Crush 69, Gladiators 66

CLEVELAND, OH – It was not in the fourth quarter and they did not have to go 98 yards, but John Elway’s Colorado Crush did turn a seven-point first half deficit into their third win of the season, in a 69-66 nail-biter in Cleveland.

Summoning the echoes of old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland fans were once again left with the stigma of number “7” Friday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Crush utilized two DB Rashad Floyd interceptions to their offensive advantage in the second half and outscored the Gladiators 38-28 in the final two quarters.

“We have been in that position before many times,” Floyd said. “We had some bounces that did not go our way in the first half, but when we needed to make plays our guys rose to the occasion.”

Dutton finished another career night 33-of-48 for 314 yards, eight touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Those numbers were good enough to move him into seventh and eighth place all-time in career passing touchdowns and passing yards respectively in the AFL.

After exchanging touchdowns to start off the second half and the game tied 52-52, it seemed unlikely that the Crush were going to get another defensive stop. Considering the Crush defense was penalized seven times for 43 yards in the game, the chances of stopping the sixth ranked offense did seem slim.

That was, until Gladiator QB Raymond Philyaw threw two very similar interceptions on Cleveland drives, both inside the 15-yard line. Crush DB Rashad Floyd broke on both balls at the goal line and the Crush were able to convert the mistakes into 10 quick points. Philyaw finished the night 26-for-37, 316 yards and seven touchdowns.

“We have had some close games this season,” Colorado head coach Mike Dailey said. “And I was happy with the way we responded in the second half. The guys just kept coming and we were able to put some pressure on them towards the end and came out on top.”

After the momentum shift, the Crush was able to play mistake free and hold on to the three-point victory. However, Dutton did throw two interceptions of his own in the first half, but was able to keep the game within reach at half with the play of his three wide receivers.

“I threw a couple bad balls and got one unlucky bounce, but that is the way it goes sometimes,” Dutton said. “The defense really stood up in the second half and gave us a couple of chances to break the game open.”

WR Willie Quinnie added four touchdowns on nine catches for 64 yards. WR Ben Nelson led all receivers with 142 yards and two touchdowns and WR Brad Pyatt got to double digits with 10 receptions for 74 yards and two scores.

With all of the connections behind the bench and on the field, the game turned out to be a great venue to continue a little bit of the rivalry started over 20 years ago by the team’s two owners.

Two coaches and one fourth of the Gladiators active roster had been under the direction of Colorado coach Mike Dailey at some point in their careers. It seemed only natural that Dailey would take the first game in Cleveland from his former protégés.