Record night in Gladiators' victory
Adam Lieberman
Friday March 9, 2007
After a brutal defeat at the hands of the Austin Wranglers last Sunday, the Gladiators only had three short days to prepare for Grand Rapids and considering they had to travel half way across the country, the odds were not in their favor. Most of the practice time was used watching films and healing bangs and bruises from the season opener, but head coach Danton Barto would have his troops ready.
King struggled in his first ever AFL game last week and readily admitted that it was much faster than he expected, but King came out as a gun slinger on this night completing 25 of 33 passes for 373 yards and 10 touchdowns. Most importantly King did not throw an interception.
However, the story of the night was Kevin Prentiss. Prentiss caught 13 passes for 235 and an AFL record 9 touchdowns. He broke the old record of 7 touchdown receptions in a game achieved by several players and most recently Arizona’s Randy Gatewood who tallied that number last season.
Standing just 5’8”, Prentiss was a giant on Thursday night. He caught touchdown passes of 41 yards, 8 yards twice, 45 yards, 30 yards, 15 yards, 31 yards, 3 yards, and 21 yards, respectively.
On the defensive side if the ball, the Gladiators were lead by Earthwind Moreland who was able to intercept two passes thrown by the Rampage’s Matt Sauk
The 79 points scored by the Gladiators was the most in franchise history, surpassing the 75 points scored in a home loss to the San Jose Sabercats on March 28, 2005.
The Gladiators were without receiver Joe Douglas who is still nursing a bad hamstring and Tupe Peko, pectoral muscle, who is a key component of line. Douglas and Peko are the only returning Gladiators from last season’s team.
The Gladiators have nine days to rest and prepare for their season opener on March 18th against the New Orleans VooDoo. The game will mark the first game at the Orleans Arena after moving from the Thomas & Mack Center. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. PST.
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.
