Orlando Taking Its Talents to Cleveland

Aug. 7,2014
By CONNOR GOMER
The Gladiators are down by a score on the final play of the game. The clock hits zero as the “Kardiac Kids” pull ahead. Cleveland wins again.
This is the nightmare the Philadelphia Soul have been living all season, and the play the Orlando Predators would like to avoid this weekend.
Some call it luck and some call it clutch, but one thing is for certain: the Cleveland Gladiators are hungry to complete their dream season with an ArenaBowl victory.
Equally as hungry are the Orlando Predators. Ever since Bernard Morris took over the starting role in Orlando, the Predators have been one of the hottest teams in the AFL. Going 7-3 in the final 10 games and winning the South division in the American Conference, they are ready to spoil the dream season in Cleveland come Sunday. After all, the Predators have yet to have a chance at taking down Cleveland, who holds the best record in AFL history.
“It’s tough,” said Orlando head coach Rob Keefe about playing the almost perfect Gladiators for the first time this season. “You cannot take away anything from what Cleveland has done this year – a very, very well-coached team. You can tell the guys are close and they have lots of fun playing together. It’s a difficult process to go up there and get a win, but we are excited at the idea of it.”
The Gladiators are not just any team. Cleveland has won six games this season on the final play of regulation and nine games by 10 points or fewer. It seems that whenever their backs are against the wall, they find some way to come out on top.
“We always seem to happen to have the ball and make a play to finish the game,” Cleveland head coach Steve Thonn said about their late game heroics. “We try to focus on the upcoming game as a whole and going 1-0 each week, not really all the hype surrounding our previous games and so far this year we have been successful.”
Even if they have been one of the most exciting teams in the final quarter of play this season, they will have to go up against a red-hot quarterback in Bernard Morris. Morris tied the single-game playoff record for rushing touchdowns with four last week against the Pittsburgh Power. He has accumulated 59 total touchdowns (47 passing, 12 rushing) and has been one of the major reasons for the Predators competitive play during the second half of the season.
“We are very confident,” Morris said. “We have been rolling the past couple of weeks and finding different ways to win. Both sides of the ball help each other out and we have been on fire as a group.”
Slowing down Morris will definitely be the key to the game for the Gladiators. The threat of his consistent passing, athleticism in the pocket, and scrambling when plays get blown up make him one of the most challenging opponents for any defensive unit, let alone one that has lost one of its best defensive backs just before playoff time. Cleveland’s star defensive back Marrio Norman recently signed a contract with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, taking him out of the Gladiators lineup in the postseason. To soften the blow, Cleveland was able to pick up former All-Arena Jack linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson, who notched 5.5 tackles in his Gladiators debut last week. With Jackson at Jack, Cleveland’s career tackles leader, Joe Phinisee, is able to step back into the secondary with LaRoche Jackson and Dominic Jones.
“We had started every game together so we had that chemistry going for us,” Jones said about Norman’s absence. “When you lose something like that on a team, it is obviously big. But if you look at our team, we are resilient.”
The winner of this matchup would advance to the ArenaBowl to face the winner of the Arizona Rattlers and the San Jose Sabercats game. An ArenaBowl victory would be the first for the Predators since 2000 and Keefe’s second championship. This would be the first championship in Cleveland Gladiators history.
“Every person wants to reach the pinnacle of success in his or her profession. In sports, it is judged off of how many championships you have won,” explained Keefe. "For me, my organization, team and staff – if we were able to accomplish a great feat like winning the 27th ArenaBowl, not only would it mean the world to us individually, but it would also create a bond that would last a lifetime."
For Coach Steve Thonn it would mean something similar. However, neither the Gladiators nor Coach Thonn has won a championship, so to win this year may prove to be something extra special for Cleveland.
“If we win this it is huge for everybody,” Coach Thonn says. “Players, coaches, the organization and even the city get to share this and it would really be special.”
Cleveland and Orlando are scheduled to play this Sunday at 3:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network in what will likely be a fast-paced, well-played Arena Football game. While both teams have gone on different journeys to the American Conference championship game, they have a common goal: to get to the ArenaBowl.