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Rush Game Notes

May 7, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Chicago Rush News Release


THE FACTS
Radio: WSCR "The Score" 670 ... Tom Dore, Mike North
Regular Season Series Record: Teams have never met
Coaches (regular season records): Mike Hohensee (53-52, 9th season), Tim Marcum (115-38, 14th season)
Officials: Riley Johnson (Referee), Paul Frerking (Umpire), Neil Brunner (Head Linesman), Paul Engelberts (Line Judge), Bud McCleskey (Back Judge)

STORMS A BREWING: The Rush will be traveling back to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Storm this Friday night. It will be the first meeting between the two teams. The Storm have started the season 0-3, losing to Toronto, San Jose and Carolina. Tampa Bay's head coach Tim Marcum is the winningest coach in league history with a 115-38 record. He owns six ArenaBowl championships and has coached in 9 of the 15 title games.

The Rush enters the game with a 2-1 record and in a tie for first place in the Central Division. The next 4 games for the Rush will be against non-conference opponents — at Tampa Bay, Georgia, at Arizona and New Jersey.

RUSH 71, RAMPAGE 59: The Rush finally defeated Central Division rival Grand Rapids 71-59 Saturday night. The Rampage had beaten the Rush three times during the 2001 season, including knocking the Rush out of the playoffs. Quarterback Billy Dicken threw for 254 yards and 6 touchdowns to lead the Rush. Dicken, who was without his favorite target Joe Douglass, threw scoring strikes to 4 different receivers. Douglass missed the game with an injury suffered the previous week at Orlando.

Antonio Chatman was thrust into the starting offensive specialist role and responded with a couple of touchdowns. Chatman, who saw first significant action of his rookie campaign, caught 5 passes for 65 yards and 1 touchdown. He also returned a kickoff 55 yards for a touchdown and averaged 30.5 yards per return.

The defensive line kept pressure on Clint Dolezel all evening with John Moyer recording the only sack of the game. On the play, Moyer also forced a Dolezel fumble that Andy Chilcote recovered and rolled into the end zone for a touchdown.

CAROLINA 46, TAMPA BAY 36: Tampa Bay out gained Carolina by almost 100 yards but committed too many turnovers, as the Cobras were victorious 46-36. The Storm had one final chance but Scott Milanovich's pass was intercepted with 28 seconds left to seal the victory for Carolina. Milanovich was 5-of-13 for 90 yards and 3 touchdowns in relief of starter Shane Stafford.

Lawrence Samuels led the Storm receivers with 7 catches for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also led the defense with 5.5 tackles. Melvin Cunningham also caught a pair of touchdown passes. The Storm was shut out in the 1st and 3rd quarters. In its 12-year history, the Tampa Bay Storm has never started a season 0-4. BILLY AND THE LINE: Billy Dicken has enjoyed great protection in the pocket this season. The offensive line has not allowed a sack in 3 games. Through 3 games last season, Rush quarterbacks had been sacked 8 times.

The defensive line, not to be outdone, has done a good job of pressuring the opposing quarterback. They have forced Raymond Philyaw, Jay Gruden and Clint Dolezel to make plenty of mistakes. Although only 1 sack has been recorded, the defense has snagged 5 interceptions.

THE MONTH IS ALMOST UP: The Rush will conclude its tough first four weeks of the 2002 campaign with Friday night's game against the Storm. So far, the Rush is 2-1 on the campaign. Chicago will have played three of its first four games on the road. The road contests are at traditionally tough places to play in the league — Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, T.D. Waterhouse Center ("The Jungle") in Orlando and the Ice Palace in Tampa Bay. The home game featured the defending ArenaBowl champion Grand Rapids.

THE NEXT FOUR: The next four weeks will feature 3 of 4 games at home. The Rush will face the Georgia Force (formerly the Nashville Kats) May 18, the New Jersey Gladiators June 2 and the Detroit Fury June 8 at Allstate Arena. The only road trip in that stretch will take Chicago to Arizona to take on the always-powerful Rattlers Memorial Day weekend (May 25).

LET'S CHAT-MAN: Antonio Chatman learned about an hour before the game that he would be starting in place of injured offensive specialist Joe Douglass. Chatman responded by racking up Douglass-like numbers. He returned 5 kickoffs for 151 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown dash in which no one touched him. He also caught his first 5 AFL passes and first touchdown (9 yards from Billy Dicken). Chatman is currently leading the league in kickoff returns with a 30.2 average.

Chatman, a 23-year-old rookie, had played sparingly in the first 2 games of the season. The California native went to training camp with the San Francisco 49ers last year.

