Defensive back Travis Williams returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown to give the Shock a 62-56 overtime victory at The Q.
Spokane defensive back Travis Williams picks off a John Dutton pass on the Shock's 7 in overtime and begins his return for a winning touchdown Saturday night against the Gladiators at The Q.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Gladiators, losing players left and right, managed to make life difficult for the Spokane Shock on Saturday night. But all it got them was a moral victory.
Defensive back Travis Williams returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown to give the Shock a 62-56 overtime victory at The Q.
The Shock has won nine straight and owns the Arena Football League's best record at 11-2. It has not lost since May 1 at home, when Cleveland prevailed, 72-68.
The Gladiators (6-8) are all but eliminated from playoff contention. Among the things that need to happen for them to have a chance: Finish the season 2-0 and have the Milwaukee Iron go 0-3, including a loss by 29-plus points to Cleveland in the finale. Even that doesn't preclude Iowa from securing the fourth and final spot in the National Conference.
Two of the Gladiators' starting receivers, Ben Nelson and Chris Johnson, exited because of injuries midway through the game. Nelson was in the midst of a sensational season.
"Both injuries could be pretty bad," Gladiators coach Steve Thonn said. "We'll have to wait and see what the tests show."
The Gladiators lost the toss in overtime but the Shock deferred. Both teams are guaranteed one possession in OT.
Quarterback John Dutton's pass deflected off substitute receiver Victor Williams and into the hands of Travis Williams at the Spokane 7. Williams scooted in and around traffic en route to the end zone.
"I'm not going to make any excuses or point any fingers," Dutton said. "They came up with the defensive play when they needed it most."
The Gladiators were in a heap of trouble midway through the fourth quarter. Shock quarterback Kyle Rowley found Huey Whittaker from 16 yards on a fourth-and-3 for a 56-42 lead.
After Cleveland answered, Spokane had possession and a seven-point lead with one minute remaining. The Gladiators' defense, riddled all night, rose up and stopped the Shock on fourth down.
Dutton connected with Brent Holmes with 25.8 seconds left to pull the Gladiators within one. The extra point tied it.
In the final seconds of regulation, the Shock squandered an opportunity for no worse than a field-goal attempt. Whittaker caught a pass along the right sideline but failed to get out of bounds before time expired. A flag on the play was picked up.
"We had a lot of players get hurt, but the guys who filled in showed a lot of heart," Thonn said. "We're obviously disappointed with the result, but I'm proud of the effort."
The Shock led the Gladiators, 35-28, at intermission. Spokane and Cleveland entered the night as the AFL's top two teams in first-half scoring (Shock 32.6, Gladiators 32.3).
On the first possession of the game, Dutton connected with Nelson from 22 yards for a 7-0 lead. The Shock scored the next 21 points. After his team's first touchdown, Whittaker celebrated by imitating the LeBron James chalk toss. Several other Shock did the same throughout the game.
"I just figured I'd pay tribute to a great player," Whittaker said. "Unfortunately, you guys aren't going to see that in this arena."
Trailing, 28-14, the Gladiators pulled off one of their most electrifying plays of the season. From the Spokane 19, Dutton dumped a pass over the middle to 6-8, 325-pound tight end Adam Tadisch. The first Shock player hit Tadisch and barely made a dent. As the hits kept coming, Tadisch kept rumbling.
By the time he reached the 5, Tadisch had several players draped on him. The big man refused to go down, carrying them across the goal line.
"It looked like a circus out there," Dutton said. "Adam made a heckuva play. That will be on his highlight reel."
With less than one minute left, the Gladiators scored for the 35-28 margin. With three seconds remaining, Spokane decided against a short field-goal attempt and went for the touchdown. Rowley's pass was broken up in the left corner of the end zone as time expired.