Rush Rebound

By: Jerome Cusson

While the offense still didn’t look like they were totally in sync, the defense, special teams, and complete inability of the Grand Rapids Rampage to do anything right led to an easy 64-34 victory for the Chicago Rush Friday night.

Regular starting quarterback Sherdrick Bonner missed the game due to the birth of his child back in Arizona, and backup quarterback Russ Michna stepped in and was only the offensive player of the game completing 18 of 26 for 245 yards and 5 touchdown passes.

“He’s a great quarterback,” said wide receiver Damian Harrell. “He came out on fire.”

The game started well in all facets as the first three plays resulted in scores for the Rush. The first offensive play of the game for the Rush set the tone as Michna found Harrell wide open for a 45-yard touchdown to make it 8-0, after the Rush defense had sacked Grand Rapids quarterback Adrian McPherson for a safety in the end zone. The Rush weren’t done, as on the ensuing kickoff DeJuan Alfonzo recovered the ball for another touchdown. It was complete domination during the entire quarter.

Special props should go to the Rush defense for preventing Grand Rapids from getting anything going offensively. McPherson’s only hope was rushing and completing short yardage passes. The last play seemed to exemplify how far the Rampage have fallen since their Arena Bowl championship back in 2001. McPherson went into shotgun formation and a bad snap led to the Rush almost scoring again to end the half. James MacPherson was plugged into the Rampage line-up as the quarterback for the second half.

Still, the defense played like men possessed after last week. Defensive end John Moyer still sited tackling as an issue but believed the team played much better than how they did against the Philadelphia Soul.

“We played hard and with passion,” Moyer said.

Coach Mike Hohensee was also pleased with the effort his defense put forth.

“If you reduce a team to three-step drops and slip screens, you’re doing pretty well,” he said.

The Rush were banged up throughout the entire game. Players seemed to be struggling off the field from the first to the last play. The scariest injury may have been Donovan Morgan, who was hit in garbage time and left the game with a concussion. Hohensee was not sure of the severity or if he was wearing one of the new shock-o-meter helmets that are supposed to spot major hits to the head using a light system.

Even though the Rampage aren’t the class of this league anymore, it was a much needed rebound win for Hohensee and his team. Their next opponent may be a tougher task. The Colorado Crush are a division opponent and one of the Rush’s biggest rivals. Damian Harrell should be especially motivated since he was a member of the Crush for the last seven years. Coach Hohensee will also be reunited with his good friend Mike Dailey, the head coach of the Crush.

“No, I’m never excited about playing him,” he said about his longtime colleague.

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Jerome Cusson is a proud graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Currently, he is a freelance writer and a contributer to such websites as The Cool Kids' Table and giveawaytheending.com. Check out his NSR blog as well.

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