Rush comeback falls short in Nashville, 48-47
March 17, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Chicago Rush News Release
Nashville - This time the two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Trailing 48-41 with less than one minute remaining, Rush quarterback Matt D'Orazio capped a four-play, 30 yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run to bring Chicago within one. With just 28 seconds left in the game Rush head coach Mike Hohensee went for the win and called for a two-point conversion play. However, when receiver C.J. Johnson was tackled on the 1-yard line, and Nashville recovered the ensuing on-side kick, the Kats (5-3) had held on for a 48-47 victory in front of 8,772 fans at Gaylord Entertainment Center.
In the first meeting between the teams last month, a Rush two-point conversion in overtime gave Chicago a one-point win.
The loss was Chicago's third in a row, dropping its record at the season's midpoint to 3-5.
"We need to get better," said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. "We made too many mistakes early in the game that we couldn't overcome, and then we did not execute the two-point conversion properly."
The failed two-point conversion erased the momentum of a great 14-point fourth-quarter comeback by the Rush.
Trailing 41-27 with just over 12 minutes remaining, D'Orazio led the Rush down the field on a 45-yard drive ending up with a D'Orazio one-yard TD run to close the gap to 41-34.
On Nashville's next series, Kats QB Leon Murray, starting for the injured Clint Stoerner, overthrew his intended receiver in the end zone and Rush DB Dennison Robinson was there for his second interception of the season.
D'Orazio and the offense capitalized, marching down the field and scoring on a 12-yard TD pass to Cornelius White to even the score at 41-41 with 4:34 remaining.
The Kats wouldn't go away, however, as Murray connected with T.T. Toliver on a 23-yard pass with just 1:15 remaining to set up the drama of the final minute of play.
For the Rush, the game was one of missed opportunities, dropping several passes and committing 11 penalties which stalled the team's offense.
Chicago trailed 28-24 at halftime, but truly must have felt it should have been up by a few scores at the break instead of trailing by four.
In the first half, Chicago dropped two passes on its opening offensive series leading to a Nashville defensive stop, had an interception wiped away because of a penalty, fumbled the ball on its own 2-yard line and failed to recover a Nashville on-side kick on the Kats 7-yard line. The mistakes cost the Rush four offensive possessions and led to 14 Nashville points.
On the positive side, Jeremy Unertl picked of a Murray pass to set up a Rush score, and Carlos Wright had two kickoff returns of more than 54 yards. The first return was good for a touchdown - Wright's second kickoff return TD of the year - and the second set up a Bob McMillen two-yard touchdown run that gave McMillen 1,384 career yards, making him the AFL's all-time leading rusher.
However the Rush struggles continued in the third quarter as the team was only able to muster three points in the quarter on a Dan Frantz 27-yard field goal.
The Rush returns home at 2 p.m. next Sunday, March 26, to host the Grand Rapids Rampage (3-5) at Allstate Arena.
Notes: Matt D'Orazio finished the game 22 for 33 for 226 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception. He extended his streak of consecutive passes without an interception to 224, breaking Raymond Philyaw's team record of 199 set in 2004...Jeremy Unertl's interception was his fourth in a Rush uniform this year, the most in a season by any Rush player since Dameon Porter had four in 2003...McMillen finished the game with four rushing yards, extending his AFL career record to 1,386.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 17, 2006
- Rush comeback falls short in Nashville, 48-47 - Chicago Rush
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