Buffalo Still has New Jersey`s Number
Marc Viquez
Tuesday June 25, 2002
"What a great game," said Buffalo Head coach Ray Bentley "It was back and forth, great intense battle and few mistakes. Those were two of the best teams in Arena Football that played out there today"
The match up had all the drama and components that you would want in a professional game. Buffalo was 3-0 lifetime against the Gladiators that included a 53-51 victory to open the season, both were battling for the division lead and playoff positioning, and each team was looking for their third victory in a row. The two teams are very familiar with one another and so there were few surprises.
"They beat us by two points with a good sound football team and they did the same here with another good, physical, sound football game," said Gladiator Head coach Frank Haege.
The good, sound football game produced scoring on almost every drive of the game for Buffalo, who seem to find ways to make big plays on short dump passes, and a key interception that stopped a Gladiator comeback late in the 4th quarter.
"We lost Bobby Olive at halftime and [Thomas] Bailey had to finish the game at that position. He came up with the interception that really turned the tide," added Bentley on Bailey`s pick-off at 2:17 in the 4th quarter that led to a Buffalo touchdown three plays later to increase the lead by 14 points.
The Gladiators never seemed to get back in the game after a 24-24 halftime score, with Buffalo finally breaking away midway through the 3rd period. The Gladiators did manage to stay within striking distance, much like their 76-69 OT win against the New York Dragons earlier this season, but were unable to make a key defensive play to halt Buffalo`s score de force.
"We expected a dogfight, we played them a close game in the first half, but we made a few mental mistakes that cost us," said OS Mike Horacek who tallied 3-touchowns for 82-yards in the first half. "It’s football, we just go back to the drawing board and get ready for next week"
Gladiator QB Jay McDonagh matched wits with Buffalo QB Fred McNair, with 3-touchdown passes in the opening half. However, McNair was able to execute on short dump passes to OS Lamont Cooper and WR/DB Carlos James that seemed to work every time for 10-13-yards on opening Buffalo scoring drives. It was all part of an offense that made few mistakes in the second half.
"We do a lot of short passes, it`s almost our running game," said Bentley. "All we have to do is get the ball in their hands and they just run with the football"
"We knew they were going to come out and play hard, we knew what we had to do to get our game on a roll. We played our type of game early on, gave up a couple of bad plays early on, but in the end we wound up playing pretty well," said James who had two touchdowns on the day. "You know it’s a rivalry, they are in our division, we have to come out and play our game and get the "W" at the end of the game"
The past two games these two division rivals have played have been entertaining, with Buffalo winning by narrow margins. The two teams now have identical 6-4 records, but the Destroyers get the tiebreaker with the sweep of New Jersey. The season is not over and the winner of this division may not be decided until the last play, in the last quarter, of the last game of the season in either team`s last game.
The Gladiators have nothing to be ashamed of about the game against Buffalo; it was almost like deciding the game on the first person who blinked. If McDonagh did not throw a late game interception, or Buffalo K Steve McLaughlin did not connect for a 51-yard FG (who was 8 of 23 coming into the game), and Buffalo turned the ball over on downs at least once late in the game it could have been a completely different outcome. It was just that close -- yet decisive -- at the Meadowlands.
The Gladiators will be on the road the next two weeks in Detroit and New York and look to continue their win two and lose one streak, before returning home against the Toronto Phantoms on July 13.
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.
