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Gladiators Game Notes

February 25, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Las Vegas Gladiators News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Game: Las Vegas Gladiators (2-2)
vs. San Jose SaberCats (2-2)
Date: Sunday, March 2, 2003
Kickoff: 3:00 p.m.
Site: Thomas & Mack Center
National Anthem: TBA
Coin Toss: TBA
Officials: Referee: Pat Garvey, Umpire: Paul King, Head Linesman: Rusty Spindel, Line Judge: James Mello, Back Judge: Rich Wilborn
Radio: ESPN Radio 920 (Las Vegas) – Andrew Siciliano (play-by-play), Mike Pritchard (color commentary)
Coaches: Frank Haege, Las Vegas Gladiators (11-8, 2nd year) Darren Arbet, San Jose SaberCats (48-19, 5th year)

THE SERIES: This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams (The SaberCats own a 2-1 series lead when the Gladiators were known as the New Jersey Red Dogs). Last Meeting: The SaberCats claimed a 51-33 victory at home in 1998.

THE IFs:

If the Gladiators win, it would...
Give Las Vegas a 1-0 series record with the SaberCats
Give Las Vegas a 3-2 record in 2003
Give Las Vegas a 2-0 record at home

LAS VEGAS GLADIATORS, Head Coach: Frank Haege Second Season (11-7, 0-1 in playoffs with Gladiators)

The Las Vegas Gladiators second-year head coach can look back upon his rookie year in the AFL and boast about his wide array of accomplishments. Haege led the Gladiators to the fourth-best record in the AFL and their first-ever playoff berth in franchise history. Haege believes that there is still a lot of work to do and will not rest until the job is complete. Haege also serves as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks, and wide receivers coach.

The Gladiators 9-5 record and first place finish in the Eastern Division of the National Conference was the biggest turnaround in AFL history. The Gladiators finished the 2002 regular season with seven more victories than the previous season.

The Gladiators set franchise marks in almost all offensive categories and earned five road victories in seven tries. In all five victories, New Jersey came back to win after entering the fourth quarter either tied or trailing their opponent. In one of the wildest games of the season, the Gladiators scored 34 points against the New York Dragons in the fourth quarter to tie the game before winning in OT.

Haege was named the second head coach of the New Jersey Gladiators on August 23, 2001. Haege brought with him six players and an assistant coach from the Steamwheelers.

Haege earned a bachelor's degree in marketing education from UW-Stout in 1992, before completing his master's degree in physical education at Bemidji in 1995.

Haege was born on Oct 11, 1968 in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. He is married (Michele) and resides Las Vegas.

San Jose SaberCats Darren Arbet, Fifth Season (48-19, 5-2 in playoffs with the SaberCats Last season Darren Arbet guided the SaberCats to the best regular season record (13-1) ever in league history, the most victories in a season (16) and the franchise's first league title. Arbet has compiled a 43-17 (.717) career mark in regular season games and currently owns the third-best regular season winning percentage in AFL history among coaches with at least 10 victories. Named AFL Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002, Arbet's teams have gone 41-11 (.788) overall in the past four seasons. Spanning the 2000 and 2001 seasons, Arbet led the SaberCats to a league record 15-game regular season winning streak and twice in the last three years the SaberCats have had 12-game win streaks.

GLADIATORS' 2002 REVIEW:

With new players and an even newer coaching staff, the Gladiators took great strides in 2002. New Jersey, led by head coach Frank Haege, finished the season with the fourth best record in the AFL and a first round bye in the playoffs. The Gladiators 9-5 record and first place finish in the Eastern Division of the National Conference was the best turnaround in AFL history. New Jersey finished the 2002 regular season with seven more victories than the previous season.

The Gladiators named Mike Horacek the MVP of the 2002 season and Dennison Robinson as the Ironman. With one season under his belt in New Jersey, Frank Haege will look to build on an already solid foundation.

