Preds suffer tough loss in Cleveland

Friday May 9, 2008

CLEVELAND, OH—The Orlando Predators saw their 3-game road winning streak come to an end Friday night as they suffered a 62-43 loss to the Cleveland Gladiators.  The Predators (7-4) fought valiantly but the Gladiators (6-4) offense led by quarterback Raymond Philyaw was too much to overcome in the end.
 
The turning point came in the second quarter when Preds quarterback Shane Stafford could not handle a snap from center Jonathan Clinkscale and the Glads were able to fall on the ball.  Their next drive would see Philyaw find Otis Amey for a 3-yard touchdown that gave the Gladiators a 27-19 lead at the 3:05 mark.
 
“Shane played pretty well tonight besides that fumbled snap, I don’t know who to blame there,” head coach Jay Gruden said. “It’s Week 11 of the season those sort of things just shouldn’t happen this late in the season.”
 
Orlando got a 43-yard field goal from fill in kicker Todd France just before the halftime buzzer to make the score 27-22 going into the locker rooms.
 
The Preds were without defensive back Jason Perry on Friday and it showed with his replacement Khalid Naziruddin struggling to keep up with the Cleveland receivers all night long.
 
“We were without two of our defensive starters tonight,” Gruden said. “Not to use that as an excuse but it definitely did not help with our coverage situation and getting pressure on the passer.”
 
The news on the injury front only got worse for the Preds when Clinkscale went down with a torn ACL injury and will not return this season.
 
Stafford finished the game throwing for 312 yards and 6 touchdowns in the game. His leading receiver was Ron Johnson with 10 receptions for 118 yards and 3 touchdowns.
 
The Predators are back in action next Sunday at 2 p.m. as they face the Kansas City Brigade. That game will be televised in Orlando on WRDQ TV 27 and can be heard on the radio on 540 AM WFLF with Tom Morgan and Jason Lucas on the call.