Sedrick Robinson sparks Gladiators` comeback win
Marc Viquez
Sunday May 19, 2002
"This is Arenaball," said exuberant Gladiators Head coach Frank Haege. "This was an exciting win, definitely one or two on my list"
It was a night that special teams kept the team in the game when it looked as if New York was going to walk away with laugher. Sedrick Robinson returned three kickoffs for touchdowns and added two more scores on a run and catch. Robinson`s 328 all-purpose yards earned him game MVP.
"I tried to go out and play as hard as you can and help the team win," said Robinson who scored on two consecutive kick off returns. "They [Dragons] had a lot of big guys on the outside and we just tried to break it up through the middle"
The Gladiators were leading 28-27 with seconds left in the first half when an unfriendly bounce off the top of the right bar of the rebound nets was recovered by New York. This triggered 20 unanswered points from Dragons` QB Matt Nagy who finished with eight touchdown passes.
"We played our tails off, but did a miserable job on the kickoff coverage," said New York Head coach John Gregory.
In all aspects it was a game that the Dragons should have won, leading 62-48 with only 1:19 left in the game. Sedrick Robinson then returned two consecutive kickoffs for touchdowns to start a spark, but New York was still led by seven points with less than 40 seconds left in the game.
It was a long 40 seconds that saw a missed FG by the Dragons returned for 30 yards to the 9-yard line by Mike Horacek, who later made the game-winning TD in overtime. The Gladiators took the lead on the Horacek score and won the game when Otis Moore recovered a fumble by Nagy.
However, this win could not have been possible if it was not for the performance of Robinson, who kept his team in the game when it looked to be heading towards another infamous Lary Kuharich finish. (Kuharich served as New Jersey’s head coach for last year’s 2-12 record. -Ed.)
“We had a couple injuries this week in practice, so I knew Coach was going to put me in there,” Robinson said, “I just wanted the opportunity to show them and everyone what I could do.”
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.