Steve Videtich was selected as the Kicker of the Year for his efforts during the 2002 season. Videtich, who won the same award in 1997, had a stellar year for the Gladiators. Videtich scored 130 points (No. 5 amongst kickers). He converted 88-91 PAT's this season and his accuracy percentage (96.7) on extra points ranks him No. 1 all-time in that category among kickers to play in every regular season game. He was also 14 of 25 (56.0%) on field goal attempts. A seven-year veteran, Videtich has scored 861 career points, ranking him 10th on the all-time AFL scoring list.

On opening day in Buffalo, New Jersey QB Jay McDonagh threw for six touchdowns and ran for another, but it was his only turnover that did him in, as the Buffalo Destroyers defeated the Gladiators 53-51. The next weekend, New Jersey defeated the expansion Dallas Desperados 45-44 after McDonagh connected with Alvin Ashley on an 18-yard scoring pass to give New Jersey a come back win in their home opener.

The next week on a Saturday night in Orlando, Damon Mason led his new team to his old hometown and took a game from the Predators, 45-44. It was the second straight week that New Jersey won by a single point and by the same score, but it was the first time a Gladiators team boarded a plane for the return trip home, victorious. The Gladiators then lost their next game to a former Gladiator, Connell Maynor, who came back to East Rutherford and out-did his former team. The Gladiators stood at 2-2 and needed a shot in the arm. The shot in the arm would come from a player named Sedrick Robinson, last season's Rookie of the Year runner-up was given the ball against the New York Dragons. Robinson was a little red blur on the Meadowlands carpet as he willed his team to a 76-69 overtime victory against New York. He returned six kickoffs for 208 yards, three touchdowns; catching 10 passes for 116 yards, two touchdowns and rushing for a four-yard score. His six-touchdown, 36-point, performance helped the Gladiators achieve their first Offensive Player of the Week award and gave New Jersey their first victory within their division and first defeat of the archrival Dragons, 76-69. With the help of Robinson, New Jersey achieved their highest point total (76) ever. The previous team high was 62 points in an overtime victory over the Indiana Firebirds on July 8, 2001. It also doubled the Gladiators previous record of 18 points in one game by any one player. The Gladiators had won a football game, and Haege had found a new secret weapon.

New Jersey then headed north of the border to take on their division rivals, the Toronto Phantoms. McDonagh's four touchdown passes and Horacek's 10 receptions, powered New Jersey to a 45-38 nail-biting win over the Phantoms at the Air Canada Centre, giving them sole possession of first place in the Arena Football League's Eastern Division for the first time in team history.

The following week the Chicago Rush pounded the New Jersey Gladiators 44-14 at the Allstate Arena, handing the Gladiators their worst loss of the season. New Jersey bounced back the following week by routing the defending ArenaBowl champion Grand Rapids Rampage, 70-42 to remain in first place. After outclassing the AFL champions the Gladiators visited a few old friends in Tampa the following week to defeat the Storm and win their second straight game, 55-33 and open up a 6-3 overall record. After losing to Buffalo 52-45 for the second time in as many tries New Jersey then went on a three game winning streak, defeating the Fury in Detroit 62-45 for the first victory. New Jersey continued their road dominance by defeating the Dragons 76-50 to clinch their first playoff berth in franchise history. The Gladiators closed their streak with a 57-55 overtime victory against the Phantoms at Continental Airlines Arena. The Gladiators, who clinched the Arena Football League's Eastern Division title before they had even played a down, needed a safety in overtime to defeat Toronto and sweep the season series. During the winning streak Gladiators OS Mike Horacek was selected as the Offensive Player of the Month in June for his performances.

Horacek secured the Offensive Player of the Month award by starting in all five games in June and was named game MVP in two of those contests (vs. Grand Rapids and at Detroit). Over that span, Horacek caught 36 passes for 401 yards, and 12 touchdowns. His five-touchdown, 30-point, performance against the Fury helped the Gladiators achieve their first Offensive Player of the Month award.

New Jersey finished the regular season 4-2 against the Eastern Division. The Rattlers came to the swamps of New Jersey to defeat the Gladiators 53-45 and put an end to the Gladiators winning streak.

