Barnstormers rough up Rush

It was an unpleasant homecoming for the Chicago Rush on Saturday night as they dropped their second straight game, falling to the visiting Iowa Barnstormers 44-30 in front of 10,363 at Allstate Arena.

Much like last week's loss in Milwaukee, turnovers were the story for Chicago (4-2), as the Rush turned the ball over four times, including a career-high 3 interceptions from quarterback Russ Michna.

Iowa (3-3) scored on its opening play from scrimmage - a 48-yard pass from Ryan Vena to Errick McCown - and never trailed.

"We were just outplayed tonight," said Rush coach Mike Hohensee. "We made a lot of mistakes on offense, and you just can't win that way. We are going to go back and figure out the problem - and whether it is the players or the coaches, we will get it corrected."

A Chris Gould field goal on the final play of the second quarter cut the Rush deficit to 24-16 at the half, giving the team some momentum at the break. However, for the second week in a row, the Rush struggled mightily in the third quarter.

On its first possession to begin the second half, Michna threw his second interception of the game to Jason Simpson, putting an end to what could have been a tying drive.

The Barnstormers took advantage as Vena hooked up with wide receiver Todd Blythe for a 12-yard touchdown that put the Barnstormers back up by two scores at 31-16.

After a Rush turnover on downs gave the ball back to Iowa, Vena connected with fullback Rodney Filer, making the score 38-16 with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter.

The Rush defense was able to hold the Barnstormers to just 6 points in the remaining 19 minutes of play, but the offense could not get any closer than 8 points.

The loss drops the Rush into second place in the Midwest Division behind leader Milwaukee (5-1). The Rush goes on the road the next two weeks, playing at Dallas on May 22 and at Cleveland on May 29.