Grand Rapids routs Kansas City 72-38

Saturday April 26, 2008

Early turnovers spell doom for Brigade
 
Grand Rapids, MI – Same result, different night.  Grand Rapids (3-5) does it again to Kansas City (1-7) with a convincing 72-38 win.  In the two meetings in the 2008 AFL season Grand Rapids outscored Kansas City by a whopping 74 points.  The Kansas City loss drops them to two games out of the last playoff spot.  Kansas City is 0-3 on the road.
 
The Brigade hoped to get out to a quick start and prove that the team that lost by 40 points was a thing of the past.  Things did not go as planned, on the first play from scrimmage QB D Bryant was pressured by Michael McFadden and fumbled the football inside his own five yard line.  Grand Rapids would recover the fumble and Kenny Higgins would score on the next play for the Rampage.  Kansas City would trail for the rest of the game.  Bryant would commit three turnovers in Kansas City’s first three drives.  The Brigade would be held scoreless on nine of their fifteen possessions.
 
WR Cole Manger led the way for the Rampage offense.  Manger had six catches for 57 yards and three touchdowns.  The three touchdowns were Manger’s first of the season.  QB James MacPherson, who threw for nine touchdowns in the first meeting, was 16–24 for 173 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
 
The Brigade, playing without injured WR Charles Frederick, got decent production from their wide outs.  Jerel Myers and Mike Horacek scored one touchdown a piece.  Myers led the way for Kansas City with 115 yards.  Rookie wide receiver Ces’are Manning had a very impressive AFL debut.  Manning finished with eight catches for 108 yards and one touchdown.  Chris Jones added two catches for sixteen yards. Bryant had his worst start as a member of the Brigade.  Bryant was 24-47 for 300 yards with three touchdowns and four turnovers.
 
Kansas City will stay on the road next week traveling to Utah to face the 0-9 Blaze.  Utah is the only winless team in the AFL.  Grand Rapids will travel to Colorado to take on the 3-5 Crush.
 
This week in the Arena Football League, Week 9, is V Week, a week-long initiative by the AFL, ESPN and The V Foundation for Cancer Research that will permeate the AFL and ESPN communities to help raise awareness and donations for cancer research from Tuesday, April 22 to Monday, April 28.  Donations can be made by calling 800-4JIMMYV (454-6698) or by going online to The V Foundation’s Web site, www.jimmyv.org.