News 2018 Season

Gladiators Dominate Grizzlies

The Southwest Florida Gladiators started their 2018 Championship run in Brunswick Georgia last Saturday, February 3rd at the North Glynn Sports Complex against the Golden Isles Grizzlies. It was a long road trip in pretty cold temperatures but it turned out all Gladiators.

The Gladiators started the first quarter like a tornado and dominated in all 3 phases of the game. The Gladiator Offensive line so dominated that the running attack pretty much couldn't be stopped. You have to see the Gladiators linemen in person to get an understanding of the sized of these guys. Both offensive tackles are 6'8" tall and weigh around 340lbs! They are the new "twin towers". At the end of the first quarter the Glads were up 21-0.

The Gladiator Defense was equally as dominate in not allowing a single point all game. They came with constant pressure that didn't give the quarterback time to throw. The running game was equally shut down, meaning first downs were very difficult for the Grizzlies to come by.

The Gladiator special teams dominated the Grizzlies as well giving the Gladiator Offense fantastic field position all night and backing the Grizzlies Offense way deep in their own territory.

Just like my prediction last week, the Gladiators came together quickly and decisively and put the game away before halftime with a score of 28-0. The game ended 38-0 which is pretty close to my 42-0 prediction.

Playoff Time! Gladiators Verses X Men

Back on March 17th the X Men came to Bradenton to play the Gladiators. The problem is they only showed up with 13 players. OUCH!

I am sorry but that would never be a match for the Gladiators and so it wasn't. The Glads downed the X Men 63 - 0 in one of the most lopsided losses this author has ever seen. Can the X Men have a better showing this time? The answer is probably.

The X Men had to win the last game of the season against the Golden Isles Grizzlies in order to capture the last playoff spot. In a bit of a surprise they did. Then they had to go to the surging Port Orange Stallions and beat them in the Wildcard round. The X Men were down 14 - 0 at halftime but somehow managed to tie the game with just 2:38 seconds to go. In the first drive of overtime the X Men took the ball down the field and scored. The final score was 20-14 and was a huge upset victory.

Now, the X Men have to travel all the way from Jacksonville to play the Gladiators at home at Lakewood Ranch Park. The Gladiators have only lost 2 games at home in 3 seasons. So. let me say it will be tough for the X Men and that may be an understatement.

The Gladiators are #1 in the league on offense averaging 34.9 points per game and are #2 in the league on defense only giving up a stingy 5.5 points per game. The Gladiators have the leagues best kicking team as well. The X Men are #9 on offense averaging 11.4 points per game and are also #9 on defense giving up 20.1 points per game. In addition the X Men have a pretty much non existent kicking game choosing to go for 2 point conversions and skipping field goals altogether.

The X Men do have one thing in their favor and that is heart. I have never seen them give up even when they have been down by 50 points.

But it won't be enough. The X Men simply don't match up against the size, power and skill of the Gladiators. Unless the Gladiators fall asleep this game should be effectively over in the first half. But last year I said the Gladiators should have an easy win over the Commandos and the game when down to the wire and the Commandos won 6-2.

Don't miss this game. We need our fans to help us get to the Conference Championship round. Kickoff is at 6:00pm at Lakewood Ranch Park. Tickets for adults are only $10. Sit in the bleachers or bring a folding chair and set around the field.

Gladiators Start Second Half of Season

This Saturday, March 10th, the Gladiators will travel to Dunedin to take on the Dunedin Pirates. The Glads played the Pirates twice last season with the Glads coming out on top both times. The scores were 35-13 and 30-2. But a lot has changed since those games last year so lets look at that.

To start with the Dunedin Pirates changed their name from the Anclote Pirates. Well, they play in Dunedin so that makes sense. They also changed their entire coaching staff. The new head coach is Ernest Givens who brought in an entirely new staff that he has worked with in the past. There were high hopes for this new coaching staff but it has been tough on the field. The Pirates reached mid season with a record of 1-4 with their sole win being a forfeit. Now in their defense 2 games have been tight with the other 2 being blow out loses. Also, to be fair they pretty much have a brand new team with even last years starting QB coming to the Gladiators before the season started.

The Gladiators have powered their way into a perfect 5-0 start and are currently ranked #1 in Florida. The Gladiators have a coaching staff of 12 that are lead by last years FFA Coach of the Year Gerald Perry. In Coach Perry's first year as full time head coach he lead the Gladiators to a perfect 10-0 regular season but then fell in the Divisional round of the playoffs in a mistake prone 6-2 loss.

