Gladiators Roll Over Rampage
Adam Lieberman
Sunday March 12, 2006
For the second consecutive week, Fife led the Gladiators (3-4) to victory in front of home crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday night defeating the Grand Rapids Rampage 66-41.
Also for the second consecutive week Fife earned offensive player of the game honors. He completed 15 of 23 passes for 171 yards for five touchdowns and added three more scores on the ground. "I know that by getting those honors, I’m doing my job," Fife said.
"Week by week and play by play the game is slowing down for me and I’m starting to see the field much better," Fife said.
Las Vegas head coach Ron James pointed out, "Following up a dominant performance with another one, gives yourself an opportunity to make a run and our ball club is starting to show signs of that and particularly of defense."
The defense was able to stop Grand Rapids (2-4) six times including three key turnovers including a 16-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Joe Douglass. It marked the second week in a row that Douglass has scored a touchdown on defense.
"In an Arena Football League game, when you're getting above four stops, you should be able to win every one of those games going away, and we did," James said.
On the offensive side of the ball Fife and company were able to dominate the Grand Rampage defense. The Gladiators were led by Marcus Nash who ended the night with nice receptions for 90 yards and two scores.
After a very disappointing performance last week against Philadelphia, kicker Eric Houle was fighting to keep his job and proved that on Friday night. Houle made all nice of his extra point attempts and added a 46-yard field goal in the second half.
"Eric is indicative of the turn around that this team is capable of," James said.
Despite a losing record, the win kept the Gladiators tied for first place in the Western Division heading into week 8 with. "I really felt all along that our division was being underestimated," James said.
The Gladiators return to action on Friday night to face division rival Arizona Rattlers who come to town with the identical record as the Gladiators despite losing many it’s core players in off-season to the Utah Blaze.
NOTE – Five days after the Gladiators defeated his Philadelphia Soul, Jon Bon Jovi was in attendance to witness first hand what his team was up against last week. Bon Jovi is in town for a concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Adam Lieberman currently is a Concierge in Las Vegas and is the former president of the Gladiators booster club. He holds a communications degree from San Diego State University and has been a season ticket holder since the team moved to Las Vegas five years ago.
