Needing a win to stay in the thick of the playoff race, the Gladiators offense picked a poor time to have one of its worst showings of the season.
Kevin Henry
Special to The Plain Dealer
TULSA, Okla. -- Needing a win to stay in the thick of the National Conference playoff race, the Cleveland Gladiators offense picked a poor time to have one of its worst showings of the season.
After grabbing a 21-13 lead, Cleveland watched as the host Tulsa Talons dominated the rest of the contest on its way to posting a 65-44 Arena League victory on Saturday night at the BOK Center.
Cleveland's 44 points tied a season low, matching the Gladiators' output in a 46-44 loss at Jacksonville. The loss dropped Cleveland to 5-7 with four games remaining.
"I thought this was the first time all season that we had been physically beaten," said Cleveland head coach Steve Thonn.
The Gladiators entered Saturday night averaging 63.5 points over its last eight games, but were stymied after scoring on three of its first four possessions. During one stretch covering the third and fourth quarters, Tulsa (7-5) pieced together 30 unanswered points. The Talons outscored Cleveland, 44-20, over the final 31 minutes.
For the first 29 minutes, it was dominating business as usual for the Gladiators and quarterback John Dutton. Then came the final minute of the first half. Dutton threw two interceptions in those 60 seconds, including one that was returned 47 yards for a touchdown by Tulsa's Jamar Ransom. The Talons scored on both mistakes to grab a 35-24 lead at intermission.
"We turned the ball over twice, and it especially hurt because we were in their territory both times," Thonn said. "But turnovers were just part of it tonight. We were physically getting beat in a lot of places."
Prior to the two picks, Dutton had thrown 12 touchdowns without an interception against Tulsa this season. Dutton had thrown three TD passes before Ransom grabbed the ball after the Gladiators' Chris Johnson was hit by Terrell Mingo and went the distance for Tulsa's first lead of the night, 28-21.
Two plays later, Mingo stepped in front of a Dutton pass in the Tulsa end zone. The Talons converted with a three-play, 32-yard drive that culminated with Justin Allgood's seven-yard scoring pass to Donovan Morgan 13 seconds before the half.
Dutton completed three consecutive passes and Matt Denny nailed the 39-yard attempt to slice the Talon lead to 35-24 heading into the locker room.
The game couldn't have started much better for the visitors. Dutton took the opening snap and found Johnson in stride for a 39-yard score just 67 seconds into the game.
Dutton would throw another first-quarter touchdown, 14 yards to Ben Nelson. Dutton and Nelson hooked up for four touchdowns on the night.
Kevin Henry is a freelance writer in Tulsa, Okla.