COACH MIKE HOHENSEE is in his 9th season as a head coach in the Arena Football League. Hohensee was hired as the first coach in Rush history on September 26, 2000.

- is 3-3 against the Storm during the regular season and 0-1 in the postseason.

Date Opponent Decision
5/28/94 Tampa Bay at Albany W, 71-45
6/17/95 Tampa Bay at Albany W, 42-36
8/18/95* Albany at Tampa Bay L, 56-49
7/12/96 Albany at Tampa Bay L, 65-52 OT
7/12/97 Anaheim at Tampa Bay L, 68-43
8/2/99 New England at Tampa Bay L, 54-20
4/15/00 New England at Tampa Bay W, 41-26
*postseason

300-YARD PASSER — NOT OFTEN: The Rush have held opposing quarterbacks to fewer than 250 yards passing in 11 of its 17 regular season games.

The only quarterback to reach 300 yards passing has been the Rampage's Clint Dolezel twice — July 7, 2001 at Grand Rapids (342 yards) and May 4, 2002, in Chicago (321).

Last week, Tampa Bay was led by two quarterbacks — Shane Stafford and Scott Milanovich. Stafford went 18-of-27 for 191 yards and 1 touchdown while Milanovich went 5-for-13 for 90 yards and 3 touchdowns.

A RUSHING GAME: Chicago had 10 rushing attempts Saturday night vs. Grand Rapids. The Rush gained 14 yards on its 10 attempts and scored a pair of touchdowns. Only two other times have the Rush had double-digit rushing attempts in a game — both against Milwaukee last season (May 25 — 14 attempts, July 14 — 10).

BIRTHDAY BOYS: Lineman Marcus McKenzie will turn 26 years old on Saturday. McKenzie joined the Rush last season and has emerged this year as the starting center.

Fullback/linebacker Jamie Bowers will celebrate his 26th birthday May 13. Bowers scored his first 2 touchdowns of the season last Saturday night vs. Grand Rapids.

TV OR NO TV: The Rush are 2-0 when the games have been televised in the Chicagoland area. The season-opener and the home opener were both broadcast on CLTV. The Rush have 7 more games on TV during the season (6 on Fox Sports Net and 1 on TNN).

HOW ABOUT THAT KICKER?: Bruce Rienecker has made 18-of-20 extra point attempts, which ties him for 3rd in the league. He went 8-of-10 in the Grand Rapids game with his first two misses of the season. The 10 extra point attempts ties Pete Elezovic's team record from last season. He is also 2-of-4 in field goals with his misses coming from 28 and 45 yards.

ALMOST ONE YEAR AGO: On May 12, 2001, Billy Dicken started his first AFL game vs. Indiana. Filling in for the injured Jeff Loots, Dicken threw for 351 yards and 8 touchdowns and earned AFL Player of the Week honors. He would not relinquish the starting job for the rest of the season.

IS THERE A FAVORITE?: Billy Dicken has thrown 71 touchdowns in his one-plus year AFL career. He has found 12 different receivers for the scoring strikes. Last weekend, he threw touchdowns to 4 different receivers, including 2 first time recipients — Jamie Bowers and Antonio Chatman. Here is the breakdown of Dicken's touchdown passes:

TDs Receiver
24 Joe Douglass
13 Dameon Porter
9 Cornelius Bonner
7 Furnell Hankton
4 Dale Koscielski
2 Lindsay Fleshman, Jai Hill, Jamie McGourty
1 Jamie Bowers, Antonio Chatman, Ed Scissum

FULLBACKS ANNOUNCE PRESENCE: The Rush fullbacks made their presence known Saturday night as both scored two touchdowns. James Bowers caught a 2-yard pass for a score and then bulled his way into the end zone for a 1-yard score in the 3rd quarter. It was the first receiving touchdown of his career. He also tied a club-record held by Jamie McGourty with 6 rushing attempts.

Andy Chilcote sandwiched Bowers' touchdowns with a pair of his own. Chilcote recovered a Clint Dolezel fumble on the 2-yard line and rolled into the end zone. He scored the first points of the second half on a 4-yard run.

THAT'S WHAT 71 POINTS WILL DO: Chicago jumped from No. 15 to a tie for 4th place in scoring (non-kick) last week. The Rush entered the Grand Rapids game with 72 point and looking up at the entire league with the exception of New York. After the offensive explosion, the Rush has 132 points and are only trailing Georgia (152 points), San Jose (148) and Arizona (144).

By the way, Chicago will play those 3 teams in the next five weeks.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 7, 2002


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