Luke Drone is the most recent as he started the game on Sunday at Allstate Arena against the defending ArenaBowl champion Arizona Rattlers.

Drone was signed in the middle of the week after the team released quarterback Danny Southwick. The coaching staff was unhappy with Southwick’s decisions late in the game the previous week in a road loss to the Cleveland Gladiators.

Drone returns to the Rush after playing with the team last season. He was unable to return to the team at the start of the season as he is also a school teacher in Bloomington, Illinois.

After only having one day of practice with the team and some extra time after with offensive coordinator Siaha Burley to learn the new offensive system, Drone was forced into the starting role as Carson Coffman was unable to start due to an ankle injury. Coffman was dressed and available to play in a back-up role.

While his numbers may not reflect it, Drone played a solid game for the Rush, who lost to the defending champs 56 – 49. He completed only 14 of 34 passes but tallied 261 yards and six touchdowns against only one interception. He was able to do something that the Rush have not been able to do up to this point; make the long, downfield completion. Where he lagged most was in the red zone in short yardage situations where throws can only be completed in small windows.

“We had the plays there,” Drone said. “I just missed some throws. I felt pretty good though with the team and the way that we played.”

What cost the Rush most in this game was their end of the half execution, twice.

With possession of the ball at the end of the first half, the offense had opportunities to score, but wide receiver Rodney Wright purposely fell short of the goal line in order to run the time off of the clock and keep the Rattlers from getting the last possession of the half. This proved to be a mistake as the offense was unable to convert on both third and fourth down. Arizona led at the half 35 – 21.

Late in the second half and down by seven points, the Rush recovered a kickoff that bounced off of the iron giving them a chance to tie the game and force overtime.

Once again, the offense was unable to produce any results as a third down and goal pitch back to Rodney Wright was fumbled. The play moved the Rush back to midfield and they were unable to convert on fourth down to end the game.

“We didn’t execute,” said Chicago head coach Bob McMillen. “We missed some throws. Maybe there was some questionable play calling, but we’ve got to execute at the end of the game. We had a chance to tie up the game and just didn’t execute.”

The play of Drone on Sunday and the inconsistencies of Coffman throughout this season lead the coaching staff into an interesting dilemma going into the second half of the season.

“It is going to be a very tight quarterback competition,” McMillen said. “Luke is a competitor out there and he will compete and so will Carson. I am excited to see who is going to take over and be the leader of this team because we need to get better on the offensive side of the ball.”

Most likely, if healthy, it seems as if Coffman gets the next start on the road against the New Orleans VooDoo. Drone has to return to school for the week and will then travel to New Orleans for the game, most likely as the back-up.

From then on, it will be interesting to see who gets the nod from the coaching staff for the rest of the season. If Sunday was any indication, don’t be surprised if Drone is the guy the rest of the way.

“That is best that I have seen these guys play all year,” said McMillen enthusiastically about his team. “They fought hard. We should have won the game. Arizona is the champs and we had them on the ropes and couldn’t close it out.  I told these guys after the game if we play like this every week, we will have a better second half of the season than we had the first half.”

Game Notes

Attendance for the game was listed at 4,859, pretty much what has been the norm for this season.

Once again, there was no video board in use in the arena. As such there was no broadcast of the game on AFL Live or instant replay available to the coaches. There was only limited internet access for the media.

The Arizona Rattlers President was streaming the game from his IPad for a group of lucky fans.

After a perfect 4- 0 record in the month of April, the Rush have been perfect in May also. A perfect 0 -3.

Defensive back Vic Hall was out due to a knee injury. It is the same knee he had problems with last season. Newly acquired defensive back Josh Pleasant started in his place.

Newly acquired defensive lineman Brian Brikowski did not play.

The next two “home” games will be played out in Rockford. As of Sunday, it was unknown if the last two home games will be moved also. The dates are still booked for Allstate Arena.

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.