The Gladiators 9-5 record earned them the No. 4 seed in the Arena Football League Playoffs. New Jersey ranked second in total defense by allowing only 245.1 yards per game. The first AFL playoff game at Continental Airlines Arena against the Orlando Predators was a back and forth struggle that wasn't decided until the final minutes of regulation. Orlando defeated New Jersey 49-46 to end the Gladiators otherwise successful season. The Gladiators, winners of the National Conference Eastern Division, finished the campaign with a 9-5 record.

GLADIATORS QB STATS vs New York Dragons – Saturday, February 22 , 2003 Player Att-Cmp-Int Yards TD Jay McDonagh 17-31 227 5

GLADIATORS NEXT WEEK: The Gladiators will hit the road again and play a Sunday afternoon game at Carolina, on March 9. Kickoff is slated for noon ET.

TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:

Mike Horacek: Caught four more TD passes against New York, bringing his season total to 13. Horacek, playing against former teammate and former Arena League Offensive Player of the Year Aaron Garcia, lit up the scoreboard with four touchdowns in a game of "top this." Horacek caught seven balls four 147 yards and, for his efforts, was named the games Most Valuable Player.

Jay McDonagh: Continued to impress with mistake free football and the ability to take command of the offense when it needs leadership the most. Hitting on 17 of 31 passes for 227 yards, the former Western Michigan star led his team on the comeback trail for the second straight week. This time McDonagh drove the Gladiators 41 yards in six plays, finishing off the last seven himself to give Las Vegas a 46-45 lead with less than a minute to play.

-- With his 381 yards passing in the first game of the season against LA, McDonagh set a Gladiators' single-game record for passing yards in a game.

Sedrick Robinson: After scoring on two kickoff returns in as many weeks, Robinson had five returns for 76 yards and caught four passes for 25 yards, he also scored on a five-yard run near the end of the third quarter.

Let Youth Be Served the Defensive Way: The Gladiator defense featured stellar game from rookie T.J. Hill who led the team with nine solo tackles against the Dragons. The defensive specialist from Northeastern also deflected two passes. Second-year player Dennison Robinson also made some big plays with three solo tackles and an assist helping the defense hold the Dragons under 50 points.

Double J, On Display: Much of the defensive success this season can be attributed to the return of Jeroid Johnson. Johnson, a big-time playmaker with a nose for the football, missed the Gladiators' opener against LA. At 5'9", 185 pounds, JJ sparked the Gladiators in each of their victories in 2003. He was named game MVP against Tampa by picking off two passes in the fourth quarter, leading the Gladiators comeback. Last season he tallied 83 total tackles, four interceptions with 19 pass deflections.

What to expect: The Gladiators will be facing their toughest foe yet in the San Jose SaberCats. In 2002, the SaberCats dazzled the league with an onslaught of offense numbers and finished with the best record in the league at 16-1 and manhandled Arizona 52-14 in Arena Bowl XVI, the largest margin of victory in the history of the bowl game.

The Pass Defense: After facing two of the league's top passers in consecutive weeks in John Kaleo of the Tampa Bay Storm and 2001 Offensive Player of the Year in New York's Aaron Garcia, things don't get easier with the SaberCats coming for a visit at the Thomas & Mack Center. San Jose boasts one of the league's top offenses with 2002 Offensive Player of the Year Mark Grieb leading the way Greib set the league on fire in 2002. Completing nearly 65% of his passes, Grieb threw for 70 touchdowns and demonstrated the ability to make the right call illustrated by his 5 interceptions.

When the ‘Cats are Defense: The SaberCats offense was not solely responsible for their championship season in 2002. Defensive coordinator Michael Church built a defense that surrendered 660 points and an average of 245 yards a game, both among near the top in their respective categories. San Jose was also tops in the league with a plus-14 turnover margin after finishing with 21 interceptions – second in the AFL. The Cat's are led on the defensive side of the ball by second–year sensation, Clevan Thomas, named the AFL 2002 Rookie of the Year. Thomas had the most decorated season by a SaberCats player in their history. The former Florida State Seminole is an outstanding coverman with size and speed.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 25, 2003


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