Cleveland defeats Oklahoma City, 44-39, but is officially eliminated from playoff contention because of Milwaukee's victory over Orlando.
View full sizeThe Gladiators' Victor Williams runs in for the game-winning touchdown Saturday against the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz at Quicken Loans Arena. The Gladiators won, 44-39.CLEVELAND, Ohio — Arena Football League fans typically don't pay to see defense, but 7,682 fans at The Q got their money's worth Saturday night.
Cleveland's defense forced five turnovers and propped up a stumbling offense long enough for quarterback John Dutton to throw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Victor Williams with 47 seconds remaining to beat the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, 44-39.
"Our defense stepped up. That's what you got to rely on sometimes," Dutton said. "It could have gone either way in this one. They could have blown us out with the way we played on offense, and we should have blown them out with the way they played on offense."
Despite the win, Cleveland (7-8) officially was eliminated from playoff contention because of Milwaukee's victory over Orlando. The Gladiators are off next week and close the season at home July 31 against Milwaukee.
Cleveland forced four straight turnovers in the first half, including Davion Mitchell causing one fumble and recovering another. However, the Gladiators' lone score in that span was a 41-yard fumble return by Mike Bragg.
"We knew we had to step up big time with two of our starting receivers down, and we knew we could do it against that offense," Mitchell said. "We knew what we were doing. We knew what they were going to run, and it caused confusion for them."
View full sizeGladiators defenders take down Oklahoma City's Timon Marshall in the second quarter Saturday. Cleveland's offensive issues can be traced to last week's season-ending leg injuries suffered by receivers Ben Nelson (47 TDs) and Chris Johnson (14 TDs).
Nelson's hands and presence in the end zone were sorely missed. Dutton didn't have the same chemistry with the replacements, Jermaine Lewis and Williams, though each caught two TD passes. Dutton completed 15 of 35 passes for 242 yards.
"The timing was off pretty much the whole night," coach Steve Thonn said.
Cleveland stumbled at the outset, falling behind, 13-0. Sparking a comeback was Brent Holmes' 55-yard touchdown return off a missed field goal attempt for a 14-13 Gladiators lead.
They held the Yard Dawgz scoreless until the final play of the first half, at which point Cleveland led, 21-19.
Levy Brown's fourth interception in the past five games in the third quarter gave Cleveland more breathing room as Dutton threw touchdown passes to Lewis and Williams for a 35-27 lead.
The Yard Dawgz took a 39-38 lead with 1:00 remaining on backup QB Xavier Lee's 8-yard pass to Timon Marshall.
Oklahoma City (6-8) is 1-6 on the road.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: twarsinskey@plaind.com, 216-999-4661