Anchorage Daily News

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Dependable Cole Magner of Palmer hauled in 15 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns to help his Grand Rapids Rampage upset the top-seeded Chicago Rush 58-41 on Sunday to advance to the Arena Football League conference finals.

Rampage quarterback James MacPherson threw for 326 yards and had a hand in seven touchdowns, while Magner's fellow receiver Kenny Higgins had 14 catches for 167 yards and three touchdowns as Grand Rapids (8-10) made up for two losses to Chicago during the regular season.

MacPherson of Tucson, Ariz., set a team record with 33 completions on just 39 attempts, throwing six touchdown passes and running for a score.

"My role is just to get open and catch the football," Magner said by phone afterward, "and I was pretty much able to do that all day. There were not a lot of dropped passes in this one. What was our quarterback, 33 of 39? Unbelievable.

"Our head coach is like an offensive mastermind, so it's easy to feel confident."

Magner helped the Rampage take its first lead of the game when he got open in the back of the end zone to haul in a touchdown pass from MacPherson for a 14-7 Grand Rapids lead.

Grand Rapids will visit defending champion San Jose on Saturday for the American Conference title. The winner advances to the Arena Bowl in New Orleans on July 27.

And the citizens of Grand Rapids couldn't be happier.

"We're winning so much in the playoffs, the town is going crazy," Magner said. "A bunch of people drove over for the game. It's a small market, so it's a really big deal there."

Chicago coach Mike Hohensee said Grand Rapids played well all afternoon.

"They had a very good game plan and they executed it very well. I think we had some opportunities, but we didn't take advantage of every chance we had," he said. "They did. I thought nearly all of their players did an outstanding job."

One play suggested it was going to be Grand Rapids' day.

MacPherson tripped over one of his offensive linemen and, while sitting on the turf, heaved a pass from near midfield toward the end zone. The ball was deflected by Rush defender Jeremy Unertl into the arms of Rampage receiver Higgins. Despite an instant-replay challenge, the play stood as a touchdown.

MacPherson insisted that his seat-of-the-pants scoring heave was an on-purpose touchdown.

A crowd of 14,338 looked on Sunday at Allstate Arena.

The Rush stopped Grand Rapids on only one of 11 possessions.

As soon as Grand Rapids' season ends, Magner will head to the University of Florida to work as an unpaid assistant coach under Urban Meyer, who coached at Bowling Green when Magner was a freshman and sophomore there. But that can wait.

"Two-a-days don't start until August, so I've got time," Magner said.

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