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| (photo credit: Cleveland Gladiators/ Twitter) |
The Cleveland Gladiators (1-1), coming off an embarrassing season-opening performance against Philadelphia, gave the home crowd of 11,892 something to celebrate as they beat the Tampa Bay Storm (0-2) 41-29 on Saturday night.
Down 29-28 with less than four minutes to go, it was up to newly-signed Dennis Havrilla, starting in the place of the injured Chris Dieker, to engineer a big drive to give Cleveland the lead. After a night filled with short passes and methodical possession, the Glads needed a big play in the worst way.
They got one when Havrilla, having completed passes of nine and ten yards on the drive, found Collin Taylor on a 26-yard bomb at the one-minute warning. When Havrilla missed the two-point conversion pass, fans started sweating yet again with only a five-point lead.
The Storm denied Cleveland an opportunity to ice the game when they recovered the ensuing onside kick, and they really put pressure on when backup QB Jonathan Bane, coming in after a poor performance by Adam Kennedy, got his team within just five yards of their first victory of the season.
Following a holding penalty that put Tampa Bay at the Gladiators' four-yard line, Joe Powell, who got on the scoresheet twice last week against Philadelphia, did it one more time. He intercepted Bane in the end zone and ran back 52 yards for his third pick-six of the season with just nine seconds on the clock, making sure Cleveland didn't fall into an 0-2 hole to start the 2016 season.
Last week, the Gladiators had spurts of defensive brilliance. In facing a disheartened Storm team that lost by 51 points just one week ago, they committed to playing a 60-minute game.
It didn't start that way, as Adam Kennedy led Tampa Bay on two scoring drives, punctuated by DB Cortez Stubbs recovering a Phillipkeith Manley fumble, to run out to an early 12-0 lead thanks to two missed extra points.
The early good sign was that all of the possessions were eating up clock. Kennedy, despite a touchdown pass and run, was only 6/10 in the first quarter, while Dennis Havrilla was 6/6 on his only drive.
Havrilla would complete his first 10 passes as a Gladiator before Collin Taylor's second quarter drop, and found the end zone for the first time as he threw a nine-yard scoring pass to Thyron Lewis to get Cleveland on the scoreboard.
Havrilla got some help from the Cleveland defense, as they forced Kennedy into three straight incompletions prior to an Arvell Lewis interception. The interception led to Taylor's redemption, as he caught a four-yard pass in the end zone on the next play to give the Glads a 14-12 lead just over halfway through the second quarter.
Neither team could generate any offense for the rest of the half, as the two teams traded interceptions (Joe Powell off Kennedy, Cortez Stubbs off Havrilla) and the half ended when Collin Keoshian sacked Adam Kennedy on 4th-and-4.
As the second half started, points were still hard to come by. After a failed Adrian Trevino onside kick gave Tampa Bay a gift, backup pivot Jonathan Bane still needed five passes to march the seven needed yards to reclaim the lead at 19-14.
Cleveland couldn't find much on offense themselves, but Havrilla found Collin Taylor on what was the longest play of the night at the time, 19 yards, to hold serve just four plays later.
Bane did find enough rhythm to complete three of his next five passes to take the lead back, but it would be the last forward progress either team would achieve for the rest of the quarter. The Glads had a 41-yard catch from Taylor called back for holding, and the defense made up for going backwards by standing the Storm at the goal line.
Trailing just 26-21 going into the final frame, Cleveland finally opened up the field. Havrilla found Thyron Lewis not once, but twice on the next drive. First for 22 yards on 4th-and-2, then for 19 yards and a score to reclaim the lead yet again. The Glads defense, despite a holding penalty, held Tampa Bay to a 25-yard Craig Peterson field goal to set up the fantastic finish.
Dennis Havrilla had a solid night on offense, completing 23 of 34 attempts for 219 yards and five scores without an interception. Neither of his counterparts had a good night, as Kennedy was 11/20 for a mere 95 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, while Bane only completed 7 of his 17 attempts for 61 yards, two touchdowns, and the Joe Powell interception.
Thyron Lewis had game-highs with 10 catches and 94 yards to go with his two scores, while Collin Taylor more than made up for his early drop to finish with three touchdowns on just five catches for 69 yards. On the other side of the ball, Philip Barnett led the Storm with seven catches for 69 yards and a score, while V'Keon Lacey needed only three catches for 18 yards to net his two touchdowns.
Joe Powell was the defensive star of the night with his two picks, including his third pick-six in just two games in 2016, and tied with Brandon Stephens for the team lead with seven total tackles. Collin Keoshian had the lone sack of the night, and Arvell Nelson joined the party with an interception. Cortez Stubbs was the main man on Tampa Bay's defense, with a fumble recovery, interception, and 9.5 total tackles.
The Gladiators now look to build a win streak as they take on the Los Angeles KISS on Saturday, April 16. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm at Quicken Loans Arena, and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
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