Rush Snag Win From Cleveland

After giving up a long touchdown to the Cleveland Gladiators with under 20 seconds remaining to play in the game, all hope looked lost for the Chicago Rush. But kick returner Chris Martin still believed.
Moments later, Martin made the rest of the Rush believe as he returned the kickoff 57 yards the other way to seal the 52-49 win for Chicago.
"We needed to make a play, and we didn't," Cleveland wide receiver Steve Sanders said to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "No excuses. We've got to make a play right there. A game can change in 10 seconds."
The Gladiators started off hot taking a 28-14 lead late into the second period of play. But that was when Chicago got hot and started their run.
The Rush scored right before the half to cut the lead down to 28-21 going into the locker room. Coming out of the half, Chicago scored again, but missed the extra point to bring the deficit down to one.
After the Gladiators scored on a fourth-and-goal to put the lead back up 35-27, Chris Gould tacked on a 24-yard field goal to cut it down to 35-30. On the ensuing Cleveland possession, Josh Ferguson intercepted a John Dutton pass, his first interception thrown since May 1, setting up a Russ Michna to Samie Parker touchdown pass to give the Rush the lead for the first time.
The lead, however, didn't last very long. Cleveland answered with a Russell Monk two yard touchdown run to reclaim the lead at 42-36. But it take the Rush long to tie the game back up as Michna found Alan Turner a couple plays later to bring the game to 42 all.
And then, the Rush defense finally got the biggest break of the night.
The Rush defense was able to stop the ensuing Gladiator drive and gave their offense a shot to take hold of the game with one minute left. And the offense didn't disappoint.
Despite being unable to punch it in, Gould knocked home a 23-yard field goal to give the Rush the 45-42 lead.
But Cleveland didn't go away quite so easily, scoring on their next possession to take a 49-45 lead with 21 seconds left to go. That set up Martin's big return to give the Rush the final lead.
But the Rush still had to keep the Cleveland offense at bay on their final possession which they did when Gladiator kicker Matt Denny missed a 34-yard field goal at the buzzer.
"One hallmark of this team is that we just don't give up," said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee to ArenaRush.com. "We struggled at times, but we got a big interception from Josh Ferguson in the third quarter and then Martin's return was huge. He's been close to breaking a few the last several games and he finally got one."
Michna finished 22 of 29 for 272 yards and four touchdowns. His favorite receiver, Parker, finished with eight receptions for 114 yards and two scores.
Dutton ended 28 of 39 with 351 yards and five touchdowns.
With the win, the Rush improve to 6-2 on the season and remain tied with the Milwaukee Iron. They will head home to take on the surprising Jacksonville Sharks next Friday night.
The Gladiators fall to 3-5 this year and remain at the bottom of the Midwest Division. They will remain at home and take on the faltering Utah Blaze next Friday night.
Jacob is an avid fan of the Arena Football League and loves to write about it. You can check some of his other amazing articles on the AFL at http://arenapigskin.byethost5.com and subscribe to his content.
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