Gladiators Add Five-Time All-Arena Defensive Back Rayshaun Kizer

The Cleveland Gladiators have added a familiar local name. Defensive back Rayshaun Kizer a native of Euclid Ohio and a five-time All-Arena star on the defensive side of the ball. Kizer, 31 is entering his eight season in the Arena Football League.

Kizer most recently played for the Los Angeles KISS the last two seasons. There, he totaled up 84 tackles, which put him over 500 for his entire career, he has also forced 62 interceptions and has taken 11 of them back for touchdows.

Kizer played his college ball at nearby Walsh University, where he also played defensive back. Kizer pulled down 14 interceptions, good enough for third all time at Walsh. In his senior season he was named first team All-American.

In all, Kizer has played for a total of four AFL teams. He even played in the China Arena Football League this past fall. Kizer was a member of the Qingdao Clipper who made it to the first ever China Bowl, setting him up to go head to head with the Beijing Lions and Cleveland Gladiators own wide receiver Collin Taylor.

The game came down to the final play with Beijing winning on a last second field goal. Kizer has also played in the Canadian Football League and in 2007 he was on the NFL’s New York Jets practice squad. He was also a member of the Green Bay Blizzard in 2009, the final season they were part of the Arena Football family, playing in af2.

Cleveland in the Finals. Get Used to It.

The city known for giving their die-hard sports fans a lot of pain while earning some even more painful nicknames such as, the “factory of sadness” or the “mistake by the lake” Cleveland, OH.

The city that went over 50 years without winning anything, is starting to look pretty strong for sure now. We all know the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from being down 3-1 in the NBA Finals, something that had never been done in Finals history before.

Cleveland’s American Hockey League team, the Cleveland Monsters won their last nine playoff games to take home their own title. The Cleveland Indians may have lost the World Series, but they were able to follow in the Cavaliers’ and Monsters’ footsteps to get into the championship game in their sport. So why not another title run for a city on the rise?

The Cleveland Gladiators have been in a conference championship game in two of the last three seasons (2014 in the American Conference, 2016 National Conference). In 2014, they made it to Arena Bowl XXVII and with most of their talent looking like it will return for next season, how can one not jump on the Cleveland bandwagon?

Collin Taylor is over in the China Arena Football League playing for the undefeated Beijing Lions and has already locked up a spot in the title game, China Bowl I with a game still left in the regular season.

A perfect example of just how important Taylor is to a team is the fact that last week, Taylor caught a touchdown pass for the Lions in the the second quarter giving them the lead, making the score 21-19, the Lions then went on a 49-6 run to finish the game.

Assuming, Taylor returns and joins teammate Quentin Sims, it would surely be a nasty combo going deep. The two totaled up for over 2,500 receiving yards and 59 touchdowns during the regular season.

The man controlling the show after waiting a few games, Glads quarterback Arvell Nelson has firmly set himself in as the clear man in Cleveland after throwing for 3,425 yards and rushing for over 200 yards while being responsible for 81 total touchdowns this regular season.

The Cleveland Gladiators have enough talent and history on their side, they could definitely find themselves playing in Arena Bowl XXX.

Qingdao Clipper Shock Shanghai Skywalkers, 51-49

The Qingdao Clipper used strong defense and clutch special teams to earn a victory over Shanghai Skywalkers (2-2) 51-49 on Sunday in the China Arena Football League.

In the biggest game in CAFL this week both teams needed a win to keep hopes alive of playing in the inaugural China Bowl this season.

Shanghai dominated most of the contest taking a 35-20 lead deep into the the second half. However, Qingdao did not quit and with strong performances from veteran leaders, the Clipper battled back in the fourth quarter.

Shanghai took control of the ball in the final minutes of the game, looking to kill time on the clock with a one point, 49-48, lead. But the Skywalkers failed to convert on a crucial fourth down, turning the ball over with two minutes left.

Qingdao took possession with two seconds remaining in there own territory to set up a game winning 21 yard field goal attempt. Qingdao nailed the field goal as time expired to win 51-49.

With the victory, the Clipper (3-2) take sole possession of the second seed in the CAFL. They will play Shenzhen Naja next week to close out regular season Super Series action.

Beijing Lions Clinch Spot in China Bowl I

The Beijing Lions have clinched a spot in the China Bowl with one Super Series left. The Lions are the only undefeated team left in the China Arena Football League at 4-0 on the season. The team is coached under Clint Dolziel, who took the Philadelphia Soul to a win in ArenaBowl XXIX back in August.

The Lions are led by two quarterbacks in Luke Collis and Chris Dieker. They also have two well-played wide receivers in Collin Taylor and Erwin Sennett Wu. They also have a key player on defense who helped the Soul win the ArenaBowl in James Romain.

Now, they have nothing to do but await their opponent in the inaugural China Bowl. The game will be played in Shanghai in Nov. 6.