Rarely.

 

And yet the Cleveland Gladiators stand at 7-0 as they travel to Des Moines to take on the Iowa Barnstormers. 

 

When Cleveland takes the field at Wells Fargo Arena, it will enter with the Arena Football League’s top defense at 39.4 points per game as well as the league’s top passing defense in efficiency (84.0) with the fewest touchdowns allowed (27). 

 

As refreshing and surprising as Shane Austin’s success has been, the Gladiators’ perfect record has been built on an astute defense, never more so than in their latest 45-42 victory over the Los Angeles KISS. 

 

The Gladiators’ triumph started and ended in the secondary. 

 

Essentially as soon as Cleveland kicked off, Dominic Jones, the Gladiators’ brilliant acquisition from the Orlando Predators, went on a rampage. After the Cleveland defense forced an overthrow and wrapped up the Los Angeles receiver beautifully on a screen to set up 3rd-and-6, Jones was able to jar the ball loose on third down and cut in for the pass breakup on fourth down. 

 

It’s something the Cleveland defense has done so well throughout this season. The unit has been aggressive. It has anticipated the ball well. It has taken risks – a crucial willingness in the arena game where teams will score most of the time anyway, so letting up a big play is no big deal but letting an offense dictate the game is. Even more so, the Gladiators have hit and they have hit hard. 

 

“All three of our defensive backs are playing at an unbelievable level,” coach Steve Thonn said. “Obviously, we’re physical so they’re making great hits, but we’re covering the guys up. We had one blown coverage there where they got open, but other than that, we’re all over them and making the big hits when we need it.”

 

But Jones and the Gladiators weren’t done.

 

On Los Angeles’ first play of its second drive, Donovan Morgan couldn’t get any separation from Cleveland’s defense, a trend that continued throughout the night. On a run play, Morgan was stuffed and stuffed hard by breakout star Marrio Norman, who would go on to post two interceptions. Then, on a pass play, Markee White, a capable receiver who spent much of Saturday being pounded into the Quicken Loans Arena turf, was flattened by Jones. Again, the ball came loose. On 3rd-and-17, LaRoche Jackson chased White all the way into the Gladiators’ bench. The crème de la crème came on fourth down, as Kenny Spencer’s missed kick bounced right to Jones, who gave a slight hesitation, hopped a pair of tacklers and took off down the right sideline. 

 

“The defense played great in the first half,” Thonn said. 

 

Defensive stats don’t necessarily stand out in the AFL like they do in the NFL. Defenses don’t pitch shutouts. Instead, they get lauded for giving up 42 points, even if it lacks the ring of the single digits. But the Gladiators did sack J.J. Raterink twice. They held him to 50 percent passing. Norman picked him twice. They swarmed the screen, holding Raterink to a measly 4.7 yards per attempt. 

 

But stats can’t begin to describe big plays. They can’t begin to describe how a sub-.500 team in a city chock full of struggling sports teams has somehow emerged from the rubble with a 7-0 record. Words barely can either. But we shall still try.

 

Los Angeles fought back from a deep deficit Saturday. For perhaps the first time all season, Austin struggled. He nearly gave the game away when he allowed Matt Estrada to record a pick-six on an ill-advised pass to the left sideline. And so the KISS lingered, flirted with the thought of victory. Having come back from 20 down, they suddenly had a chance to take the lead. The Gladiators nearly turned them aside with a quick three-and-out, but they couldn’t record the fourth-down stop. 

 

They gave up a devastating fourth-down grab by Morgan. Such a blow would have killed some. Not Cleveland.

 

On 1st-and-goal, Norman emerged from the back of the end zone and waved his hand like a wand, knocking the ball out of the air, dramatically falling in disgust at the thought of something more, the chance at a pick. On second, a screen went nowhere – again. On third, Norman wouldn’t leave White alone. On fourth, Cleveland chased Raterink out of the pocket. 

 

It wasn’t a pretty game. After scoring four touchdowns on its first four drives, Cleveland managed just 18 points over its last seven.

 

That’s not a recipe for victory in arena football.

 

Unless your defense has the heart of Cleveland’s.

Jonah Rosenblum is a Northeast Ohio-based journalist who writes features for the Cleveland Jewish News and covers high school sports for Lacrosse Magazine and The Plain Dealer. A proud Cleveland resident, Rosenblum previously headed the media relations department of the Chicago Rush and interned for the Arena Football League. You can follow Jonah on Twitter @jonahlrosenblum.