Rush defeat Colorado, extend division lead
Michael Hicks
Sunday April 27, 2008
The last time the Colorado Crush faced the Chicago Rush, two turnovers and two blocked field goals turned a close game into a rout.
On Friday night, it was an onside kick, and the result was the same: a Chicago victory.
DeJuan Alfonzo’s 11-yard kickoff return of an onside kick with 5:30 remaining in the second quarter tied the score at 21, sparking Chicago to four straight touchdowns en route to a 65-52 victory in front of a crowd of 11,114 at the Pepsi Center. With the win, Chicago not only swept the season series, but extended its lead over Colorado and Grand Rapids to 3½ games in the American Conference Central Division.
“They gained a little momentum. You’re hoping to steal a possession there you know, knowing that the get the ball to start the second half. But it didn’t work out for us in that regard,” Crush head coach Mike Dailey said.
Alfonzo added a third-quarter interception to set up Michna’s 4-yard TD pass to Donovan Morgan, capping Chicago’s 28-0 midgame surge.
Colorado (3-6, 0-3 Central Division) hung with Chicago play-for-play through the first quarter and half. But after John Dutton’s second TD pass -- a 19-yarder to Brad Pyatt -- gave the Crush its third lead of the game, 21-14, the Crush didn’t score for the next 13:37. By then, Chicago was up 42-21 and the game was all but over.
Colorado managed to cut the deficit to 13 twice late in the fourth quarter, but it couldn’t get the one break it needed to slow down the Rush’s high-powered offense.
“All losses are tough, no question about that, you know,” Dailey said. “Chicago’s a good football team and we’re a little bit of a banged-up football team right now, and that hurt us.”
The Crush had no answers for Chicago QB Russ Michna. Michna, who was starting his third straight game as fellow signal-caller Sherdrick Bonner recovers from a knee injury, threw for 280 yards and six TDs, including two each to Donovan Morgan and former Crush standout Damian Harrell.
Harrell, who played the last six seasons in Colorado before signing a three-year contract as a free-agent with Chicago (7-2, 5-0) this past offseason, caught a team-high eight passes for 72 yards. In the process, he moved into second place all-time in career receptions in the AFL wit 955, surpassing Eddie Brown’s mark of 950.
In their previous meeting last month in Chicago, Harrell became the all-time leader in AFL history in touchdown receptions. But setting all these milestones against his former teammates isn’t so easy.
“You know what man, actually it’s kind of hard. Actually, I’ve still got to look at those guys like family members, brothers,” Harrell said. “That’s one thing I regret more than setting records. But we get paid to go out and win games. I got to do my job.”
Dutton completed 28-47 passes for 331 yards and 7 TDs for Colorado, but he was also picked off twice.
One bright spot for Colorado was the play of wide receiver Chad Owens. The former Hawaii standout caught a game-high 12 passes for 115 yards and two TDs. He also rushed for a score. Teammate Willie Quinnie caught eight passes -- three for touchdowns -- and Brad Pyatt had a game-high 123 yards receiving and two scores.
But it wasn’t enough.
GAME NOTES
Now with 955 receptions, Chicago’s Harrell is only 36 catches behind Barry Wagner’s all-time mark of 991. … Also, Harrell is 39 yards behind Brown for second all-time in receiving yards. Harrell has 12,691 to Brown’s 12,730. … With the win, Chicago owns a 9-4 edge in the head-to-head series and has won five straight. …A number of Rush players, who played in the first meeting, missed Friday’s game. DB James Sadler (Achilles tendon) was lost for the season in last week’s win over Grand Rapids; DB Talib Wise (knee) was injured at Kansas City two weeks ago and placed on IR. He’ll miss four to six weeks. … Entering Friday’s game, both Chicago and Colorado’s offensive line had allowed a combined seven sacks. On Friday, neither team gave up one.
