Chicago Rush

The baptism of the reborn Soul will begin near the nexus of three rivers - in Pittsburgh. On March 11, Philadelphia's franchise in the Arena Football League will take to the indoor carpet for the first time since being crowned champs in July 2008, according to the team's schedule. The team also has a new head coach and a new quarterback. Former player Mike Hohensee is one of the league's winningest coaches, and just a couple of weeks ago, the Soul signed 6-foot-2, 240-pound Justin Allgood, who threw a league-high 109 touchdown passes with Tulsa Talons in 2010.

The Soul will officially name Mike Hohensee its head coach at a press conference tomorrow, the Daily News has learned. Hohensee, a familiar name in Arena Football League circles, has been the coach of the Chicago Rush since the franchise started in 2001. His teams made the playoffs every season and won the AFL championship in 2006. Bankruptcy caused the league to cancel the 2009 season and the Soul sat out 2010. It will resume playing in the spring at the Wells Fargo Center.

With his players off during the week of March 20, Soul coach Mike Hohensee was a lonely, tortured soul at the team's practice facility in Voorhees. In the arena league - where most players earn $400 a game - they are free on weeks that the team is idle because they do not receive a paycheck for that week. That left Hohensee all by himself to agonize over the 62-28 rout the Soul suffered at the hands of the host Chicago Rush in an Arena Football League contest on March 18. "I was here from Tuesday [March 22]

The Soul doesn't have a coach yet, but it might soon. The word around Arena Football League circles is that Mike Hohensee is going to leave his position as head coach of the Chicago Rush as soon as today. If that happens, Hohensee immediately becomes a prime candidate to take over the Soul, which will resume play in 2011. Citing tampering rules, officials from the Soul could not comment. Hohensee, 49, has coached Chicago's franchise since its inception in 2001 and was 10-6 this season.

CHICAGO - Raymond Philyaw's fourth touchdown pass of the day, to Jeremy McDaniel with 38 seconds left, lifted the Chicago Rush to a 45-41 triumph over the Dallas Desperados and a playoff berth. Philyaw's other three touchdown passes went to McDaniel, Anthony Ladd and Etu Molden. On defense, John Moyer did a little of everything - one sack, one interception, one hurry, and one broken-up pass - for the Rush (10-4), who averaged nearly a yard more per play than Dallas (6-8). Firebirds 59, Crush 56 INDIANAPOLIS - Adrian McPherson threw for eight touchdowns, including one to Andy McCullough with less than a minute left, to lift Indiana (8-7)

Soul quarterback Matt Sauk has been a capable reliever, but now he will try to prove himself as a starting Arena Football League quarterback. Sauk will start tonight when the Soul (6-5) visit Nashville to meet the 7-4 Kats. Soul starter Tony Graziani has been placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury and must miss at least two games. This season, Sauk has won two games in relief of an injured Graziani. During the second week of the season, he came in early in the first quarter after Graziani suffered a finger injury and led the Soul to a 47-33 win over the Los Angeles Avengers.

It remains to be seen how quickly the Soul will pile up wins when it resumes play in March, but the team definitely will rack up frequent traveler miles. Philadelphia will play six of its first seven games away from home, beginning with a visit to Pittsburgh on Friday, March 11. The Soul's first home game isn't until Friday, April 15 when Tampa Bay visits the Wells Fargo Center. The primary reason Philadelphia has so many road games at the start of the season is because playing in the Spectrum is no longer an option.

The Soul are scheduled to play their second consecutive Arena Football League game on the road Friday when they travel to battle the Chicago Rush, the former team of Soul head coach Mike Hohensee. For the second straight week, the Soul will be playing in front of a national audience, with kickoff at 8 p.m. on the NFL Network. Both teams have plenty of offensive weapons. For the 1-0 Soul, quarterback Justin Allgood completed 25 of 36 passes for 300 yards and five touchdowns in a 58-52 victory last Friday over Pittsburgh.

A spectacular play by Chicago Rush defensive lineman John Moyer dashed the hopes of the upset-minded Soul last night in an Arena Football League game before 14,529 fans at the Allstate Arena. One play after Philadelphia's Idris Price busted through the line and blocked a 25-yard go-ahead field-goal attempt by Dan Frantz, Moyer batted quarterback Juston Wood's pass into the air at about the Chicago 20-yard line. The ball caromed off the helmet of defensive lineman Curtis Eason and right back to Moyer, who ran 39 yards for a touchdown with 3 minutes, 17 seconds left in Chicago's 54-43 victory.

