2007 Chicago Rush season explained

Team:	Chicago Rush
Year:	2007
Record:	12–4
Division Place:	1st
Coach:	Mike Hohensee
Stadium:	Allstate Arena
Playoffs:	Won Divisional Playoffs (Avengers) 52–20 Lost Conference Championship (SaberCats 49–61

The Chicago Rush season was the seventh season for the franchise. They looked to win the ArenaBowl again after winning it in 2006 with a 7–9 record. They won the American Football Conference Central Division with a 12–4 record and qualified for the playoffs as the #2 playoff seed in the conference, losing in the conference championship to the San Jose SaberCats.

Schedule

Regular season

Week	Date	Opponent	Home/Away Game	Result
1	March 4	Kansas City Brigade	Away	L 54–41
2	March 9	San Jose SaberCats	Home	W 48–45
3	March 18	New York Dragons	Home	W 61–40
4	March 24	Columbus Destroyers	Away	W 55–47
5	April 1	Los Angeles Avengers	Home	W 66–31
6	April 7	Nashville Kats	Away	W 66–54
7		Bye	Week
8	April 21	Grand Rapids Rampage	Away	W 75–54
9	April 30	Philadelphia Soul	Home	W 54–43
10	May 7	Colorado Crush	Home	W 59–48
11	May 14	Dallas Desperados	Away	L 52–48
12	May 19	Nashville Kats	Home	L 44–27
13	May 26	Arizona Rattlers	Away	W 53–47
14	June 2	Los Angeles Avengers	Away	L 50–47
15	June 9	Grand Rapids Rampage	Home	W 55–32
16	June 18	Colorado Crush	Away	W 66–57
17	June 23	Kansas City Brigade	Home	W 48–21

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away Game	Result
AC Divisional	March 4	Los Angeles Avengers	Away	W 52–20
AC Championship	March 4	San Jose SaberCats	Away	L 61–49

Coaching

Mike Hohensee started his seventh season as head coach of the Rush.

Personnel moves

2007 roster

Stats

Offense

Rushing

Player	Car.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long
Matt D'Orazio	61	134	2.2	12	18
Bob McMillen	35	91	2.6	5	14
DeJuan Alfonzo	13	57	4.4	7	38
Rob Mager	5	27	5.4	2	11
Etu Molden	4	14	3.5	1	6
Bobby Sippio	4	11	2.8	0	8
Ahmad Merritt	4	8	2	0	4
Joe Peters	2	4	2	1	3
Russ Michna	3	3	1	1	2
Buchie Ibeh	1	−2	−2	0	−2

Receiving

Player	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long
Bobby Sippio	125	1739	13.9	53	48
Etu Molden	81	977	12.1	13	44
Rob Mager	75	811	10.8	13	45
DeJuan Alfonzo	27	245	19.1	7	31
Ahmad Merritt	20	203	10.2	2	33
Bob McMillen	9	84	9.3	1	31
Buchie Ibeh	7	71	10.1	0	16
Kevin Beard	7	47	6.7	0	9
Robert Boss	2	19	9.5	2	14
Woody Dantzler	1	15	15	0	15
John Moyer	1	6	6	1	6

Touchdowns

Player	TD's	Rush	Rec	Ret	Pts
Bobby Sippio	53	0	53	0	318
DeJuan Alfonzo	15	7	7	1	120
Etu Molden	15	2	13	0	90
Rob Mager	14	2	12	0	84
Matt D'Orazio	12	12	0	0	74
Bob McMillen	6	5	1	0	36
Jonathan Ordway	3	0	0	3	18
Robert Boss	2	0	2	0	14
Ahmad Merritt	2	0	2	0	12
John Moyer	1	0	1	0	12
Russ Michna	1	1	0	0	6
Joe Peters	1	1	0	0	6

