Cleveland Rides Second-Quarter Surge To Maintain Hex on VooDoo

Jonah Rosenblum
Sunday June 15, 2014

 CLEVELAND - It didn't require much head scratching to figure out why the Arena Football standings look the way they do Saturday night.

There's a reason the Cleveland Gladiators (11-1) are the only one-loss squad in the American Conference.

There's a reason the New Orleans VooDoo (2-10) became the first team in the American Conference to hit double-digit losses Saturday night.

That all became clear in Cleveland's 62-46 victory over New Orleans Saturday, thus maintaining its game-and-a-half edge in the East.

The final score was deceptive. The Gladiators led 34-6 at the half.

At first, there were little plays.

VooDoo penalties accumulated like droplets.

New Orleans helped a Cleveland drive with a roughing the passer and pass interference penalties. The VooDoo proceeded to hurt one of their own, with a holding call bringing back a big quarterback scramble and a block in the back limiting a successful passing play. They ended the first half with eight penalties and finished with 14 overall for 140 yards, more than double the Gladiators' penalty yardage.

And there were mistakes.

On New Orleans' first screen pass, the blocker was flattened and the ball was dropped. On New Orleans' first extra-point try, Jose Martinez sent his kick off the right upright.

And big plays as Cleveland slowly built up a lead.

Thyron Lewis got one step on his defender and quarterback Shane Austin exploited the gap with a perfect pass for a 6-0 lead. On a New Orleans' fourth down, Cleveland kept receiver Larry Beavers under wraps.

Still, Cleveland ended the first quarter with a touchdown lead and the ball - good, not great.

Then the dam burst.

Austin found Dominick Goodman right off the line of scrimmage with a rapid-fire pass into the slot for a touchdown to put Cleveland up two scores.

On fourth and five, Cleveland used a beautiful shadow from the linebacker corps to deny the short option and force a deep try down the right sideline. Marrio Norman had Courtney Smith perfectly marked. As the ball descended, Norman reached out his right arm and deflected the pass as he skidded into the end zone for the turnover on downs.

A play later, Austin led Goodman perfectly, as he made a lunging grab. The score was 27-6 Cleveland.

"It starts that momentum," said Lewis, nicely capturing the third and final Gladiators scoring drive of three or fewer plays in the first half. "Once you build that momentum, you want to keep your foot on the gas."

The mighty Cuyahoga kept surging.

New Orleans again got in its own way with a false start on third and goal at the Cleveland one. Then, on third and goal from the six, Dominic Jones kept the outside receiver well covered on the wall forcing Adam Kennedy to look inside. That's where Marrio Norman stepped in front of his receiver for the physical pick.

Again, the Gladiators capitalized on the offensive end. Austin, as the defender wrapped around his legs, let forth a vicious sidewinder right into Lewis' hands for the 34-6 advantage.

"Marrio came up with the big plays on defense and then we capitalized on offense right away," coach Steve Thonn said. "We did that a lot early in the year. Whenever we got a turnover, we always seemed like we were capitalizing on it. Then we had that little stretch where we were struggling. We get a turnover and we were struggling a little bit. That's the biggest thing. When you get that turnover, you want to keep that momentum."

By night's end, Austin had eight touchdowns without a single pick.

"Shane's a really good quarterback. I'm glad he's on my team," Lewis said. "This is his second year. He's still learning."

Five of his touchdown passes were from 20-plus yards out.

"Shane did a real good job tonight of finding the open guy," Thonn said. "His long balls were just really good."

Lewis led the team with four touchdown grabs and 121 receiving yards.

"He's our real good deep threat," Thonn said. "He runs a real good post and corner."

So is Cleveland that good?

To end the first half, New Orleans lined up for a 30-yard field goal. The snap skidded along the turf, recovered in time for Martinez to push it right.

The VooDoo went 21:58 without scoring including a scoreless second.

Or is New Orleans that bad?

Glad Gab

Marrio Norman continued his climb up the leaderboard with his ninth pick of the season Saturday night. Norman and Dominic Jones both entered the night in the League's top ten for passes defended. Cleveland ranks among the League's best in points surrendered per game.

The Gladiators are now 6-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, where their attendance has been among the League's best, along with Los Angeles and Tampa Bay.

"The guys talk about it," Thonn said. "It's great to have."

That's not to say Cleveland was perfect.

There is plenty to tighten up in the weeks ahead.

The Gladiators let VooDoo quarterback Adam Kennedy roam free all night long, several times managing big gains with no fear of injury.

Aaron Pettrey missed his first extra-point, after entering the night ranked just eighth in the League with his 83.1 conversion percentage. He was perfect thereafter, making his next eight.

Austin repeatedly found himself in the turf. Xavier Brown, an Arena Football League veteran, managed a bat down and a throw down as he flew past CJ Cobb and got his hands right in Austin's grill.

Larry Beavers might as well have coated his jersey with butter the way the Gladiators slipped off him, most notably with two Gladiators sliding by at the line of scrimmage for a big second-quarter gain.

Cleveland allowed a pair of kickoff returns for touchdowns to Beavers in the fourth quarter.

"If (defensive back Joe) Phinisee would have tackled somebody," Thonn joked as Phinisee walked by, before pointing out that he didn't have his best guys on kick coverage due to injury. The replacements included backup quarterback Chris Dieker.

Dominick Goodman had one onside kick ripped out of his hands, but ultimately finished with a .666 average, batting the first out of bounds before absorbing an enormous hit on his final game-clinching catch with a minute remaining.

"It's tough in our League," Thonn said. "He's our best guy for that spot because he's so dependable but you do worry about him taking that big hit."