The Gladiators have what could be the best offensive and best defensive lines in the league. The Pirates struggle protecting the QB and have trouble stopping the run. This could pose a huge problem for the Pirates as those are the biggest strengths of the Glads. The Gladiators have the #1 defense in the league and the #1 running game in the league.

The Pirates are a fine organization and this will be a class game but the Pirates will have trouble with the size and strength of the Gladiators.

My prediction with a bit of historic humor thrown in is as follows. Much like back in the day, Pirates were feared at sea but Gladiators were the finest fighters in all the land. They were treated like superstars for their strength and fighting skills. On the coliseum floor nothing could beat the finest Gladiators. Unfortunately for the Pirates this game will happen on the Dunedin HS football field which is not at sea but it is in a modern day coliseum. So with all due respect to a fine Pirates organization, the Pirates will go down with their ship. Gladiators will roll to 6-0.

Gladiators Win Divisional Playoff Game

The Jacksonville X Men had something to prove. Back on March 17th the X Men came to Bradenton to play the Gladiators. The problem is they only showed up with 13 players. OUCH! The Glads downed the X Men 63 - 0. The X Men were embarrassed and wanted to prove they were a lot better than that.

The good news for the X Men is that they arrived with nearly all the players on their roster and they played a lot better. In fact I think it was the best X Men team I have seen to date. They had a playoff victory the week before against a heavily favored Port Orange Stallions team and I believe it was their first playoff victory in nearly 10 years. So they we all ready to avenge the 63 point drubbing they took from the Gladiators back on March 17th.

The Gladiators had a very different kind of month. They had been sitting waiting for a game. Their last game of the season had forfeited and then they didn't have to play in the Wildcard Round due to being the #1 seed and the Division Champs. Add in the playoff bye week and the Glads hadn't had a game since way back on March 31st. So the big question is would the Gladiators suffer being rusty while the X Men were sharp? If that happened could we be looking at a potential upset of nearly Biblical proportions?

The Gladiators started off playing well. Making some mistakes here and there but did well enough to fight to a 13 -0 first quarter lead. Then in the second quarter the time off really became apparent. There we fumbles from people who don't fumble. There were missed blocks and penalties. But the biggest problem was the long snapping. Two bad snaps in a row to be exact. The first one ended in a blocked kick and then the second one gave the X Men a touchdown. Now the score is 13 - 8. On the next drive the Gladiators stumbled and gave the ball back to the X Men. The X Men throw a deep pass over the head of the receiver and after the ball went by the defender popped him in the shoulder pads. The ref called Pass Interference. Obviously he didn't know what Pass Interference looks like. The ball was uncatchable and there was no interference. So they gave the ball to the X Men on the 3 yard line as we were about to reach the 2 minute warning of the 2nd quarter. If the X Men put this ball in the end zone they would likely take a lead into halftime. Could an upset be brewing?

Nope, the Gladiator defense picked off the ball in the end zone and ran it back to the 47 yard line. The Gladiator offense took to the field and didn't look back. In just a few seconds Jeff Charlton caught his first TD pass of the season to put the Gladiators up 20-8 at halftime.

That was the end of the Gladiator rust. The second half was all Gladiator and the final score was 36 - 8 as the Glads cruised to a divisional round victory.

Next week is the Conference Championship game and the Gladiators will face the River City Commandos. There is no love between these two teams. Earlier in the year the Glads won a hard fought 14 - 0 victory over the Commandos with the defense scoring 7 and the offense scoring 7. The Commandos QB was sacked 13 times. The winner goes to the Super Bowl of Adult Minor League Football in Florida, the Alliance Bowl in Daytona Florida. So don't miss this game it is at Lakewood Ranch Park at 6:00 pm on Saturday May 5th.

Gladiators Flex Muscle and Deliver a Donut!

This past Saturday, February 24th was the biggest game of the season so far and the Gladiators delivered. The opponent was the River City Commandos. The Commandos are not some average team. Coming into this game they had the #1 Offense in the league scoring an average of 42.5 points per game. Then they also had the #1 Defense giving up only 18 points total so far this season.

The Gladiators were no slouch either and came in with the #3 Offense scoring 28.3 points per game. The Glads also had the #2 Defense giving up only 24 points so far this season. The Gladiators were #1 in rushing while the Commandos were #1 in passing. When you look at all of the numbers it looked like a battle of FFA titans and for everyone at the game that is exactly what it was. By the way, if you missed this game you missed something very special, a battle from start to finish. This game was everything a great football game is supposed to be.

