Orlando Capitalizes on New Jersey Mistakes
Marc Viquez
Sunday August 4, 2002
“They converted a lot of big third downs,” said New Jersey Head coach Frank Haege. “When you get a team to third down, you hope to get a couple of stops. We had them at third down five times in the first half and they converted”
Jay Gruden was consistent throughout the game on third down. He completed passes for 18 and 21-yards to continue the drive for the Predators. Those big plays resulted in touchdowns and the Predators were able to keep pace with the Gladiators in the first half.
“It seems like they completed all their third and longs,” added New Jersey QB Jay McDonagh who tossed three touchdowns in the game. “He’s a good quarterback. Their offense eats up the clock and has their defense on the field as little as possible. They did a good job of that today”
The Predators were able to capitalize on Gladiators mistakes that ultimately put the game away in the fourth quarter of play. A dropped flea flicker pass by OL/DL Jamaar Ward and a missed field goal by New Jersey K Steve Videtich kept the score at 27-21 going into the third and allowed the Predators to take a 28-27 lead on a Connell Maynor quarterback sneak.
Orlando made a few mistakes as well, starting right off the bat when DS Jeroid Johnson picked up an onside kick on the opening play of the game and danced his way in for the quick 7-0 lead with just nine ticks on the clock. The quick score did not startle Predators Head coach Fran Papasadero.
“What we thought was going to happen was that they recovered it and we would play inside the red zone, but the worst-case scenario was that he (Johnson) picks it up [and scores],” said Papasadero.
Johnson would victimize the Predators again in the third period with an interception in the end zone that would lead to the missed field goal by Videtich. The Gladiators were shut out in a third period that seemed to be over as soon as it started.
“We intercepted them and we didn’t score,” said Haege who described the scoring as a basketball game that goes back and forth. “If we could have scored the touchdown they would have to play catch-up and when we turned it over they scored. So, it is always a two for one situation. You have to capitalize on your turnovers”
The turnover that Haege was talking about was the fumbled kickoff return by Sedrick Robinson on the New Jersey 11-yard line that resulted in another Orlando score to increase the lead to eight points, 35-27.
These would seem to have been the plays to push them over the edge, but according to Gruden the turning point was the defensive stop that resulted after his intercepted pass: “The game was tight all the way around, obviously, but the play that helped us out a lot, the biggest play we had, was when I threw the interception. We had a big stop, Videtich missed the field goal and we were able to score to make it a nip and tuck game”
Orlando was also able to sustain the onslaught attack of the Gladiators on special teams. Robinson, who tallied up 124 yards on kick off returns was limited to zero big plays in the second half.
“We had some bad games on special teams, but if you look at our last 5-6 games we have been really good on kick-off coverage,” said Papasedero.
The Orlando Predators did what they have been doing for the past eleven seasons; turning it up a notch during the playoffs on the road. Gruden improved to 14-2 as a starter lifetime in the playoffs
“The key to the game was that their offense scored consistently,” said McDonagh. “That’s how the game goes, we didn’t get a lot of stops on defense and the offense didn’t score enough points”
A Few Oddities
Orlando has the distinction of being the only team to defeat both the New Jersey Gladiators and Red Dogs in the playoffs. Orlando did the honors during the Red Dogs inaugural season in 1997 and returned the favor to their descendants five days removed of the exactly five years. The Predators are 7-4 on the road in the playoffs.
Orlando QB Connell Maynor has now defeated the Gladiators twice with two different teams in the same season. Maynor, who captained the New Jersey offense last season, ran one in and threw a touchdown pass on Saturday. He also earned MVP honors during week four of the season when he lead the Carolina Cobras to a 40-28 victory over New Jersey.
Turning it Around
The Gladiators’ improvement from 2-11 to 9-5 this year was one of the biggest turnarounds in Arena Football League history. The Orlando Predators won six more games than the season before when they were Arenabowl finalist in 1993 and the Milwaukee Mustangs picked up six more wins after a 4-8 season in 1995. However, the biggest turnaround was when the Chicago Bruisers finished the 1988 season at 10-1-1 after a 2-4 record in the league’s inaugural season the year before.
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.
