Chicago’s next championship may come from an unlikely place as the Continental Indoor Football League’s Chicago Slaughter have gotten off to a impressive start to their 2009 season. The Slaughter and their coach, former ’85 Bears star, Steve “Mongo” McMichael faced off against the Rock River Raptors on Friday night looking for revenge as the Raptors defeated the Slaughter last year in the first round of the playoffs. The Slaughter were busy this off-season capitalizing on the departure of the Arena Football League from Chicago by signing a slew of former Chicago Rush players to their roster. They opened the season at home with a shellacking of the Milwaukee Bonecrushers 84-24 followed by a sloppy win in Madison against the Wisconsin Wolfpack 40-36. On Friday night the Slaughter did not waste any time getting to business in front of a playful crowd of 3,222 fans in Hoffman Estates at the Sears Center.


Just as was the case in the home opener former Chicago Rush quarterback Russ Michna (Western Illinois) connected with speedy Dontrell Jackson (Ohio University) on his first pass of the game cutting across the field for a 39 yard touchdown to open the game. After Rock City (dressed in ugly green uniforms) failed to move the ball on their first possession, Michna hooked up with his former Chicago Rush teammate wide receiver Donovan Morgan (Lousiana-Lafayette) for his second T.D. pass of the game. In 2008 with the Rush, Michna completed 113 receptions to

Russ Michna was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2004.

Morgan leading one of the AFL’s best offenses to an 8-3 record. With 2:27 left in the first quarter the Slaughter’s third receiver Keith Herron (Indiana State) got on the score sheet to quickly put the home team ahead of Rock City 21-0.

In the second quarter the Slaughter’s defense took over the game when 7-year Chicago Rush veteran DeJuan Alfonzo intercepted Rock City’s quarterback Brian Ryczkowski and took it all the way for a 20 yard touchdown return. Rock City’s offense finally responded towards the end of the half when they moved the ball into Chicago’s Red Zone when a series of penalties on the both side of the ball ignited some emotions on the field. The opposing benches which are lined directly next to each other in hockey game fashion began standing over the divider and trash talking. For a moment it seemed it might spill over into an all out team brawl before the referees finally regained control of the melee. Rock City offensive linemen Joe Lara was ejected from the game for throwing a punch. However, the Slaughter were unable to keep the Raptors out of the end zone as Ryczkowski scored on a 1-yard quarterback scamper. More bad news followed for Chicago as kick returner Reggie Gray (Western Illinois) fumbled on the following play giving the ball back to Rock City with time running out in the half. The Slaughter’s defense rose up to the challenge again as the 2008 AFL Defensive Player of the Year and former Rush star Dennison Robinson (University of West Georgia) intercepted Ryczkowski in the flat easily scoring to cap a wild end to half with the Slaughter dominating the Raptors 35-6.

The second half was more of back and forth battle between the two teams as the Raptors scored twice on passes to wide outs Zontavius Johnson and Bryce Stephens II while the ever accurate Russ Michna countered with strikes to Jackson and Morgan again respectively bringing to the score to 49-21. With 8:08 left in the 3rd quarter the Slaughter’s defense took a big blow when DeJuan Alfonzo went down with an injury that kept him out of the rest of the game. Without their aggressive linebacker the Slaughter’s defense seemed to lose its bite as the Raptors’ Ryczkowski threw another touchdown to lanky 6 ft 5 Bryce Stephens II ending the half with a 49-28 lead for the Slaughter that seemed to be diminishing quickly.

In the 4th quarter the Slaughter regrouped and put together a solid drive concluding with running back Nick Cosentino (College of DuPage) leaving his mark on the game with a 1 yard touchdown run behind linemen Rasche Hill (Northern Illinois) and JD Sheldon (Augustana College). The Raptors answered back with another Ryczkowski quarterback sneak and scored on a safety from a botched snap by the Slaughter edging the score to 56-38. In the end Russ Michna’s arm was too much for Rock City as he capped off the game throwing touchdowns to Morgan and Gray to claim the victory for the Slaughter 69-38.

After the game Michna explained why he was so effective throwing the ball, “I just hope teams keep trying to blitz us because it makes the game a lot easier.” Though Michna racked up 280 yards passing and 7 touchdown passes he still felt the Slaughter have a lot to learn about playing with each other “We practice two times a week and we practice on a small field so I don’t have the opportunity to really know the receivers the way I’d want to at this point, but that’s just the way the league works.” Michna is a local product as he grew up playing his high school football nearby at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates before going on to having a record setting career at Western Illinois. On Friday night the Slaughter were obviously the more talented team on the field, but Michna put his goals for the season simply, “It’s a learning process and hopefully we can get it to where it’s flawless by the end of the year”. The Slaughter (3-0) will travel to Wheeling, WV next week to take on the Wildcats with the hopes in continuing their perfect season.

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