(February 3) The Dragons defense held off the Chicago Rush in the final seconds of the game for a hard-fought, 51-47 victory in Chicago on Friday night. It’s the Dragons first win of the 2006 season. QB Aaron Garcia completed 21-of-34 passes for 237 yards and six touchdowns. OS Kevin Swayne led all receivers with nine receptions for 108 yards and four touchdowns. The Dragons improve to 1-1 on the season.

“This was a great back and forth battle and it’s an even better victory for us,” said WR/LB Mike Horacek. “We came out and fought hard for the win and we earned it tonight. This was a great boost for our team moral. This week we showed everyone who the Dragons are and more importantly we came out with the win.”

Added Garcia: “It’s a great feeling to win tonight. We fought hard and that’s what we talked about all week. Everyone fought hard until the last play of the game and that’s how you win these types of games.”

In the fourth quarter, both teams went back and forth in thrilling fashion. The Dragons held onto a two-score lead with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But Chicago quickly turned around with two back-to-back scores to take a 47-44 lead with 90 seconds left on the clock. The Dragons re-took the lead for good with under a minute remaining, but the action didn’t stop there.

The events unfolded in the following fashion: After a Rush touchdown to close the gap to 44-39, DS DaShane Dennis fumbled the ensuing kickoff that immediately led to another Chicago score and the Rush took the three-point lead. Garcia then took control and hooked up with OS Kevin Swayne for a touchdown to retake the lead with 49.7 seconds remaining on the clock.

Following the score, Dragons K Jesse Obert then hit the scoreboard on his kickoff to give the Rush the ball on their own 20-yard line. Taking all the time off the clock, the Rush appeared to find the endzone when QB Matt D'Orazio scored from two yards out. However, an offensive illegal block in the back penalty negated the score and gave the Dragons the win.

Swayne was named the Offensive Player of the Game and now has seven touchdowns on the season. Dennis and DS Dahnel Singfield each had an interception with Singfield also adding an important breakup on a fourth quarter two-point conversion attempt by the Rush. Dennis now has two interceptions on the season.