After Saturday Slugfest, Cleveland's Magic Number Is One

Jonah Rosenblum
Sunday July 6, 2014

CLEVELAND - From the outset, the Gladiators had the advantage. They just struggled to leave a struggling Portland team behind. In what seemed an eternally-lasting, one-score game, the Gladiators finally separated early in the fourth quarter. And all in a matter of minutes.

LaRoche Jackson easily took a kick back for a 41-34 lead. On Portland's ensuing drive, fellow Cleveland defensive back Joe Phinisee saved Dominic Jones, who dropped an easy third-down pick, by swooping in front of Kyle Rowley's fourth-down pass.

Jones said it exemplified a year-long Cleveland philosophy: I got the next one.

One play later, Austin found Dominick Goodman on the right sideline, and as he cut in and crossed the goal line, an exhausted Quicken Loans Arena let out a collective sigh of relief.

"I ran like a twirl route and just caught it and go and I just had to get the touchdown," Goodman said. "Especially with the way the game was going, it was nice to get out there and get the two-touchdown lead."

After a night full of yellow flags and red lights, Cleveland could finally zoom, defeating Portland 61-40 to move to 14-1 on the season. They now stand a win or a Pittsburgh loss away from an Eastern Division title.

That's not to say Portland quit. Douglas McNeil kept the Thunder close with a leaping snare. But the Gladiators restored the distance as Collin Taylor helped save his quarterback after a high pass fell into Portland defensive back Varmah Sonie's hands. Taylor smacked Sonie and stole the ball away. Jason Jones followed with a surprisingly successful run around right end. And quarterback Shane Austin capped the drive by finding Goodman on a crossing route.

"That's the biggest thing," coach Steve Thonn said. "We've been able to capitalize. If the defense gets a big stop or a big play, usually we've been able to score and keep that momentum going."

It was Goodman's eighth reception, five for touchdowns.

"He arguably has one of the best hands in the league," Thonn said. "He just comes up with the tough catches."

Jones sealed the win with a spectacular one-handed interception that the wall helped secure. It was the Gladiators' fourth pick of the night, tying a season record and marking their sixth multi-pick game of the season.

"I ended up with three, I, for sure, dropped two," Jones said. "That's been the identity of our team all year. We've just been ball hawkers. We've been opportunistic all year. So, that's us,"

The high-flying action came after a bog of a first half. Cleveland jumped ahead with a perfect throw to the seam, putting the Gladiators on the goal line, where they were able to pound it in for a 7-0 lead. Jones then played an in-motion Braylon Bell perfectly, reading the slant and cutting in for the pick.

"Those guys are tall receivers," Jones said. "We really just wanted to play with our pad levels down and be quicker than them and try to jump a few routes. We had a good anticipation all week of what routes they were going to run."

Austin ruined a chance at an early pullaway, however, with an ill-advised throw to the right sideline on a broken play. From there, the half grumbled along, with neither team able to muster much momentum.

Portland nearly took a pick-fumble-return to the house. It was called back. Jones ended the first half taking a pick to the house. The crowd was screaming. It was called back. And so they moseyed their way into the locker room.

Following a penalty-strewn first half, the pace quickened in the second. Perhaps one team would finally sprint ahead. Following a sluggish start to the drive, Kyle Rowley found Jamar Howard to knot the score at 20. Goodman followed by cutting from the outside in before curling out again for a touchdown. Sonie was left in his dust.

The lead didn't last long as Rowley took a hard hit. The pass fluttered out of his hands to the goal line, where it was scooped up by a diving Jeffrey Solomon. Austin responded with another deep ball to Thyron Lewis for a 34-27 lead. With Austin playing a near-perfect second half, Portland never stood a chance.

There's no time to celebrate though, with Pittsburgh still chasing Cleveland down.

"It's tough," Thonn said. "We're sitting there at 14-1 and we still don't have home-field advantage. We have a lot to play for."

Rare Defensive Miscues

The Cleveland Gladiators feature a risk-taking defense. So, big plays are natural, for offense and defense alike. For the most part, they have clung to fundamentals in two areas, tackling and avoiding penalties. That's what has made them a daring yet disciplined, and thus successful, defense.

On Saturday night, however, they absorbed myriad penalties, and worse yet, struggled to bottle up receivers.

Sluggish Second

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of Arena Football - both the concept and execution. The second quarter, however, wouldn't go on the League's highlight tape.

The Thunder's drive included multiple meltdowns. On one play, Rowley let loose on his coach. On another, after two Thunder receivers inexplicably went into motion, it was the coach losing his cool.

While the Thunder were getting hot under the helmet, including a few unsportsmanlike conduct calls, the Gladiators were called for numerous penalties.

The referees may have had the worst drive of all. They couldn't figure out whether two penalties should add up to a first and 20 or a first and 10. They called a very questionable pass interference call on a lob over the middle.

That drive was the main culprit in a first half that lasted approximately an hour and a half.

New to Cleveland

Royce Pollard was welcomed to the red and black Saturday. He made a prime play on special teams, sprinting down the wall on a Cleveland kickoff, before cutting in for a swift tackle at the nine. As such, he earned a chance to go in motion on Cleveland's next drive though he failed to make much of an imprint on offense.

From Portland

Showing off every bit of his 6-foot-3 frame, Douglas McNeil III had a field day Saturday. His huge catch at the back of the end zone, as he was tossed over the back wall, capped off Portland's lengthy second quarter drive. His leaping snare midway through the fourth kept the Thunder in it, as he used an immense jump to meet the high throw.