Easy Win for Calm, Cool Rush
Mary-Ann Williams
Monday May 28, 2001
The right one came to play against the hapless Mustangs Friday night at the Bradley Center. In a beating the score can’t possibly show, the Rush trounced Milwaukee, 69-46, and showed that Chicago is truly capable of pulling it all together.
“All week long we’ve been preaching in practice, the coach has been preaching, let’s put together a full game,” said game MVP FB/LB Jamie McGourty. “Up to this point in the year we haven’t put together a complete game, so that was our goal this week. And we came out and we did it.”
Dicken put on his Cool-guy suit for this game. Unlike his somewhat shaky and shaken performance against the Rampage the week before, he hit his receivers nearly every time, coming home with a 23 of 32 and 262 yards. Not to jinx him, this makes his third performance in an AFL game without a single interception. His four TDs for the night lifted his stats to 18 in three games. He managed this despite losing half his line to injuries by the third quarter. When he keeps his cool and plays the way he knows how, the man is good. No. Incredible.
OS Joe Douglass made his regular spectacular catches and diving grabs. And he wasn’t alone. WR/DB Dameon Porter and WR/LB Jai Hill stepped up and made some pretty catches, too. Heck, the entire lineup seemed to take part in the stampede against the Mustang’s line. DS Derek Stingley and WR/DB Kelvin Hunter made the Mustang offense wish for a white flag to wave. McGourty could do no wrong on either side of the line, bringing in four TDs and numerous tackles.
“It’s definitely the guys up front,” said McGourty. “This is a team game. You know, there’s no individuals out there. Without the blocks at the line by the receivers, I’m not getting into the end zone; no one’s getting into the end zone.”
And as a team, the 3-3 Rush demolished a worn-down Milwaukee team, sending them to their worst record in recent years of 0-6. But they didn’t go down easy. In fact, they took down at least six of the Chicago line by the end of the first half.
“No doubt we played short the whole second half,” said Rush coach Mike Hohensee. “Our guys really had to suck it up. Guys like Vernon Broughton, Anthony Hutch, [Jim] Steibel, [Curt] McFarlane, all those guys really did a heck of a job for us, pulled us through.” Arenafan’s own A.J. Blazek came out early with a concussion, too. That’s a lot of pain for a game that was dominated from beginning to end by the Rush.
So now that we’ve seen the Rush as they should be, the question begs, is this how they will be? They face the Houston Thunderbears at the Allstate Arena Saturday. Which Rush will be there? The no-nonsense, get-the-job-done, stoic team that mercilessly knocked around the Mustangs this week for an entire game? Or the scrambling, hotheaded group of guys that gave up their first home loss to the Rampage the week before, despite a valiant comeback attempt in the fourth quarter?
Unfortunately, there’s no way to know until they show up. Can I make a suggestion? Show up hungry for bear, and with tempers fully in control.
Mary-Ann Williams lives in Chicagoland with her four children, Carter, Jackson, Jeremy, and Riley Jade. As a freelance writer, she`s written articles for the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Daily Herald. She also serves as editor of the AFL-side of Arenafan Online, and covers the Chicago Rush.
