Grand Rapids ranks seventh in scoring, but has had trouble getting on the board early.

IRVING, Texas - Dallas Desperados head coach Will McClay wants his team to start games more efficiently, having fallen behind their last two opponents - Philadelphia and Columbus - by a combined 70-33 in the first half.

But Saturday's opponent at American Airlines Center, the Grand Rapids Rampage (3-6), has made a wasteful habit of playing from behind this season.

Grand Rapids has been outscored 293-248 in the first half thanks to several disturbing slow starts. The Rampage fell behind 22-0 in the first quarter of a 64-35 loss to the Chicago Rush. The offense didn't score until the 8:16 mark of the third quarter in a 63-34 loss to the New York Dragons, who scored the game's first 49 points. And the Colorado Crush and Orlando Predators each used 28-0 runs to beat the Rampage by a combined 54 points.

Still, Grand Rapids is capable of challenging Dallas (8-1) under first-year head coach Steve Thonn, the Desperados' offensive coordinator from 2003-04. The offense ranks seventh in points per game (56.8), led by quarterback James McPherson, who has thrown for 1,847 yards and 42 touchdowns.

"They've been an up-and-down team - they've scored a lot of points and then they've struggled," Desperados head coach Will McClay said. "Kind of a mirror image of the two (teams), but the records are a little bit different. It's about trying to find some consistency down the home stretch."

Grand Reunion

The Desperados-Rampage connections also include quarterback Clint Dolezel, who holds every major Grand Rapids passing record and led the Rampage to an ArenaBowl title in 2001. In three seasons he completed 1,065 of 1,414 passes (75.4 percent) for 12,260 yards, 248 touchdowns and 44 interceptions.

Now he's facing a Rampage defense allowing nearly 60 points a game.

"We have to win our individual battles when we go in motion," said Dolezel, who owns a 5-2 career record against Grand Rapids. "And we've got to play catch. The times we've been having turnovers, it's been more shooting ourselves in the foot on first and second down and putting ourselves in a bad situation on third and fourth down."

Short Shots

The Desperados are 3-1 all-time against Grand Rapids and won the last meeting 55-25 at American Airlines Center on April 15, 2006. The Rampage converted just 2 of 12 attempts on third and fourth down . . . The Desperados are hunting a franchise-best 17th consecutive regular-season win at home dating back to 2006. Only Orlando (19) has a longer home winning streak in AFL history . . . Desperados starting defensive lineman Winfield Garnett was traded from Grand Rapids just before the start of the season, and kicker Remy Hamilton began his career with the Rampage (1998-99).