Fury Lose a Big One
Neal Ruhl
Monday April 12, 2004
“If you want to blame anybody, you can blame me,” said Fury head coach Tom Luginbill. “I said it to you all week. This was a scary team. It’s just as hard to go 0-16 as it is to go 16-0. All the credit in the world should go to those guys. They were flat out hungrier for a win then we were, and it showed in the result.”
The Rampage took the lead for the first time in the game in the fourth quarter when Rampage receiver Josh Bush scored on a 40-yard pass from quarterback Anthony Buich. The Fury answered on a 46-yard Andy Kelly connection to Thabiti Davis. Grand Rapids took the lead for good on a five-yard run by Baby Ruth Offensive Player Of The Game Chris Avery. Avery was also named the US Army Ironman Of The Game.
Detroit had 23 seconds left to try to get the go-ahead score, but Fury quarterback Andy Kelly was picked off by defensive specialist Mark Ricks with 14 seconds left to preserve the first win of the season for the Rampage.
The loss, while damaging, was not a fatal blow to the Fury’s playoff chances. However, at 4-5 with back-to-back games on the west coast looming, Detroit is not in an optimal position. The Fury must get the ship righted quickly before they travel to Los Angeles to take on one of the league’s top quarterbacks in Tony Graziani, along with one of the best pass catchers in the game, offensive specialist Chris Jackson. The duo makes up one of the most prolific combinations in the history of the game, so the Fury will have their hands full for sure.
Unleash the Fury
Fury center Matt Norwood left the game in the second quarter with a concussion. His status is not known at this time… When Norwood left the game Dustin Keith stepped in and proceeded to play almost the entire game, every play… Look for a full blown quarterback controversy in Grand Rapids. Starter Michael Bishop was pulled at halftime in favor of backup Anthony Buich. When asked about it, Bishop was not pleased, to say the least.
Neal Ruhl lives in the Metro Detroit Area where he has covered the Detroit Lions as well as the Motor City Bowl.
