New Faces, Same Results for Winless Rampage
Randy Snow
Monday April 5, 2004
The Rampage were shut out in the first quarter 3-0 and only had the ball for four plays, the last being a missed 38-yard field goal by newly acquired kicker Mike Black. Black was signed last week to replace Nick Gatto, who had struggled making field goals this season. Black missed three field goal attempts in the first half, but was 5 for 5 on extra points for the game. After the Rattlers kicked their own 20-yard field goal later in the quarter, they executed a perfect onside kick and recovered the ball on their own 12-yard line.
Trailing 24-14 at the half, head coach Bob Cortese replaced starting quarterback Anthony Buich with backup Michael Bishop. Buich, who has started the last five games for the Rampage, completed only three of his 10 pass attempts for 45 yards and one touchdown in the first half.
On Bishop’s first play in the third quarter, he fumbled the snap from center but was able to pick it up, only to throw an incomplete pass. He faired a little better on his fourth pass of the game, which was a 25-yard touchdown to offensive specialist Carlos Johnson. In his Arena Football debut, Bishop completed 12 of 21 passes for 132 yards and 4 touchdowns, and also rushed three times for 14 yards.
Bishop, drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft, spent a season with the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 2001 and was with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League the past two seasons before signing with the Rampage earlier this season. He played college football at Kansas State and was the runner up to Ricky Williams in the 1998 Heisman Trophy voting.
“I’ve prepared him (Bishop) the last two weeks,” said Cortese. “He wants to play; he’s very competitive. He’s still green behind the ears in Arena Football, but he’s such a good athlete. He’s got the ability to make people miss him.”
Cortese did not say who will be his starting quarterback next week.
Penalties were a real killer for Grand Rapids in this game. In the first quarter, Arizona threw an incomplete pass on fourth down, but a roughing the passer penalty against the Rampage gave the ball back to the Rattlers at about the Grand Rapids 10-yard line. In the fourth quarter, an illegal block in the back penalty wiped out a long run by fullback/linebacker Chris Avery, and later in the quarter a holding penalty by the Rampage nullified another long run by Bishop. If not for that penalty, the play would have resulted in a first and goal for the Rampage at about the 8-yard line.
There have been a plethora of roster changes for the Rampage already this season and there could be more to come as Cortese and his staff try to put together the perfect combination of players that will break the team out of their current losing slump.
Next Game
The Rampage will travel across the state of Michigan to take on the Detroit Fury (4-4) at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday, April 10th. Detroit has won their last two games, but both were close contests. They defeated the Rush in Chicago, 72-71, and then beat the Georgia Force at home, 42-40. The last time the Rampage and Fury met was in the first round of the playoffs last year in Grand Rapids where the Fury won the game, 55-54.
Randy Snow covered the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League for ArenaFan from 2003-2008. He also covered the Fort Wayne Fusion of arenafootball2 in 2007. From 2004-2008 and in 2010, he was a member of the Arena Football League Writer’s Association and, since 2011, has been a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association. Randy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan but will travel just about anywhere for a football game or a great football story. He runs the web site www.theworldoffootball.com and hosts a podcast with his son, Adam, called “This Week in The World of Football.”
