REDemption Rush Fall Short in Season Opener
Jeff Sims
Monday March 25, 2013
As short as six weeks ago, it was uncertain whether the Chicago Rush would even field a team in the Arena Football League in 2013.
With a new team owner, David Staral Jr., and a tireless front office staff working hard to get everything arranged and prepared, they were able to open the doors of the Allstate Arena on Saturday night for the team’s first game of the season.
As Ryan Simmons, Executive Vice President, for the Chicago Rush stated to me after the game; “We played a game and they came.”
Just after Staral’s purchase of the team, it had been documented that the team had approximately 250 season tickets sold for the season. According to an article published in the Chicago Tribune on Friday, that number was just over 1000 going into this weekend’s game against the Iowa Barnstormers.
With projected numbers for attendance looking extremely low, nobody knew what to expect.
The team had an announced attendance on Saturday night of 6,026. Last season’s average for all nine home games was 6,886.
With a battle cry of “REDemption”, the team seems to have been able to create a buzz and interest in Arena Football and the Chicago Rush, for at least the first night.
“REDemption is starting with a new owner and trying to build this organization back up to where it once was and to obviously get back into the playoffs,” said Rush head coach Bob McMillen.
With a new scrolling banner in the arena promoting the team, new team jerseys, and a DJ to get the crowd and the team pumped up, there was a sense of positive energy around what was taking place.
Not bad for a team that had almost nothing a month and a half ago!
“It was a good crowd,” said Iowa Barnstormers defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Ernesto Purnsley. “They were loud and into it the whole game. That’s great for what went on here in the offseason.”
And that’s coming from a coach of the opposing team!
But in the world of professional sports, moral victories can only last for so long.
The Rush lost their home opener 63 – 41. The loss breaks the four game winning streak the Rush had in season opening games.
“Whenever you are able to put a team on the field, especially with everything that went on, it’s very positive,” said McMillen. “But that is in the past now. We have a lot of good football players out here and we just finished week one. We have to get better for next week.”
With a new quarterback in Carson Coffman,who played behind AFL MVP Tommy Grady last season in Utah, starting his first game and a new offensive coordinator in Siaha Burley, who was the wide receivers coach for the Arizona Rattlers last season, the Rush had a slow start on offensive.
After a 21-yard touchdown pass from current Barnstormer and former Rush quarterback JJ Raterink to wide receiver Marco Thomas gave the Barnstormers an early 6-0 lead (the extra point was missed), the new Rush offense was able to get to the Iowa six yard line.
Two passes from Coffman were batted down at the line of scrimmage by Iowa defensemen. The Rush decided to attempt a 21-yard field goal that was missed by new kicker Jose Martinez.
Before the end of the first half, Rush wide receiver Rodney Wright could not gain possession of a kickoff coming off of the iron and the ball was recovered by Iowa for a touchdown, putting the visiting team up by double digits.
To his credit, Coffman hung in solid for the first three quarters completing 18 of his 29 pass attempts for 175 yards and five touchdowns. The Rush were down by 11 points going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Coffman was intercepted twice which coach McMillen blamed more on the offensive line rather than Coffman due to problems with the pass blocking schemes.
“It’s week one,” McMillen said. “We came out expecting to make mistakes, but we didn’t expect to make that many mistakes. Iowa came out and played a great game.”
From plays not made on defense on early key third down situations, to dropped potential touchdown passes on offense, to kickoffs not handled correctly, Chicago certainly cannot pinpoint its loss in one single facet of the game.
“It was frustrating all the way around,” said wide receiver Reggie Gray. “The offense played bad. At times, special teams played horrible and at times the defense gave up some balls. It’s not (one specific unit), it’s everyone.”
Now that the season is underway and the offseason is behind them, the Rush have their first game in the books and can now look forward to the rest of the season.
“The offseason is the offseason,” said MCMillen. “ We are very fortunate to have an owner right now that is positive and brings good things to the team. He’s enthusiastic and unfortunately, we were unable to bring him a win for his first game, but there are a lot more games ahead of us.”
Game Notes
With the loss, the Rush are now 9-3 in season opening games.
Prior to this game, the Rush were 5-1 all time against the Barnstormer. The only loss was at the Allstate Arena in 2010 when Mike Hohensee was the Rush head coach.
Raterink continued his fine play going 22-30 for 257 yards and seven touchdowns. He was not intercepted in the game. Unlike last season where his primary receiver was Jesse Schmidt (who did not return for 2013), Raterink used his receivers almost equally with all three receivers having at least seven receptions each.
Chris Gould was signed as the kicker for Iowa for 2013. Just prior to the season, he accepted a coaching position at Syracuse University. He was replaced by Phil Marfuggi, who kicked for both the VooDoo and the Soul last season.
The Rush receiving trio was led by Wright who had 12 receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
The next opponent for the Rush is the Spokane Shock at Allstate Arena on Easter Sunday at 3:00pm
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.