It has been almost 11 months since Matt D'Orazio had to leave an Arena Football League playoff game with a herniated disc, an injury that eventually cost him his job, caused almost the entire league to decline his services, and led him to accept a job as the Soul's backup quarterback. D'Orazio had doubts about how he would hold up. "You never know until you get hit a couple of times," he said. He has passed that test. A healthy D'Orazio is the stabilizing force for the Soul (11-3)

Just three games into its Arena Football League season, the Soul have experienced the extremes that come with winning and losing. First, the visiting Soul earned a 58-52 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Power on March 11 to open the season. In the squad's second outing, it visited the Chicago Rush and took a 62-28 thrashing in a game that was not even competitive. On Monday, the Soul were in Milwaukee to face the winless Mustangs, and the hosts finished off a 51-49 win on the last play of the game after being down by 23 points.

MILWAUKEE - As well as the Soul played in the first half Monday night, they played just as poorly in the second. The Soul held a 25-point lead midway through the second quarter but wound up losing, 51-49, to the Milwaukee Mustangs in an Arena Football League game at the Bradley Center. The victory was the first of the season in four contests for the Mustangs while the Soul dropped to 1-2. The outcome wasn't decided until the final second when Mustangs wide receiver Dwayne Eley Jr. scored on a 2-yard pass from quarterback RJ Archer.

With his players off during the week of March 20, Soul coach Mike Hohensee was a lonely, tortured soul at the team's practice facility in Voorhees. In the arena league - where most players earn $400 a game - they are free on weeks that the team is idle because they do not receive a paycheck for that week. That left Hohensee all by himself to agonize over the 62-28 rout the Soul suffered at the hands of the host Chicago Rush in an Arena Football League contest on March 18. "I was here from Tuesday [March 22]

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Not much went right in the first half for the error-prone Soul on Friday night. A 26-point halftime deficit proved too much to overcome. The revived Soul suffered a 62-28 Arena Football League blowout loss to the Chicago Rush at Allstate Arena. The hosts scored 40 consecutive first-half points, including several scores off Soul mistakes, and improved to 2-0. The Soul slipped to 1-1. "You can't spot a team [40] points and expect to win," said coach Mike Hohensee, who coached the Rush for nine seasons before departing for the Soul.

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Not much went right in the first half for the error-prone Soul last night. A 26-point halftime deficit proved too much to overcome as the Soul suffered a 62-28 blowout loss to the Chicago Rush in an Arena Football League game at Allstate Arena. The hosts scored 40 unanswered first-half points, including several scores off Soul mistakes, and improved to 2-0. The Soul slipped to 1-1. "You can't spot a team [40] points and expect to win," said Mike Hohensee, who coached the Rush for nine seasons before departing for Philadelphia.

The Soul are scheduled to play their second consecutive Arena Football League game on the road Friday when they travel to battle the Chicago Rush, the former team of Soul head coach Mike Hohensee. For the second straight week, the Soul will be playing in front of a national audience, with kickoff at 8 p.m. on the NFL Network. Both teams have plenty of offensive weapons. For the 1-0 Soul, quarterback Justin Allgood completed 25 of 36 passes for 300 yards and five touchdowns in a 58-52 victory last Friday over Pittsburgh.

The baptism of the reborn Soul will begin near the nexus of three rivers - in Pittsburgh. On March 11, Philadelphia's franchise in the Arena Football League will take to the indoor carpet for the first time since being crowned champs in July 2008, according to the team's schedule. The team also has a new head coach and a new quarterback. Former player Mike Hohensee is one of the league's winningest coaches, and just a couple of weeks ago, the Soul signed 6-foot-2, 240-pound Justin Allgood, who threw a league-high 109 touchdown passes with Tulsa Talons in 2010.

It remains to be seen how quickly the Soul will pile up wins when it resumes play in March, but the team definitely will rack up frequent traveler miles. Philadelphia will play six of its first seven games away from home, beginning with a visit to Pittsburgh on Friday, March 11. The Soul's first home game isn't until Friday, April 15 when Tampa Bay visits the Wells Fargo Center. The primary reason Philadelphia has so many road games at the start of the season is because playing in the Spectrum is no longer an option.

Mike Hohensee has been around the Arena Football League long enough to tell stories that few people can. As a quarterback for Pittsburgh in the inaugural 1987 season, Hohensee recalls wearing uniforms made by Zubaz, the clothing line best known for its zebra-print shorts and wild patterns. "We actually had mesh sides to our pants, so you could actually see leg," Hohensee said, laughing. "So, yeah, we've evolved. " Hohensee is now a longtime AFL coach, and he is taking over the reborn Soul, who will resume league play in April.

Ron Jaworski had already interviewed four or five coaching candidates when he heard Mike Hohensee might be available. Hohensee had spent the last 9 years coaching the Chicago Rush, where he won ArenaBowl XX in 2006. "Mike wasn't even on my radar," Jaworski said yesterday after Hohensee was introduced at Chickie's & Pete's in South Philly as the Soul's new head coach. "I had heard there was some issues with the ownership over there. [We] called and said '[We're] looking for a coach.