If there's a football game taking place between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, it's usually a safe bet the team wearing Black and Gold is going to come out with the win. Instead of the Browns and Steelers, the teams were named the Gladiators and the Power. With the winner taking over first place in the Eastern Division, a lot was on the line.
After posting their highest offensive output of the season (76 points) last week against Dallas, Pittsburgh was looking to keep rolling, but they ran into the second best scoring defense in the AFL.
The opening drive for Pittsburgh (7-4) was derailed when it was ruled, incorrectly I might add, that Lonnell DeWalt fumbled the ball. Replays showed that DeWalt was lying on his back on the ground before the ball popped out, but the ball went over to Cleveland (6-5).
On the ensuing drive, Lineman Adam Tadisch caught an 11 yard pass and was absolutely crushed by Power linebacker Gary Butler, jarring the ball loose. In spite of visual evidence that it was a fumble, the referees claimed he was down by contact and Cleveland's Kurt Rocco would find Robert Redd for a touchdown to put the Gladiators on top 6-0 after Matt Denny missed the extra point.
Pittsburgh would respond with a drive that saw Josh Rue barrel around the end for his third touchdown in the last two games, and this brought out the lovely Ruebird chants at Consol Energy Center.
Pittsburgh got a nice goal line stand to get the ball back for the offense and Bernard Morris hit Jason Willis for a 27 yard score to put the home team up 14-6.
The next drive saw another fumble by Cleveland miraculously not get called. Rocco would find Thyron Lewis for a 9 yard TD and more points that the Gladiators did not deserve. A second missed point by Denny left the score 14-12.
The next drive saw Morris quickly find Jason Willis for a 40 yard touchdown bomb which electrified the Pittsburgh faithful and put Pittsburgh ahead 21-12.
In what was a recurring theme in the first half. Cleveland quarterback Rocco tried scrambling away from pressure, was hit and lost the ball which was returned for what should have been a defensive touchdown, but once again the referees found a way to rule it Cleveland possession. Rocco would eventually find Thyron Lewis for the second time in the game to push the score to 21-19 Pittsburgh.
The Power's final shot at points stalled when Morris scrambled to avoid pressure but left the clock running. Without any timeouts the Power could only walk off the field up by two points.
What should have been a first half shutout by Pittsburgh was a two point game. Needless to say that made for a very nervous second half if you were a Pittsburgh fan.
Cleveland got the ball to start the second half and scored at the 11:55 mark when Rocco found Redd for his second touchdown pass of the game. Matt Denny pulled off the hat trick by missing his third extra point of the game.
Pittsburgh would score in under two minutes when Offensive lineman Mike Lucian lined up as a fullback and plunged in for a 1 yard score. Pittsburgh regained the lead 28-25.
Both teams traded possessions as the defenses were starting to take over. Cleveland would cap off their next drive when Rocco took it in himself from two yards out. Denny would make the kick and the Gladiators were back on top 32-28.
Pittsburgh had one more quick scoring drive, as Morris found Lonnell DeWalt for 18 yards and a score. The extra point would cap off the scoring as Pittsburgh took the lead 35-32.
Neither team was able to score in a wild 4th quarter that saw lots of back and forth action. The final game saving play was an interception by Carlos Campbell in the end zone with 58 seconds left. he read the pass so beautifully it looked like he had been in the huddle with the Gladiators.
Bernard Morris broke containment and took off on a 40 yard run that put the ball deep in Cleveland territory. Pittsburgh chose to run out the clock and take the victory.
Gary Butler played like a man possessed, especially on a 7 play goal line stand aided by an illegal defense call. His hit on Adam Tadisch was one of the most ferocious hits you will see in the AFL this year, and it's a shame he wasn't rewarded for the fumble he called.
I try not to dwell on officiating, but the refs in the AFL this year have been atrocious. There are way too many penalties being called this year, and even worse is the obvious calls that are being missed.
I hope the Power front office sends the visual evidence of all these blown calls to the league office and something really needs to be done about this disgrace. With point differential being such a deciding factor in tiebreakers, Cleveland got 19 points they did not earn in this one, and hopefully that doesn't factor into play down the road.
The next game for the Power is June 11th down in Tampa Bay. Cleveland will host the Georgia Force at 7 PM on the 11th in a game that has huge playoff implications for the American Conference.
No comments:
Post a Comment