Despite a 6-10 season, the Grand Rapids Rampage find themselves one win away from a berth in ArenaBowl XXII
By Peter Schwartz -- On August 19th, 2001, the Grand Rapids Rampage were on top of the AFL world with a 64-42 win over the Nashville Kats in ArenaBowl XV. It seemed like only good things were ahead for the franchise and their fans, but the Rampage followed up their championship season with first round playoff exits in 2002 and 2003. Then things really took a turn for the worse when they went 1-15 in 2004, 4-12 in 2005, 5-11 in 2006, and 4-12 in 2007.
Ouch!
A team that was celebrating a championship in just their 4th season of existence was now on a four year run of not even making the playoffs. Needing to go in a different direction, the Rampage made a coaching change after the 2007 season bringing in Georgia Force offensive coordinator Steve Thonn to replace Sparky McEwen.
Better results did not come overnight. After some early season success, particularly on offense, the Rampage was 3-10 and well on their way to another non-playoff season with just three games remaining. However, they remained alive in the American Conference playoff race and just needed a spark to get things going and sneak into the playoffs.
“There were some tough times when we were sitting there at 3-10,” recalled quarterback James MacPherson.
But with three wins to close the season, Grand Rapids finished 6-10 and earned the sixth seed in the American Conference. Following playoff wins in Arizona and Chicago, the Rampage will face the defending ArenaBowl champion San Jose SaberCats for the American Conference title on Saturday at the HP Pavilion (3:30 p.m. ET ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN 360.com, Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 127).
Despite a losing record, the Rampage got hot at the right time and are now just one victory away from competing in ArenaBowl XXII on July 27th in New Orleans.
“As a coach, this is the way you always want it,” said Thonn. “You want to be playing your best football at the end of the season. We were able to make a lot of changes during the first half of the season and then started putting it together in the second half and it finally came together when we got a win over Colorado (on June 7th). It was great to see it all come together and now we’re just going to keep it going as long as we can.”
A big key for the Rampage this season was Thonn’s decision to change starting quarterbacks early in the year when Adrian McPherson was replaced with James MacPherson who learned under Thonn and served as a back up to Chris Greisen last season in Georgia. MacPherson guided the Rampage offense to at least 80 points in a game four times this season including a 92 point output in Kansas City back on March 24th.
He was part of the solution but acknowledges that the real success only came after the team suffered through some adversity.
“This has been kind of a roller-coaster of a season,” said MacPherson, who picked up Offensive Player of the Week honors with 326 yards passing and 7 combined touchdowns in the divisional round playoff win in Chicago.
“We started off losing the first two games and were able to bounce back. We suffered some close losses and we felt like we were better that what our record showed. We were able to put it together and keep fighting, turn things around and start winning.”
The Rampage is the latest Cinderella team to emerge in the AFL playoffs over the last few seasons. In 2006, the Chicago Rush found their way into the playoffs despite a 7-9 season and captured ArenaBowl XX. Last season, the Columbus Destroyers were also 7-9 and made it all the way to ArenaBowl XXI before losing to San Jose.
So once the Rampage clinched a post-season berth in Week 17, it wasn’t hard to find inspiration to succeed in the playoffs.
“We did talk about it,” said Thonn. “You have to bring it up when you see what Chicago did two years ago and what Columbus did (last year). We did say it is a new season and you had those two teams to back up that talk that it is a new season.”
For the Rampage, their playoff run actually started five weeks ago when their room for error was just about non-existent. The pressure to start winning was there for the final three regular seasons and has carried over into the playoffs.
“Our guys put it in their minds that this is it,” said Thonn. “We have to win and keep going and we’re going to have to win on the road and that’s been our mindset.”
The Road Warriors, aka the Rampage, look to keep things rolling in San Jose on Saturday. With victories over the Rattlers and Rush, all they have to do now is knock off the defending champs and they’re American Conference champions.
Easy right?
Easier said than done in a match-up that one might compare to David against Goliath.
“Its getting tougher,“ said Thonn. “It’s not getting any easier. Now we have the ArenaBowl champs (on the road) and they’re playing great so we know its not going to be easy. They have All-Arena performers and guys that have been there before. We’re basically a bunch of rookies and guys who haven’t been there. We’re going to keep the same mentality of let’s keep doing what we’re doing and keep playing hard and if we do that, we’re going to be there in the end.”
The Rampage will be facing a SaberCats team loaded with playoff experience and championship rings. San Jose will be competing in an AFL semifinal or conference championship game for the eighth time in nine years and they’re looking to be the first back-to-back ArenaBowl champions since 1996.
A tough task lies ahead for Grand Rapids.
“This is going to be our biggest test,” said MacPherson. “We’re going to have a big challenge ahead of us. Its an opportunity for us to try and go out there and get a win against a great team and to keep the season going.”
Regardless of the result on Saturday, the Rampage have, once again, created a fan frenzy in Grand Rapids. After four years of suffering, the Rampage faithful finally have something to cheer about. Their so excited about this team that they’ve done just about everything to help out from wishing the players luck when they are spotted around town to the fan club bringing the team lunch one day after practice to supporting the Rampage with viewing parties for the road playoff games.
“It’s been great,” said Thonn. “You can just tell that they have been dying to have a winner and have a team go to the playoffs. The fan support, which I thought was great during the year when we weren’t winning, was great and it’s even better now in the playoffs. Its just that small town kind of atmosphere.”
Just like the Rush and Destroyers did the past two years, the Rampage has taken full advantage of their opportunity. They were fortunate to even make the playoffs with a 6-10 record, but they’re showing the entire AFL world that maybe, just maybe, the American Conference wasn’t as bad as we all thought
There are four teams left standing in the playoffs right now and Grand Rapids is one of them.
“(Making the playoffs) was our goal starting out the year,” said MacPherson. “Once we got in and we were able to keep it going, we got that first playoff victory and then the second. We’ve been playing well both offensively and defensively and on special teams and we’re playing up to the level that we believe we could play.”
The players believe. The coaches believe. The front office believes. And, once again, the fans of the Rampage believe. After a long drought, Arena Football matters again in Grand Rapids. All that stands in their way from a trip to New Orleans is just one more road victory.
Can they do it? Can they pull off another upset and knock off the defending champs on the road?
Why not?
Especially when the history of the AFL proves that you can’t underestimate the underdog.
Peter Schwartz is a regular contributor to arenafootball.com and is the co-host of “This Week In The AFL” on Sirius Satellite Radio.
