ROSEMONT—It wasn’t pretty, but the Rush fought hard and earned its ninth win of the season with a 55-42 win over the Orlando Predators Saturday night at Allstate Arena.The Rush (9-3) won the battle of the defenses, forcing four turnovers and holding Orlando (5-6) to the lowest total given up by the Rush on the year.With the game tied 7-7 early in the first quarter, Rush defensive lineman Joe Peters showed that the focus of the game would be the defenses when he collected his team-leading sixth sack of the year, forcing Predators QB Nick Hill to fumble in the process. The loose ball bounced out of the Predators’ end zone for a safety, giving the Rush a two-point lead and the ball.The Rush took advantage, taking the free kick and scoring when Michna connected with fullback Robert Boss on a 22-yard screen pass that put the Rush up two scores at 16-7.After the teams traded interceptions, Hill tossed an 11-yard TD strike to Robert Quiroga to get the Predators within 16-14.The Rush bounced right back, however, as Boss completed the hat trick, rumbling in from the 6-yard line for his third touchdown of the night, making the score 23-14.After consecutive Orlando touchdowns gave the Preds a 28-23 lead with 43 seconds left in the first half, the Rush got the ball back and marched 29 yards to get in position for a 31-yard field goal as time expired. The kick sent the teams into the half with the score 28-26.The Rush got the ball to start the second half and quickly regained the lead as Michna connected with Travis LaTendresse on an eight yard score that put the Rush on top 33-28.After a Predator score made it 35-33, Chris Gould connected on his second field goal try of the night putting the Rush back on top 36-35.A botched snap on the next Predators possession proved to be the game’s final turning point. The fumbled snap was recovered by Rush linebacker Clifton Smith at the Orlando 3-yard line. On the very next play Michna dove into the end zone to give the Rush a 43-35 lead going into the fourth quarter.The teams again traded touchdowns before a Chris Martin interception and another Gould field goal extended the Rush lead to 53-42.A second Orlando safety with25 seconds remaining put the cap on the win.

NOTES—Michna finished the game 22 of 35 for 231 yards, four TDs and one interception. His interception was his first since May 15 and broke a string of 131 consecutive attempts without a pick … Gould connected on all six PAT attempts, extending his streak of consecutive PATs to 34, breaking Dan Frantz team record of 32 … Gould also had a career three made field goal and finished with a season high 15 points … Boss finished with 60 receiving yards, nine rushing yards and three touchdowns…..The Rush play at Tampa Bay Friday night with a 6:20pm pre game show on www.arenarush.com