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Rush Game Notes

March 4, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Chicago Rush News Release


The Quick Facts
TV: NBC ... Mike Breen, Ray Bentley, Marty Snider
Radio: ESPN Radio 1000 ... Tom Dore, John Jurkovic
Overall Series Record: 0-1
Last Meeting: June 15, 2002 ... SaberCats won 74-68
Coaches (regular season records): Mike Hohensee (62-59 — 10th season) Darren Arbet (44-17 — 5th season)
Officials: Darrel Leftwich (Referee), Jeff Carr (Umpire), Bill Ward (Head Linesman), Jim Hatfield (Line Judge), Tony Lombardo (Back Judge)

ROUND TWO: Chicago and San Jose will be meeting for the second time. Last season, the teams turned in one of the highest scoring games of the AFL campaign, with the SaberCats prevailing 74-68 in San Jose. After San Jose jumped out to a 20-3 first quarter lead, the Rush fought back and held a 62-61 advantage late in the fourth quarter. The teams combined for 52 points in the third quarter.

The Rush will be looking to extend its winning streak to 3 games and reach the .500 mark for the first time this year. After starting the season 0-3, Chicago has defeated Los Angeles (54-53) and Buffalo (40-13) in the last two weeks. Against the Destroyers, the Rush was led by Antonio Chatman's 4 touchdowns receptions and Billy Dicken's 6 touchdown passes. The Rush defense allowed a franchise-low 13 points.

San Jose is coming off a 72-37 victory over the New Jersey Gladiators. The SaberCats were led by quarterback Mark Grieb, who threw for 252 yards (18-27) and 4 touchdowns. His main targets were James Roe (8-95, 2 touchdowns) and James Hundon (7-118, 2 touchdowns). Defensive specialist Clevan Thomas intercepted his 7th pass of the campaign and returned it for a touchdown.

Next week, the Rush will travel to Las Vegas to face the Gladiators and the SaberCats will begin a three-game homestand against Buffalo.

COACH MIKE HOHENSEE is in his 10th season as a head coach in the Arena Football League. Hohensee was hired as the first coach in Rush history on September 26, 2000.
- has a regular-season record of 62-59 (including a 18-15 mark with the Rush) ... has a career 5-6 mark in the postseason.
- has a 0-5 record against San Jose.
- signed a two-year contract extension through the 2005 season on August 1, 2002.
- became the sixth coach in league history to record 60 regular-season victories when the Rush defeated Dallas (58-52 in overtime) July 13, 2002.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After this game, the Rush will play 4 of its next 5 games on the road. Chicago is 1-2 this season and 6-11 overall on the road. Next week, the Rush will travel to Las Vegas to face the Gladiators. After returning home to face the high-scoring New York Dragons, Chicago will hit the road for three consecutive weeks, making trips to Grand Rapids, Detroit and Colorado.

WHEN WE LAST MET: Last year at San Jose, the Rush allowed only 277 total yards but were hurt by its special teams. San Jose's Clevan Thomas returned two kickoffs and one missed field goal for touchdowns. Thomas accumulated 252 yards in returns. Quarterback Mark Grieb completed 17-of-25 passes for 267 yards, 7 touchdowns and no interceptions. His favorite target was James Hundon, who caught 5 passes for 98 yards, including 4 touchdowns.

For the Rush, Antonio Chatman returned 11 kickoffs for 245 yards and finished the game with 354 all-purpose yards — one of the best totals in league history. The 11 kickoffs tied the 2nd-best mark in AFL history.

"CHAT" WITH THE SABERCATS: Antonio Chatman had the best game of his career against San Jose last season. Chatman accumulated 354 all-purpose yards — one of the best totals in AFL history. Chatman caught 9 passes for 109 yards and 1 touchdown but really did his damage in the return game. He recorded 245 yards on 11 kick returns, both of which are Rush team records. The 11 kick returns tied the 2nd-best mark in league history.

IT'S TIME TO CHAT: Antonio Chatman caught 10 passes for 144 yards and 4 touchdowns Saturday night at Buffalo. The 10 receptions tied his career high, while the receiving yards and touchdowns were the 2nd-best marks of his career. It was the sixth time in his young career that he recorded 100-plus yards in a game. He, also, earned Game MVP honors for his performance for the second straight week.

Chatman has caught 42 passes for 469 yards and 6 touchdowns. He is on pace to record 134 receptions and 1,501 yards, both of which would shatter existing Rush records. Chatman also serves as the return man for Chicago and is averaging 21.1 yards per kick return.