In the first quarter the Commandos came out throwing the ball but just couldn't connect on anything really meaningful. The Gladiators came out pounding the ball and got some first downs but couldn't really get anything going either. Then the unexpected happened. The Commandos on 4th down decided to fake a punt and tried to run for a first down. The Gladiator defense was not fooled and flew in to tackle the ball carrier who fumbled the ball. Middle Linebacker #33 Dean Richter scoped the ball up on a dead run and rumbled into the end zone for a Gladiator touchdown. The extra point was good and the Glads lead 7-0 late in the first quarter.

For the rest of the half it was back an forth. Neither team able to deliver a knock out blow or even score. The Glads got close and missed a field goal and the Commandos got close but the Gladiator defense shut them down. The Gladiator defense was on fire all night. The Commandos offensive line was out gunned and as players got tired the depth of the Gladiator team took its toll. Before the game was over the Gladiator defense would sack the Commandos Qbs 13 times. I can say I have never seen a game with 13 sacks. That was a tough QB.

Adjustments were made at half time and both teams continued the hard hitting game. By the end of the 3rd quarter the Gladiators running attack and hard hitting defense was wearing down the Commandos. Right at the end of the 3rd quarter the Gladiator offense punched the ball into the end zone on some hard running by #9 Rashad Lewis. The extra point was good and the score was 14-0 Gladiators.

The Gladiators controlled the game on the ground and were in scoring position when the clock ran out. When the game ended it was 14-0. The Commandos couldn't overcome the powerful front 7 of the Gladiators who have been named the Boarder Patrol and with this victory the Gladiator defense is now #1 in the League.

This victory was big for the Glads. Barring an unlikely defeat by the Pirates or the X Men in the second half of the season the Gladiators will be the Division Champions. And with that they are in the drivers seat to home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Don't miss a single home game. This is exciting football played by men who truly love the game, You many not know this but many Gladiator players have played College Football. Some have played in the Arena League and some even in the NFL. So if you like real football with sweat, big collisions, raw emotion and players with a true love for this game, then we will see you on March 17th were the Gladiators will take on the Jacksonville X Men.

Gladiators Fall in Meaningless Game

Last Saturday, March 24th at 5:30pm, the Gladiators played the Hollywood Browns in Pompano Beach.

This game was meaningless to the Gladiators as they had already pretty much claimed the Division and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Gladiators had the smallest turnout of the season player wise and were not very involved in the game during the first quarter. Still the first quarter ended with a score of 6-0 Browns.

The second and third quarter were pretty much the same. The Browns couldn't do anything and the Glads would drive the length of the field to fumble the ball or turn it over on the 3 yard line. The Glads were in the Red Zone four times and only once tired and made a field goal. The 3rd quarter ended with the score 6-3 and the Glads looking ripe to take over the game.

This game though had a problem and that was that the typical league officials were not present. Instead they had low level backup non-league officials who constantly let the Browns get away with what would have normally been called as personal fouls. Because of this, tempers flared and there were many incidents. After one such incident when a Brown player speared a Gladiator the tempers once again flared. The referees were unwilling to throw a flag and in the ensuing commotion things went wrong. Players were angry and in a matter of minutes the Gladiators had given up a score on offense and then one on defense.

The good news is that no Gladiators were ejected and all will be playoff eligible. The other good news is that this Saturday the Gladiators can wrap up the division title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs with what should be an easy win against the Dunedin Pirates.

Owners Rose and Derek Greenwood with Michael Lynch and his girlfriend Nancy

Gladiators Sink Pirate's Ship

This last Saturday, March 10th, the Gladiators traveled to Dunedin to take on the Dunedin Pirates in a key divisional matchup. The stadium was full of Gladiator fans who witnessed total domination and eventual sinking of the Pirates.

On offense the Gladiators came out strong and in 3 plays drove the length of the field and scored. The Pirates instantly made some adjustments that bothered the Gladiators a bit. But after punting once the Glads once again drove the length of the field, but this time fumbled on the 3 yard line handing the ball back to the Pirates.

Defensively the Gladiators dominated the Pirates in every respect. Except for a few passing first downs, all the Pirates would muster was a first down or two from Gladiator penalties. The Pirates running game was non-existent and the passing game had 2 or 3 completions but really that was it for the entire game.

