Anchorage Daily News

The Grand Rapids Rampage is the hottest team in the Arena Football League, and Palmer receiver Cole Magner is a big reason why.

Magner, a former Colony High player, led the Rampage in receiving during a three-game winning streak that vaulted them into the AFL playoffs.

Magner totaled 29 catches for 252 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Rampage score 233 points, one short of the AFL record for scoring in three straight games.

The sixth-seeded Rampage parlayed that success into a 48-41 upset Monday of the No. 3 Arizona Rattlers in an American Conference wildcard playoff game in Phoenix. Magner caught two touchdown passes.

Grand Rapids advanced to play the No. 1 Chicago Rush in a conference semifinal Sunday in Chicago. The game is scheduled for noon Alaska time and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Grand Rapids needed the three wins just to make the playoffs. The Rampage finished the regular season 6-10. But the team's recent offensive surge has been encouraging, Magner said. Grand Rapids dropped 82 points on the New Orleans VooDoo, eighth most in league history, to clinch a playoff spot.

"It's a young team, all new players, new coaching staff," Magner said by phone from Grand Rapids on Wednesday. "We just needed time to gel."

Magner, 25, missed the first part of the season with an ankle injury but has steadily impressed since earning a starting position midway through the season. He's already tied a franchise record with 15 receptions in a game, against the Tampa Bay Storm in May.

It's Magner's second season in the AFL; he played briefly with the Columbus Destroyers last season during its run to the Arena Bowl.

Prior to that, Magner, an undrafted free agent out of Bowling Green State University, twice missed the cut with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.

As soon as the AFL season ends for the Rampage, Magner is set to report to the University of Florida, where he will serve as an unpaid volunteer assistant coach with the Gators.

Gators coach Urban Meyer coached at Bowling Green during Magner's freshman and sophomore seasons and invited Magner to join the 2006 national champions.

Magner said he can't wait to join the Gators coaching staff. He expected to report by now. But the Rampage's recent success has delayed that.

"It's a good problem to have," Magner said.

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