Rush Get Push From Dallas, Secure Playoff Spot
Jeff Sims
Wednesday May 19, 2004
The Dallas Desperados were looking to keep even the dimmest of playoff hopes alive while the Chicago Rush want more than anything to be at the top of the heap going into the postseason.
The 13,071 fans that filled the Allstate Arena this past Sunday certainly did not see one of the most well played games, but they definitely saw one of the most thrilling games that any Arena Football fan, or any football fan for that matter, would have been proud to see.
“We didn’t play very well,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “We dropped some balls and Ray (Philyaw) wasn’t real strong. I just don’t think that we executed the way we should and I think the players feel the same way. We were fortunate to come out of this with a win, but our guys fought to the end like winners.”
"We had the opportunity to win today," said Desperados head coach Will McClay. "This game can be about the last possession, and we just couldn`t get to the job done. If we would have taken care of our business earlier in the game, it wouldn`t have come down to the last play."
With the descriptions given by the two coaches, certainly anyone who missed the first 59 minutes of this game didn’t miss much other than a setup for a terrific ending.
With a minute remaining in the game, and down 41-38, the Rush took possession on their own 13-yard line. The crowd was electric at this point knowing that something special was about to happen.
But it didn’t happen right away.
On their first play, Rush QB Raymond Philyaw overthrew WR/LB Lindsay Fleshman, who was wide open and would have easily scored if the ball had been thrown on the mark.
The crowd let out a big sigh thinking that might have been the big play that got away.
That particular play summarized the day for Philyaw. He overthrew receivers at times and released the ball early at other times in fear of re-injuring his knee. Philyaw was playing in just his second game after returning from a sprained MCL in his right knee.
“I lost focus every once in a while,” said Philyaw. “I had a tendency of throwing off my back leg, worrying about those guys diving at my knees knowing that my knee was still hurt. Having this brace on reminds me that I had hurt it before, but I had to realize in order to make plays I had to stay in the pocket and take those hits. On the last couple of drives I was able to do that.”
He certainly did it on the ensuing play.
Appearing to be under pressure, Philyaw was able to throw a pass to OS Jeremy McDaniel who then turned on the jets to run thirty-seven yards for the go ahead touchdown. The extra-point by Rush K Keith Gispert, Offensive Player of the Game, put the team up by four forcing the Desperados into the desperate situation of having to score a touchdown since they had missed an extra point earlier in the game.
“I ran a smash route and Ray was kind of in trouble,” said McDaniel. “He threw it to me and I caught it and turned upfield. I tried to stiff-arm (the defender) and he fell to the ground so I covered up the ball to make sure that I wouldn’t fumble and got in the end zone.”
You would have thought that the roof was about to come off the Allstate Arena from the reaction of this loyal Rush crowd.
It would only get louder.
On the following kickoff, Gispert was able to make the ball ricochet off the posts. After fighting for the loose ball, the Desperados were able to recover at their own 4-yard line in order to give themselves one more chance with 38 seconds to play, which is plenty of time in Arena Football.
Using good clock management, Dallas QB Glen Gauntt completed a couple of passes to WR/DB Will Pettis and OS Jason Shelly to set up the game’s final play with three seconds left.
The Allstate Explodes
With the crowd in a frenzy creating a noise level that a Boeing 747 would be proud of, Gauntt took the snap and threw a fade pass into the corner of the end zone for WR/LB, and potential Rookie of the Year, Bobby Sippio.
The quotes from the players tell the rest!
"I caught it and came down with it," Sippio said after the game. "They said I pushed off, but I remember myself getting pushed."
And of course, there are two sides to every story.
“He pushed me,” said Rush DS Corey Sawyer. “I knew the play was coming and it was coming against me. They pushed off and that was a good call by the ref.”
There really was a rumble in the house on this day as the crowd exploded knowing that the Rush had just come away with a 45-41 victory and a push into the playoffs.
The play was ruled incomplete as Sippio came down out of bounds and losing the ball after it hit the back wall. It would not have mattered as he was also flagged for offensive pass interference.
“This was just a tough one to win,” said Sawyer. “You just can’t win championships getting easy victories. You’ve got to fight for some wins and that’s what we did today.”
The team clinched its fourth playoff berth in as many years and has established their best record in franchise history. Yet they still understand that their mission is not yet complete.
“The big thing is we got a seat at the big table that seats eight,” said Hohensee. “We still have some work to do because I want to sit at the head of that table.”
This will certainly not be an easy task as the Rush take on hot QB Adrian MacPherson and the Indiana Firebirds next week at home and then close the regular season in Colorado.
Jeff has been writing for ArenaFan.com since 2004. Originally from New York, Jeff has been living in the Chicago area for the past ten years and is an avid football fanatic. He holds a BA in communications from Hofstra University in New York and a sports management certificate from Loyola University in Chicago.
