Cleveland Gladiators Survive Tampa Bay Storm, 41-39

The Cleveland Gladiators hosted the Tampa Bay Storm at the Q Arena on Saturday night. The Gladiators were looking to keep ground with the Baltimore Brigade for the third seed in the Arena Football League playoffs. Tampa was looking to win their second game in a row and improve to 9-2.

Tampa scored first when Randy Hippeard found Kendrick Ings for a touchdown. The extra point was botched, so the score remained 6-0. Cleveland took a 7-6 lead when Arvell Nelson Lonnie Outlaw for a score. That would be the second at the end of one.

The Storm struck back with a touchdown from Hippeard to Hills. Hills tied the record with his 78th consecutive game with a touchdown catch. Jeramie Richardson rushed for a touchdown to give the Gladiators the lead right back. A rushing touchdown from Nelson gave Cleveland a 21-13 halftime lead.

Collin Taylor scored to give the Gladiators a commanding 28-13 lead over the Storm. Tampa would make a comeback, however. Trailing 34-20, they forced a turnover on downs. They would have a chance to make it a closer game in the fourth as Cleveland led 34-20 after three.

Unfortunately, it looked as if they wouldn’t be able to do it. Cleveland built their lead to 41-20 in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Tampa didn’t give up, however. After recovering an onside kick following a score, another Storm score made it a 41-33 Gladiators lead.

With a fourth and goal with four seconds left, Hills scored his third of the night as time expired. The two conversion was no good, and the Gladiators came put with the 41-39 victory.

They will be on a bye next week before they play the Storm in Tampa on July 22. Tampa will face off against the Baltimore Brigade at the Royal Farms Arena next weekend.

Cleveland Gladiators Beat Baltimore Brigade, 59-48

The Cleveland Gladiators hosted the Baltimore Brigade at the Q Arena in Cleveland, OH Friday night. It was a must-win for Cleveland to catch up to Baltimore for the third seed in the Arena Football League playoffs.

Cleveland got on board first with a deep touchdown pass from Arvell Nelson to Quentin Sims after just two plays. A Shane Carden sack-fumble was recovered by the Gladiators in the end zone for a touchdown to give Cleveland a 14-0 lead.

Following a touchdown pass from Carden to Pablo Gonzalez, Nelson found Sims for his second touchdown to give Cleveland a 20-7 lead. A deep touchdown to Brandon Thompkins for Baltimore made it a 20-14 game at the end of the first quarter.

The two teams went back and forth to start the second quarter. Nelson found Tom Gilson for a touchdown. Baltimore responded with a touchdown from Carden to Julian Talley. Both teams continued to go back and forth, and the Gladiators took a 40-28 lead into halftime.

Cleveland took over midway through the third quarter. Leading 46-35, Kenny Veal picked off a Carden pass at the goal line. The Gladiators would capitalize with Sims’ third touchdown of the night. Following a second consecutive interception, this time by Lonnie Outlaw, another touchdown made the score 59-35. By the end of the third quarter, the score was 59-42.

Baltimore would attempt a comeback in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as the Gladiators went on to win by a final score of . Cleveland’s defense was key to their victory in this one as they picked off Carden a total of four times in the second half alone.

With the win, the Gladiators also close in on half a game behind the Brigade for the third seed in the Arena Football League playoff picture. They will host the Philadelphia Soul next weekend while the Brigade will host the Washington Valor for the first time ever.