Utah quarterback Tommy Grady throws for 300 yards and seven touchdowns as the Cleveland Gladiators fall to 1-4 on the season.
CLEVELAND, Ohio --So much for momentum.
The Gladiators failed to build off a stirring road victory last weekend, losing to the Utah Blaze, 57-40, on Saturday night at The Q.
An energetic crowd of 9,234 watched the Gladiators slip to 1-4 overall, 0-3 at home. The average margin of defeat at The Q is 20.
"We have to get our act together," Gladiators coach Steve Thonn said. "We're still a young team, but I thought last week would jump-start us to get some more wins. It's just disappointing, especially because we had a great crowd."
The previous Saturday in Philadelphia, the Gladiators shocked the Soul, 64-57, in overtime. Quarterback Brian Zbydniewski went 24-of-33 for 316 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for a score. He was the AFL's Offensive Player of the Week.
Against the Blaze, Zbydniewski went 20-of-38 for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice.
" 'Z' wasn't as sharp as he normally is," Thonn said. "He tried to force a couple. I didn't think our receivers were as sharp, either. They didn't run really good routes. We were off offensively."
Utah's zone defense caused problems for the hosts.
"They had good defensive schemes, but we didn't execute at all offensively," Zbydniewski said.
The Blaze's offense proved to be decidedly more fluid behind the two-man game of quarterback Tommy Grady and receiver Aaron Lesue.
Grady, the reigning AFL MVP, went 30-of-42 for 300 yards and seven touchdowns. He was intercepted once -- on a heave into the end zone on the final play of the first half. Lesue caught 14 passes for 156 yards and four touchdowns. Listed at 5-10, Lesue seemingly popped out of the turf to be open constantly.
"Tommy took advantage of what they were giving us," Lesue said. "My number happened to be called a lot."
The Gladiators did not want to get beat by 6-5 Mario Urrutia, who entered with a team-leading 30 receptions, 420 yards and 11 touchdowns. Urrutia finished with eight catches for 62 yards and two TDs.
"Lesue is good," Thonn said. "He made some great catches. A couple times, we were caught in zone. A couple times, he just beat our guy."
Lesue entered with 15 receptions for 239 yards and five TDs. He had missed two games because of injury.
"I can't tell you how nice it is to play with Tommy Grady, because his ball placement is so good," Lesue said. "He's going to put it where you can catch it."
The game got away from the Gladiators in the third quarter. The Blaze outscored them, 22-0, to turn a six-point halftime lead into a 49-21 rout.
Utah (2-3) scored on its three third-quarter possessions, each ending with a Grady TD pass. The Gladiators were intercepted on their first two possessions of the quarter.
"We should have been leading at the half," Thonn said. "Then we come out in the second half, knowing we have to do something . . . and we turn the ball over twice in the third. The offensive showing was disappointing."