JAMES AND JOHN: Rush linemen James Baron and John Moyer each recorded sacks against Buffalo. It was Moyer's second sack of the campaign and Baron's first.

Moyer needs one more sack to become the all-time Rush leader with 7.0. Baron is tied for second on the list with former lineman Tony Henderson. For Baron, it was also the 30.5 sack of his AFL career, which ranks him fifth on the AFL's all-time list.

The Rush record for sacks in a season 5.5 set in 2001 by Anthony Hutch. Moyer had 4.0 sacks last season and Baron added 3.0 on their way to all-Arena honors.

IRONMAN FLESHMAN: Lindsay Fleshman has won the league's Ironman of the Week Award for Week 5 after catching 5 passes for 43 yards (1 touchdown) and making 6.0 tackles and 1 interception at Buffalo. He also won his second Ironman of the Game Award (June 2, 2002, vs. New Jersey). The Rush is 2-0 with Fleshman in the lineup and 0-3 without him. Fleshman spent the first three weeks of the season on injured reserve with a broken left hand.

In only 2 games, Fleshman has caught 10 passes for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On defense, he has made 6.0 tackles and picked off a pass.

BILLY DON'T BE A HERO: Since being benched for the Indiana game, Billy Dicken has completed 67.7 percent (42-62) of his passes in the two Rush wins. In addition, Dicken has thrown for 475 yards and 10 touchdowns. As a starter in the AFL, Dicken has a career record of 19-14, (including the postseason). At Allstate Arena, he has a 12-4 mark and has thrown for 3,629 yards (299-467), 77 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 16 games.

Dicken has thrown 144 career touchdown passes to 15 different receivers. With his four touchdown catches last Saturday, Antonio Chatman became his favorite target with 28 scoring strikes. Former Rush offensive specialist Joe Douglass caught 24 touchdowns from Dicken, while Dameon Porter ranks third at 23.

LUCKY #13: The Rush defense allowed a franchise-low 13 points to Buffalo Saturday nights. It was the fewest points allowed in the AFL since Indiana only gave up 6 points to Milwaukee April 19, 2001.

The previous record for fewest points allowed was set last season when the Rush allowed only 14 points June 2 to New Jersey. The lowest two-game total for the Rush defense is 31 points (June 2-June 8, 2002).

#1 DEFENSE: If defense wins games, the Rush should be good shape. The Chicago defense is ranked No. 1 in the league, allowing only 37.4 points per game. The Rush is also ranked first in passing defense at 201.4 yards per game, just ahead of Georgia (201.8). In total defense, the Rush is second at 221.6 yards behind Georgia at 212.4.

The Rush defense will be put to the test this week as San Jose has scored 80 and 72 points in its last two contests.

A STREAKING YOUNG LADD: Wide receiver/linebacker Anthony Ladd has caught a touchdown pass in each of the last four games. Ladd also scored a rushing touchdown February 23 against Los Angeles.

Ladd had a pair of three-game scoring streaks last season (June 8-June 22 and July 6-July 20). Ladd has scored 13 touchdowns in his last 12 regular-season games, dating back to June 8, 2002.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rush wide receiver/defensive backs coach Stan Davis celebrated his 36th birthday March 6.

M&M BOYS: Fullbacks Jamie McGourty and Bob McMillen have given the Rush its best rushing attack in team history. McGourty has rushed 14 times for 34 yards and 5 scores while McMillen has 32 yards on 7 carries (4.6 average).

McGourty is on pace to score 16 touchdowns and rush for 109 yards. McMillen is on a 102-yard pace. The franchise record for rushing yards in a season is 67, set by McGourty. McMillen has rushed for over 100 yards in each of the last four seasons, including a league-leading 180 yards in 1999. He needs 3 more rushing attempts to move into fifth place on the all-time attempts list.

MOVIN' ON UP: Cedric Walker is 10.5 tackles away from 450.0 career tackles. There have been only three players in league history to reach the 450-tackle mark. Walker is sitting in fifth place in AFL history with 439.5 tackles. He is chasing Las Vegas' Damon Mason at 449.5 stops.

Walker led the league with 98.0 tackles last year. It was the second time in his career that he led the league in that category (93.0 in 1997). Walker has 7 career games with over 10.0 tackles, including a career high of 13.0 tackles (April 26, 2002, at Orlando and July 13, 2002, vs. Dallas).

DEBUT DAY: Halakilangi Muagututia made his AFL debut against Buffalo and recorded an interception. Muagututia had been on the Rush practice squad since January 30. Muagututia played last season for the Mobile Wizards in the af2, where he intercepted a pass in his league debut.

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