At the end of the first quarter the game was only 7-0 but after the Gladiator offense adapted to the defensive adjustments of the Pirates it was all over. For the rest of the 2nd quarter the Gladiators went on a tear and by halftime the score was 35-0.

The Florida Football Alliance has a 30 point mercy rule. When a team is behind by 30 points in the 3rd quarter they can ask for a running clock and that is what the Pirates did. So the second half of the game lasted exactly 30 minutes and the final score was Glads 54 Pirates 0.

The Pirates players this year have had difficulties adjusting to the new system under new Head Coach Ernest Givens. This has been a long a frustrating year for them and we hope things start to click soon.

The Gladiator offense under QB Nate Munson really started to shine in this game. They ran well, threw well and when needed Munson could run like the best running QB in the league. Let's hope this was the game it all started to gel. Defense has been nearly unbreakable and if the offense can play at a similar level, this will be a very good year. Gladiators roll to 6-0 and will get ready for a visit from the Jacksonville X Men.

Gladiators Start Second Half of Season

This Saturday, March 10th, the Gladiators will travel to Dunedin to take on the Dunedin Pirates. The Glads played the Pirates twice last season with the Glads coming out on top both times. The scores were 35-13 and 30-2. But a lot has changed since those games last year so lets look at that.

To start with the Dunedin Pirates changed their name from the Anclote Pirates. Well, they play in Dunedin so that makes sense. They also changed their entire coaching staff. The new head coach is Ernest Givens who brought in an entirely new staff that he has worked with in the past. There were high hopes for this new coaching staff but it has been tough on the field. The Pirates reached mid season with a record of 1-4 with their sole win being a forfeit. Now in their defense 2 games have been tight with the other 2 being blow out loses. Also, to be fair they pretty much have a brand new team with even last years starting QB coming to the Gladiators before the season started.

The Gladiators have powered their way into a perfect 5-0 start and are currently ranked #1 in Florida. The Gladiators have a coaching staff of 12 that are lead by last years FFA Coach of the Year Gerald Perry. In Coach Perry's first year as full time head coach he lead the Gladiators to a perfect 10-0 regular season but then fell in the Divisional round of the playoffs in a mistake prone 6-2 loss.

The Gladiators have what could be the best offensive and best defensive lines in the league. The Pirates struggle protecting the QB and have trouble stopping the run. This could pose a huge problem for the Pirates as those are the biggest strengths of the Glads. The Gladiators have the #1 defense in the league and the #1 running game in the league.

The Pirates are a fine organization and this will be a class game but the Pirates will have trouble with the size and strength of the Gladiators.

My prediction with a bit of historic humor thrown in is as follows. Much like back in the day, Pirates were feared at sea but Gladiators were the finest fighters in all the land. They were treated like superstars for their strength and fighting skills. On the coliseum floor nothing could beat the finest Gladiators. Unfortunately for the Pirates this game will happen on the Dunedin HS football field which is not at sea but it is in a modern day coliseum. So with all due respect to a fine Pirates organization, the Pirates will go down with their ship. Gladiators will roll to 6-0.

2018 Championship Gladiators after the Alliance Bowl Victory!

Gladiator Fan In Australia!

Gladiators Hand The Jacksonville X Men Worst Defeat of The Season

Last Saturday, March 17th, the Gladiators played the Jacksonville X Men at home at Lakewood Ranch Park. The Gladiators and the X Men have met once every year for the past 4 years and every time the Gladiators have come out on top. Some games were pretty close and some were a blow out. This game was in the blow out category.

The X Men didn't travel well and only came with 13 players. You read the correctly, 13 players. No matter how good those 13 players are they would be no match for the 62 players that were ready to play for the Gladiators.

The Gladiators were quite frankly unstoppable. The X Men played hard but it was futile. The Glads lead by 17 at the end of the first quarter. By the end of the second quarter the Glads were up by 36 and by the end of the game the Glads led 63-0.

Don't get the idea that the Gladiators ran up the score, they didn't. The Gladiator defense scored 3 touchdowns and special teams scored 2 touchdowns. In fact, after the first half the offense rarely saw the field. As an interesting note, every single offensive drive ended in a score.

The Gladiators continue to get better every week. The defense is the best in the league and the offense is starting to fire on all cylinders. Also of note, the Gladiators have the best kicking game in the league as well.

