MacPherson earns third Offensive Player of the Week award

Tuesday July 8, 2008

Rampage QB Set AFL Playoff Completion Percentage Record in Win over Chicago

GRAND RAPIDS – After helping lead the sixth-seeded Grand Rapids Rampage to a 58-41 Divisional Round road victory over the top-seeded Chicago Rush, quarterback James MacPherson (Tucson, Ariz.) was named the Arena Football League’s Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. The first-year starter completed 33 of 39 pass attempts for a league playoff record completion percentage of 84.6%.

In Grand Rapids’ second straight road playoff win and fifth straight victory overall, MacPherson threw for 326 yards and six touchdowns on 33 completions, a team playoff record. He also rushed for a touchdown, as the Rampage scored on nine of the team’s 11 possessions.

MacPherson had already become the only player in Rampage history to capture Offensive Player of the Week honors multiple times in one season, as he earned league recognition in Week 4 and Week 15 of the regular season. The Wake Forest University product was also recently named the AFL's Offensive Player of the Month for June. In the team’s last five games, MacPherson has compiled a 131.8 passer rating, completed 74.7% of his passes (139-of-186) and thrown 33 touchdowns to only three interceptions.

The Rampage will meet the Western Division champion San Jose SaberCats this Saturday (June 12) at HP Pavilion in the American Conference Championship. The winner of the game, which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast live on ESPN, will advance to ArenaBowl XXII.