The Gladiators (6-7) are in must-win mode for this and the other two games of the regular season.
The Gladiators will need another big performance from quarterback John Dutton if they're to keep their postseason hopes alive against Spokane Saturday night at The Q.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Spokane Shock must have been upset about losing at home to the Gladiators on May 1.
It is unbeaten since.
Spokane (10-2) carries an eight-game winning streak into Saturday night's game against the Gladiators at The Q. Kickoff is scheduled for 7.
The Gladiators (6-7) are in must-win mode for this and the other two games of the regular season. Even if they win out, they are going to need help in order to grab one of the four playoff spots in the Arena Football League's National Conference.
"It's no secret what we're up against," Gladiators coach Steve Thonn said. "I don't need to tell our players. They know."
The Gladiators kept their hopes alive last Saturday with a 77-70 overtime road victory against the Orlando Predators. They will take any momentum and be grateful heading into the rematch with the Shock.
"Spokane is solid all the way around," Thonn said. "They have good players at every position and present a number of challenges."
In the May 1 game, the Gladiators stunned the Shock with a 56-yard kickoff return by Brent Holmes with 1.6 seconds left for a 72-68 victory. It gave Cleveland its first victory after opening 0-3. The other loss for Spokane, which owns the best record in the league, came against Milwaukee (74-62 on April 2).
The Shock's success comes as no surprise to Thonn. The franchise played its previous four seasons in af2, winning four division titles and two Arena Cups (2006, 2009). While the AFL was dark in 2009, the Shock remained sharp. Now the af2 is no longer.
"It's kind of the same team they've had for a couple years, plus they've been able to add three or four very good players," Thonn said. "It definitely benefited them to have played last year."
The Shock has proven it can win with offense or defense. It has scored 60-plus points in six games during the winning streak, but is coming off a 37-36 victory against Arizona.
Meanwhile, the Gladiators have scored at least 68 points in all of their victories. They rely heavily on quarterback John Dutton and receivers Ben Nelson, Chris Johnson and Holmes.
Dutton, one of the AFL's all-time greats, threw for 411 yards and 10 touchdowns against the Predators. He connected with Holmes from five yards with nine seconds left in the fourth quarter and with Johnson from nine yards out at 8:58 of overtime. Dutton finished 36-of-53 and was intercepted twice.
"John made some tough throws and some great reads," Thonn said. "He only really had one bad throw. We needed him to be excellent, and he was."
Dutton has thrown for 4,270 yards this season and 32,453 in his career, the latter good for seventh all-time.
Holmes caught 12 passes for 199 yards and five scores at Orlando. Nelson had 17 for 163 and two.