Gladiators Look to Grab the Two Seed
Marc Viquez
Thursday July 18, 2002
"Arizona is one of the best teams in the league and this will definitely be a tune-up for us for the playoffs," said OS Mike Horacek. "This is one of our most important games, despite wrapping up the division last week. To get a number two seed would be important"
The Gladiators currently stand at number four, but a victory this weekend and a Chicago loss would land the team at number two for the season. However, a win and a Chicago win would place them number three seed in the playoffs.
"We are still not satisfied," said WR/DB Sedrick Robinson who picked up AFL Player of the Week honors last week. "We are looking to beat Arizona so we could gain home field advantage throughout the playoffs, hopefully someone could knock off San Jose so we could play here"
The San Jose SaberCats have already locked up the number one seed in the playoffs with their record-breaking 12 victories this season. Although still a dangerous team, the chance of an upset to the SaberCats is likely with starting QB Mark Greib and his 70 touchdowns out of the playoffs. It was this same Arizona team that knocked Greib out and handed San Jose their first defeat of the season.
"We could end up playing them again," said Robinson. "They are one of the top teams, if not the best team, in the league. Hopefully we could come away with a win and have them come back here to play us."
This will be the first time that the Gladiators will face the Rattlers and as Robinson said, they are one of the better teams in the league with QB Sherdrick Robinson, WR/DB Chris Horn, and WR/LB Hunkie Cooper looking to maintain their number two seed. This weekend`s battle will be an introduction to the playoffs for the Gladiators.
"This will be a preview of playoff-level talent and intensity to hopefully play with a great team like the Arizona Ratters," said Gladiators coach Frank Haege who has lead a team into the playoffs for the third consecutive year, though the first two years were at the af2 level.
The Go-to-Men Square Off
New Jersey`s Mike Horacek and Arizona`s Chris Horn are number one and two in the receiving category this season in the AFL. Horacek leads with 107 receptions to Horn`s 95 and will likely finish that way after this weekend. Horacek also holds a 29-28-touchdown advantage that could possibly change after the match up. However, Horn leads the league with 1259-yards with Horacek 79-yards behind him at 1160.
Another Close Game?
This is the first time that the Arizona Rattlers have visited New Jersey since a 48-41 victory on April 21,2000 when the team was known as the Red Dogs. It was the third consecutive season that the two teams faced one another and all three games were close contests with Arizona winning two of the three games. Two of the three victories were decided on a touchdown and the third decided on a touchdown and a two-point conversion. This will be the Rattlers third journey to New Jersey and if history repeats itself it should be another close battle.
A fan of the sport since 1990 Marc has covered both the New Jersey Gladiators and Cincinnati Swarm (Af2) for Arenafan Online. Marc now resides in Indianapolis after graduating with a Masters in Sports Management from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. When not at a Firebirds game Marc can be found traveling the Midwest covering sports for various Internet and print publications.