Defense

Tackles	Solo	Assisted	Sack	Solo	INT	Yards	TD's	Long
102	88	28	0	0	7	45	0	22
93	66	54	0	0	6	147	3	47
72.5	64	17	0	0	6	75	0	26
40	31	18	0	0	1	0	0	0
39	35	8	0	0	3	0	0	0
32.5	24	17	1	1	0	0	0	0
30.5	19	23	3	3	1	39	1	39
25.5	14	23	1	1	0	0	0	0
21.5	15	11	5	5	0	0	0	0
16.5	8	17	1	1	0	0	0	0
14.5	12	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
12.5	11	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Special teams

Kick return

Ret	Yards	TD's	Long	Avg	Ret	Yards	TD's	Long	Avg
40	812	3	57	20.3	1	13	0	13	13
16	321	0	43	20.1	2	47	0	25	23.5
12	126	0	16	10.5	0	0	0	0	0
6	101	0	27	16.8	0	0	0	0	0
3	46	0	16	15.3	0	0	0	0	0
4	35	0	19	8.8	2	20	1	12	10
1	35	0	35	35	0	0	0	0	0
1	5	0	5	5	0	0	0	0	0
1	2	0	2	2	1	23	0	23	23
0	0	0	0	0	1	32	0	32	32
0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	24	12
0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0

Kicking

Playoff Stats

Offense

Quarterback

Player	Comp.	Att.	Comp%	Yards	TD's	INT's

Running backs

Player	Car.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long

Wide receivers

Player	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long

Special teams

Kick return

Player	Ret	Yards	Avg	Long

Kicking

Player	Extra pt.	Extra pt. Att.	FG	FGA	Long	Pts

Regular season

Week 1: at Kansas City Brigade

at Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri

Scoring summary:

1st Quarter:

11:42 – CHI 18 yd Pass to Bobby Sippio from Matt D'Orazio (Failed PAT)
07:21 – KC 1 yd Run by Raymond Philyaw (PAT by Clay Rush)
02:07 – CHI 24 yd Interception Return TD by DeJuan Alfonzo (PAT by Dan Frantz)

2nd Quarter:

12:11 – KC 5 yd Pass to Jerel Myersfrom Raymond Philyaw (PAT by Rush)
11:29 – KC Safety
06:41 – KC 11 yd Pass to Jerel Myers from Raymond Philyaw (PAT by Rush)
01:10 – CHI 2 yd Pass to Bobby Sippio from Matt D'Orazio (Failed PAT by Dan Frantz)

3rd Quarter:

4th Quarter:

Week 2: vs San Jose Sabercats

at Allstate Arena, Chicago

Scoring summary:

1st Quarter:

10:40 CHI – Bobby Sippio 23 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 7–0 CHI
06:04 SJS – George Williams 5 yd pass from Mark Grieb (A.J. Haglund kick) – 7–7
02:00 CHI – Dan Frantz 56 yd field goal – 10–7 CHI
01:20 SJS – Rodney Wright 43 yd pass from Mark Grieb (A.J. Haglund kick) – 14–10 SJS
00:32 CHI – Jonathan Ordway 57 yd kickoff return (Dan Frantz kick) – 17–14 CHI

2nd Quarter:

03:26 CHI – Bobby Sippio 3 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 24–14 CHI
00:09 SJS – A.J. Haglund 25 yd field goal – 24–17 CHI
00:00 CHI – Dan Frantz 39 yd field goal – 27–17 CHI

3rd Quarter:

11:20 CHI – Andy McCullough 12 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 34–17 CHI
05:42 SJS – George Williams 2 yd pass from Mark Grieb (A.J. Haglund kick) – 34–24 CHI

4th Quarter:

14:14 CHI – Bobby Sippio 9 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 41–24 CHI
09:49 SJS – James Roe 9 yd pass from Mark Grieb (A.J. Haglund kick) – 41–31 CHI
05:58 SJS – James Roe 12 yd pass from Mark Grieb (A.J. Haglund kick) – 41–38 CHI
03:07 CHI – Andy McCullough 8 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 48–38 CHI
00:43 SJS – Ben Nelson 5 yd pass from Mark Grieb (A.J. Haglund kick) – 48–45 CHI

Week 3: vs New York Dragons

at Allstate Arena, Chicago

Scoring summary:

1st Quarter:

