San Jose Drops Chicago 71-49
Published on March 9, 2003 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
ROSEMONT, Ill. (March 9, 2003) -- Offensive specialist Aaron Bailey set a San Jose game record with four rushing touchdowns and added a fifth on a pass reception helping head coach Darren Arbet earn his 50th career victory with a 71-49 defeat of the Chicago Rush on Sunday evening.
With the victory the SaberCats improved to 4-2 on the year and will play seven of their remaining 10 games at home.
Bailey staked San Jose to a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run just over five minutes into the game and added his second scoring run, a 2-yard scamper, to give San Jose a 22-6 lead after the first quarter of play. The former Carolina Cobra added scoring runs of 2 and 3 yards in the second half to break the club record of three rush TDs in a game.
Chad Salisbury replaced an ineffective Brian Ah Yat at quarterback late in the second quarter for the Rush and got Chicago within 43-35 following an 8-yard scoring pass to Anthony Ladd. Salisbury completed 12 of 17 for 150 yards and four scores.
The SaberCats put the Rush away after that scoring the game's next 21 points.. Rashied Davis, named Ironman of the Game for the second straight week, capped off the run by returning an interception 33 yards for a score to give the SaberCats a 64-35 advantage with 7:47 left in the game.
San Jose quarterback Mark Grieb completed his first nine passes of the game and finished 19 of 25 for 267 yards and three TDs. James Roe and Davis each caught six passes while Bailey had a game-high 104 receiving yards on five catches.
San Jose's defense made it's presence known in the game early. Sam Hernandez posted career sack No. 50 when he got to Ah Yat in the endzone for a safety and a 9-0 lead early in the game. The SaberCats also added three interceptions to raise their league leading total to 15. Davis, Roe and Clevan Thomas posted the picks with Thomas tying a team record with a pick in six straight games.
Lineman Brian Johnson lifted San Jose over the 70 point mark for the third straight game when he returned an on-side kick by the Rush 6-yards for his first career TD late in the game.
The SaberCats return home on Friday, March 14 for the first of three straight home games when they battle the Buffalo Destroyers at HP Pavilion. Game time is 7:30 pm and tickets are still available at all Northern California TicketMaster outlets and the HP Pavilion box office.
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