FROM RAMPAGE-RUSH GAME
There were some Rampage team records broken and some close to being broken in the game against Chicago. Sadly, the records happened to be one’s for least or close to least in many team categories.

Total Yards 107 Least
Passing Yards 92 Least
Passing TDs 1 Least (Tied – 5/23/98 at SJ)
Completions 13 2nd least (10 – 7/20/00 at OK)
Pass Attempts 27 4th least (19 & 26 twice)

AFL ALL-TIME LEADERS – DEFENSE
Ricks and Doggette are among the AFL’s all-time leaders in three of the most measurable stats for a defensive player – tackles, pass breakups and interceptions. Here’s a look at the all-time leaders in each of these categories. Players in italics are active.

PLAYER INTERCEPTIONS
Durwood Roquemore 50
Kenny McEntyre – ORL 45
Barry Wagner – SJ 44
Mark Ricks - GR 41

PLAYER TACKLES
Barry Wagner – SJ 617.5
Darryl Hammond – GEO 562.5
Damon Mason – LV 502.0
Cedric Walker – CHI 470.0
Durwood Roquemore 462.5
Carlos James – TB 458.5
Mark Ricks – GR 423.0
Adrian Lunsford – COLO 415.0
Tracey Perkins 400.5
Eddie Brown – NY 395.5
Cecil Doggette – GR 399.5

PLAYER PASS BREAKUPS
Chris Barber 133
Tracey Perkins 130
Cecil Doggette – GR 108
Mark Ricks – GR 102
Derek Stingley – DAL 102
Barry Wagner – SJ 99

RAMPAGE INJURY REPORT
Player Position Injury Status
Hardy Mitchell OL/DL Knee OUT
Mark Ricks DS Knee Questionable
Nick Gatto K Hip Probable
Jason Gamble OL/DL Ankle Probable

MILESTONES IN REACH (Rampage records)
Player MILESTONE NEEDS
Thomas Bailey 300 catches 6
Thomas Bailey 3,400 rec. yards 8
Thomas Bailey 60 rec. TDs 1
Thomas Bailey Team record – TDs 6 (T. Shaw -76)
Steve Smith 2,000 rec. yards 18
Steve Smith 60 rec. TDs 6
Steve Smith 3,000 AP yards 243
RAMPAGE NEXT WEEK
The Rampage welcome home former QB Clint Dolezel and OS Terrill Shaw with their new team – the Las Vegas Gladiators. Shaw left the Rampage as a free agent and Dolezel was traded in the off season. Here’s a look at what the Rampage received in the trade, which part was traded to Columbus for QB Jeff Loots and then other parts to LA.

FROM LAS VEGAS TO LAS VEGAS
OL/DL Paul LaQuerre QB Clint Dolezel
OL/DL Hardy Mitchell
WR/LB Sedrick Robinson

FROM COLUMBUS TO COLUMBUS
QB Jeff Loots WR/LB Sedrick Robinson
DS Jason Waters

FROM LOS ANGELES TO LOS ANGELES
Future Considerations DS Jason Waters

THE HEAD COACHES
Bob Cortese, Grand Rapids
Cortese brings six seasons of Arena Football experience, seven Coach of the Year awards and more than three decades of involvement at the professional, collegiate and high school levels to Grand Rapids. In 32 seasons as a head coach, the Rochester, N.Y., native has compiled an overall record of 244-102-9 (.705), including a 13-17 mark in two AFL seasons (2000-01) with the defunct Oklahoma Wranglers. Last year, he served as the head coach for the Wichita Stealth of arenafootball2 and posted a 4-3 record.

Mike Dailey, Colorado
The former Albany/Indiana Firebirds coach enters his first season with the Crush. In 1999, he was named the AFL’s Coach of the Year as the Firebirds won ArenaBowl XIV. He enters this week’s game with a 64-46 record. Dailey is 4-4 all-time vs. the Rampage.

ALLTEL Kickoff Classic Week
The Rampage will be holding various events in and around the city of Grand Rapids thanks to ALLTEL leading up to the home opener.

Thursday, February 12 9:00am-Noon
Throughout Grand Rapids

Rampage Donut Delivery
Rage Dance Team Members, Blitz and Rampage front office to deliver Krispy Kreme donuts and 2004 schedules to area businesses and media outlets.

Friday, February 13 12:30pm
Soccer Spot

Meet the Rampage presented by ALLTEL
Rampage ownership and head coach Bob Cortese will address the media, the public and the corporate community on the upcoming season. All Rampage personnel, including players, will be available for interviews and interaction with guests.

DESMOND HOWARD AT HOME OPENER
Prior to the Rampage’s home opener on Valentine’s Day, former Super Bowl MVP and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard will be signing autographs an hour before kickoff and will be on-hand for the coin flip.


SERIES HISTORY: Rampage 57, Crush 55

Game Two: Friday, February 7, 2003
Pepsi Center – Denver, Colorado (17,433)

MVP: Joe Douglass, Colorado WR/LB IRONMAN: Charlie Davidson, Colorado WR/DB

Trailing for most of the game, the Rampage used a Brian Gowins’ 23-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining to run their record to 2-0. The victory marked the first time Grand Rapids started the season with back-to-back road victories.

Two plays into the game, the Crush took a 7-0 lead when John Dutton hit Joe Douglass for a 27-yard score. After a stalled drive and missed field goal, the Crush took possession. On the next play, Ricky Ross picked up a fumble taking it into the end zone for Grand Rapids’ first score. Terrill Shaw nabbed his first of team record 41 receiving TDs sandwiched between two Damian Harrell scores. Chris Ryan scored on offense and then defense in 1:37 as he rushed in from eight yards then scooped up a fumble and took it six yards for another. The Crush would then score offensively and defensively within nine seconds to give Colorado a 35-25 halftime lead.

Both teams traded scoring strikes all the way down to the last minute of the final frame when Dolezel hit Sean Riley to cut the Crush lead to 55-54. Grand Rapids elected to go for two and succeeded when Dolezel found Shaw all alone in the back of the end zone. Lineman Eric Gohlstin then recovered a Gowins’ on-side kick at the Rampage 11-yard line, giving Grand Rapids the ball with a 1:00 left. Five plays and 31 yards later, Gowins was brought on for the game-winning field goal.

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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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