11:34 NYD – Ja'Mar Toombs 1 yd run (Carter Warley kick) – 7–0 NYD
06:44 CHI – Matt D'Orazio 4 yd run (Dan Frantz kick) – 7–7
02:01 NYD – Mike Horacek 4 yd pass from Rohan Davey (Carter Warley kick) – 14–7 NYD

2nd Quarter:

10:13 NYD – Carter Warley 48 yd field goal – 17–7 NYD
09:50 CHI – Jonathan Ordway 55 yd kickoff return (Dan Frantz kick) – 17–14 NYD
07:27 NYD – Kevin Swayne 25 yd pass from Rohan Davey (Carter Warley kick failed) – 23–14 NYD
05:52 CHI – Bobby Sippio 33 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 23–21 NYD
01:20 CHI – Bobby Sippio 15 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Bobby Sippio rush failed) – 27–23 CHI
00:32 NYD – Mike Horacek 29 yd pass from Rohan Davey (Carter Warley kick) – 30–27 NYD

3rd Quarter:

09:24 NYD – Carter Warley 24 yd field goal – 33–27 NYD
06:42 CHI – Bobby Sippio 24 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 34–33 CHI
00:53 CHI – Ahmad Merritt 9 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 41–33 CHI

4th Quarter:

13:09 CHI – DeJuan Alfonzo 2 yd fumble recovery (Dan Frantz kick failed) – 47–33 CHI
09:11 CHI – Bobby Sippio 12 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 54–33 CHI
05:14 CHI – Bobby Sippio 16 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 61–33 CHI
02:01 NYD – Ja'Mar Toombs 2 yd run (Carter Warley kick) – 61–40 CHI

Week 4: at Columbus Destroyers

at Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio

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Week 5: vs Los Angeles Avengers

at Allstate Arena, Chicago

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Week 6: at Nashville Kats

at Nashville Arena, Nashville, Tennessee

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Week 8: at Grand Rapids Rampage

at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Week 9: vs Philadelphia Soul

at Allstate Arena, Chicago

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Week 10: vs Colorado Crush

at Allstate Arena, Chicago

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Week 11: at Dallas Desperados

at the American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

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Week 12: vs Nashville Kats

at Allstate Arena, Chicago

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Week 13: at Arizona Rattlers

at the US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona

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Week 14: at Los Angeles Avengers

at the Staples Center, Los Angeles

Scoring summary:

1st Quarter:

10:46 LA – Remy Hamilton 26 yd field goal – 3–0 LA
06:20 CHI – Rob Mager 19 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick) – 7–3 CHI
01:47 LA – Terrance Stubbs 10 yd pass from Sonny Cumbie (Remy Hamilton kick failed) – 9–7 LA

2nd Quarter:

14:18 CHI – Matt D'Orazio 6 yd run (Dan Frantz kick) – 14–9 CHI
08:51 LA – Lonnie Ford 1 yd run (Remy Hamilton kick) – 16–14 LA
04:49 CHI – DeJuan Alvonzo 10 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio – 20–16 CHI
00:33 LA – LaShaun Ward 13 yd pass from Sonny Cumbie (Remy Hamilton kick) – 23–20 LA
00:22 LA – Robert Quiroga 0 yd fumble recovery (Remy Hamilton kick) – 30–20 LA

3rd Quarter:

06:40 CHI – Joe Peters 1 yd run (Dan Frantz kick) – 30–27 LA
02:04 LA – Sonny Cumbie 5 yd run (Remy Hamilton kick) – 37–27 LA

4th Quarter:

14:55 CHI – Rob Mager 19 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (DeJuan Alvonzo pass failed) – 37–33 LA
12:31 LA – Rob Turner 21 yd pass from Sonny Cumbie (Remy Hamilton kick) – 44–33 LA
09:12 CHI – Bob McMillen 3 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Dan Frantz kick failed) – 44–39 LA
05:20 LA – Remy Hamilton 33 yd field goal – 47–39 LA
04:16 CHI – Rob Mager 20 yd pass from Matt D'Orazio (Matt D'Orazio rush) – 47–47
00:00 LA – Remy Hamilton 29 yd field goal – 50–47 LA