A Rivalry Reborn... Sort Of
Jeff Sims
Monday March 28, 2011
A rival is defined as one who attempts to equal or surpass another in a particular respect. A rivalry is the act of competing against a rival.
On Friday night, the Chicago Rush hosted the San Jose Sabercats at the Allstate Arena in what many fans of this fine sport would define as a rivalry.
Prior to the game on Friday evening, all previous 10 matchups between these two teams had taken place within the previous version of the AFL. In their seven regular season contests, the Rush held a 4-3 advantage. From 2004 to 2007, the teams met three times in the playoffs, all as championship semi-final games, with San Jose holding a 2-1 edge. In those three games, the winner went on to win the ArenaBowl. Those are pretty good qualifications for a rivalry.
Friday evening at the Allstate Arena showed how much things have changed since 2008. This game did not showcase the talents of former superstars such as James Roe for the Sabercats or Bobby Sippio for the Chicago Rush. Fans could typically expect a high level of play that comes down to the last few minutes of the game. In the past, a match-up between these two teams would have packed the house. On this night, it was only half-full and the energy level was not as electric. As a matter of fact, the only resemblance of this old rivalry was the quarterback of the Sabercats, Mark Grieb, who decided to return to the league after a two year hiatus.
“I felt that there were still some things that I wanted to do in (Arena Football),” said Grieb. “And I wanted to be a part of getting San Jose back to a championship level team.”
Even with his comeback, Grieb understands that the dynamics of the league have changed.
“There are a lot of young guys and a lot of talented guys that still care about the league,” he said. “But It is a lot younger.”
A lot of times, younger players can make mistakes early in a season. Nothing proved Grieb’s statement more than the first half of the game on Friday night in which the Rush pulled out a 54 -41 victory over San Jose.
The game started with the Rush pulling out a touchdown on fourth down and ten yards to go from their own 5 yard line. Wide receiver Reggie Gray broke away from his defender, who tripped on the turf, and caught a 45 yard pass from quarterback Russ Michna for the score. The snap on the extra point was high and holder Vic Hall, who made a spectacular play on a bad snap the week before, threw a pass across the field that was picked off by Sabercats defender Dwight McLean, who returned it the other way for two points for the Cats.
The ensuing Sabercats possession resulted in a Grieb 13 yard touchdown pass to lineman Mark Lewis. Kicker Juan Gamboa, looking to match his three missed extra point attempts from his previous game, missed his first of three missed extra points in this game.
On the next possession for the Rush, 2010 Kicker of the Year Chris Gould, missed a 36 yard field goal attempt.
Each team would score twice before the end of the half, which ended on a San Jose offensive pass interference penalty. This was a costly error for the Cats as they ended the half with only a one point lead 21 – 20. Neither team was clean in the first half.
‘‘Neither team played well today in the first half,” said Rush head coach Bob McMillen. “I give our guys a lot of credit because they came out and responded in the second half.”
The Rush defense adjusted at halftime and was able to create some defensive stops and turnovers in the second half. They moved from a man defense to more of a zone scheme in the secondary and the defensive line was able to put more pressure on Grieb.
From the end of the first half through the middle of the third quarter, the Rush went on a 21 – 0 run. The Rush started the second half with a four down stop of the Sabercats and then they scored on a 23 yard pass from Michna to Gray. Gray would finish the game with 8 receptions for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
The next Sabercats possession resulted in Grieb being intercepted by Rush defensive back Jason Simpson. Simpson had two interceptions in the game and the rush defense totaled three picks for the second half.
“The pass rush was awesome,” said Simpson. “He was throwing it off of his back foot and it floated a little bit, so it gave me more time to come over the top and make a play on it.”
With the victory, the Rush improve to a perfect 3-0 start under McMillen, who said that the game may not have been what fans expected for a Rush versus Sabercats game, but his team performed as he expected.
“I think it lived up to (the rivalry) a little bit. I think everyone was hoping for a 76 -71 shootout, but you are going to see some lower scores with our football team. We predicate our team on our defense going out and getting stops and taking a ball control kind of offense. We are not trying to hit a homerun on every play. No matter if we won ugly or not, we are a 3 – 0 team.”
Whether it was pretty or not, both the Chicago Rush and the San Jose Sabercats are quality teams in the AFL with a reputation for playing a high level of Arena Football and making long runs in the playoffs. Who knows, this may be something that is seen again later this season. Mcmillen definitely thinks so.
“The rivalry is going to continue and we are going to see this team again in the playoffs,” McMillen said. “We are going to get better and they are going to get better also.”
Game Notes
Sabercats defensive lineman and 2010 AFL Defensive Lineman of the Year Gabe Nyenhuis made a spectacular interception on a Russ Michna pass that was floated and intended for his tight end. Nyenhuis jumped out of the building to grab it and return it seven yards for a score.
Rush offensive lineman Beau Elliot is expected to miss at least one more game and could potentially return after their bye week for the game against Iowa.
One week after Spokane head coach Rob Keefe refused to speak to the media after their loss to Cleveland, San Jose Sabercats head coach Darren Arbet would not speak with the media and also pulled his players away from interviews after the game.