A CRUSHING LOSS
Gispert injured in warmups, Rush forced to attempt two-point conversions, finish 4 of 7.

DENVER- Colorado quarterback John Dutton hit offensive specialist Damian Harrell in the front corner of the end zone with one second remaining in the game, giving the Crush (1-0) a 63-56 lead and an eventual 65-56 victory over the Chicago Rush (0-1) Sunday at Pepsi Center.

It was the second-consecutive time the Crush pulled out a last-second victory over the Rush. Last June, the Crush defeated Chicago 49-43 in overtime in the American Conference Final to advance to ArenaBowl XIX.

“I don’t like the fact that we are 0-1, but I think we found out we have a good football team today,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “They are the defending champs, and a very good football team. We had to do some unconventional things out there in our kicking game, and we ended up having to draw some two-point conversion plays up on the bench, but we found out we have a pretty good quarterback under center.

“I am impressed with the team’s character and look forward to the next 15 games.”

The Rush looks to even its record at its 2006 home opener Friday night against the New York Dragons (0-1) at Allstate Arena.

The Rush lost kicker Keith Gispert to a pulled abductor muscle during pregame warmups, and was forced to use backup quarterback Michael Bishop and defensive specialist Todd Howard to handle kickoffs during the game. The Rush also tried using Howard as its kicker on extra point attempts, but decided after two early attempts to go for the two-point conversion after its TDs the rest of the game.

Despite the loss of Gispert, the Rush battled all afternoon. In his first start in a Rush uniform Matt D’Orazio connected on 22 of 32 passes for 265 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran the ball 10 times for 19 yards and three TDs.

But it might have been his composure that was most impressive. D’Orazio converted four-of-four fourth-down plays and led the Rush back from a 56-42 deficit to tie the game at 56-56.

The comeback started when D’Orazio hit WR/LB Etu Molden (7 catches, 78 yards and 2 TDs) for a five-yard touchdown to bring the Rush within eight, 56-48. Then, after a Russell Shaw interception gave Chicago the ball back on its 1-yard line, D’Orazio led the team on a 49-yard drive punctuated with his own 1-yard TD run. After C.J. Johnson caught the conversion pass, the Rush had tied the score at 56-56 with 47 seconds remaining.

However, 47 seconds was two seconds too much as Dutton (22-34 for 291 yards and 8 TDs) marched his team right back down the field for the game winning score.

On the final play of the game Rush return man Russell Shaw was tackled in the end zone for a safety giving Colorado its final margin of victory.