RAMPAGE BAGS KATS 61-54

Chad Salisbury threw seven touchdown passes, including four to Anthony Hines, as the Grand Rapids Rampage defeated the Nashville Kats, 61-54, on Centennial Wireless Field at Van Andel Arena Saturday evening. The game featured six lead changes and five ties. Offensively, Grand Rapids scored on ten of its 13 possessions. Defensively, it forced three turnovers and posted four sacks.

Salisbury, who has won his first five Rampage home starts, finished 21-of-38 for 321 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Hines finished with ten receptions for 134 yards and four scores. Salisbury and Hines shared the Offensive Player of the Game honor.

Timon Marshall chipped in with three catches for 102 yards, including touchdowns of 48 and 43 yards. He compiled 164 all-purpose yards, 6.0 tackles, half a sack and a pass breakup en route to being named the Ironman of the Game.

Hines (1,108) and Marshall (1,154) became the first tandem in team history to post at least 1,100 receiving yards each in the same season. Hines also became the first Rampage player to post 100 receptions in a season since 2003. He stands at 104, which is fourth-most in team history.

Johnnie Harris earned ADT Defensive Player of the Game honors for a team-record tying fourth time this season after intercepting a pass, forcing a fumble and breaking up three passes. The turnovers he caused created 14 Rampage points. Harris’ interception was his sixth of the season, which is a new franchise record for picks in a single-season. He was previously tied with Mark Ricks (2003) and Michael Baker (1999) who had five in their respective seasons.

Tim Martin, Chris Avery and Teto Simpson had solo sacks while Timon Marshall and DeMarcus Johnson spilt another, tying a Rampage 2006 mark with four sacks. The 18 sacks on the season are a new single-season team record. Grand Rapids’ previous mark was 16 sacks registered in the 2002 season.

For Nashville, quarterback Clint Stoerner was 17-of-27 for 289 yards with four scores and an interception. He also ran for a touchdown. Offensive specialist T.T. Toliver had four receptions for 100 yards with three touchdowns. He also returned a kickoff for a score and compiled 224 all-purpose yards.

The Rampage’s five home wins this season are the second-most home victories in a single-season in franchise history. With one more home game to play, the Rampage can tie the 2001 ArenaBowl champion team that won six regular season home contests. Before the Rampage attempts to tie this mark, it heads to Austin, Texas to take on the Wranglers (8-6) on Sunday, May 6 at 3:00 p.m.

Grand Rapids’ regular season finale against the Chicago Rush takes place on Saturday, May 13 at 4:00 p.m. on Centennial Wireless Field at Van Andel Arena. The game will be televised nation-wide on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). Tickets for this game are available through StarTicketsPLUS (1.800.585.3737), at all Michigan Meijer locations or at The Zone (located on the west side of Van Andel Arena).