The Glads this week travel to Hollywood Florida to take on the Browns. In the first meeting the Gladiators won 21-18. This will be the last real test of the regular season. Gladiators have to win 1 of the next 2 games to lock down a division championship and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They plan to do just that in Hollywood this week.

Gladiators Fall in Meaningless Game

Last Saturday, March 24th at 5:30pm, the Gladiators played the Hollywood Browns in Pompano Beach.

This game was meaningless to the Gladiators as they had already pretty much claimed the Division and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Gladiators had the smallest turnout of the season player wise and were not very involved in the game during the first quarter. Still the first quarter ended with a score of 6-0 Browns.

The second and third quarter were pretty much the same. The Browns couldn't do anything and the Glads would drive the length of the field to fumble the ball or turn it over on the 3 yard line. The Glads were in the Red Zone four times and only once tired and made a field goal. The 3rd quarter ended with the score 6-3 and the Glads looking ripe to take over the game.

This game though had a problem and that was that the typical league officials were not present. Instead they had low level backup non-league officials who constantly let the Browns get away with what would have normally been called as personal fouls. Because of this, tempers flared and there were many incidents. After one such incident when a Brown player speared a Gladiator the tempers once again flared. The referees were unwilling to throw a flag and in the ensuing commotion things went wrong. Players were angry and in a matter of minutes the Gladiators had given up a score on offense and then one on defense.

The good news is that no Gladiators were ejected and all will be playoff eligible. The other good news is that this Saturday the Gladiators can wrap up the division title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs with what should be an easy win against the Dunedin Pirates.

Green Gray Scrimmage Full of Big Hits

The Southwest Florida Gladiators were supposed to start the regular season against the Tampa Patriots on Jan 27th. Unfortunately, the Patriots were forced to cancel operations before that game could happen. The good news is that the Gladiators picked up the best of the Patriot players and have integrated them into an already stacked Gladiator team.

To make up for the loss of the game the Gladiator held their first ever Green Gray Scrimmage game. This game didn't have special teams play but was full of big hits from defense and explosive plays on offense.

On defense the Gladiators were scary. Yep, that is the right word to use. With the new revamped defensive line added to the already best in league linebacker core, the front 7 were a force to be reckoned with and gave the offensive line all they could handle. The new yet strong backfield didn't disappoint either giving the Gladiators a defense that should be the best in the league.

The offense struggled at first against this powerful defense but after a while found a way to make things happen. With new QBs, receivers and new running backs it will be fun to see how good this offense can become. I am guessing the Gladiator offense will become a scoring machine with a little time to gel. Watch out FFA, the 2018 Gladiators are coming.

Gladiators Rebound and Sink Pirates

Last Saturday, March 31st the Gladiators routed the Dunedin Pirates at the last home game of the regular season.
This game was never in doubt as the Gladiators got off to a strong start and never looked back. The offense looks to be coming together at the right time and was able to score on every drive in the first half. On top of that there was a hot 50 second period at the end of the first quarter where everything went Green and Gray. The Glads scored 3 times in the final 50 seconds of the first quarter. The defense either scored or got the ball back for the offense deep in Pirate territory and within seconds the Glads were back in the end zone.

At half time the score was 39-0 Gladiators and by the end of the game the score was 60-0. The FFA has a mercy rule. Whenever a team is down by 30 points in the 3rd quarter the clock will run as long as both head coaches agree. The clock will only stops for time outs and injuries. This makes the 2nd half of the game go by in just a hair over 30 minutes.

With respect to the Pirates, they are a much improved ball club as compared to earlier in the season. They played better in every respect but in this case were just no match for the also improving Gladiators.

The Gladiators will now get a long month off before their first game in the playoffs. With this victory the Glads earn not only the Divisional Championship but also the #1 seed in the north. This means all playoff games will come through the Gladiators at home. Mark you calendar for April 28th the first game the Glads will be in. If they win that playoff game and they should, then the Conference Championship Game will be on May 5th also at the Glads home field.

Gladiators to Play in Conference Championship

This Saturday, May 5th at 6:00pm the Gladiators will take on the River City Commandos in the Florida Conference of the FFA, Championship Game. The winner of this game will go to the Alliance Bowl on May 19th in Daytona Florida. The winner of the Alliance Bowl will be crowned the best Minor League team in Florida and possibly the country.

These two teams have only met 3 times in the past. The results were 2 Gladiator wins and 1 Commando win. This year in their only meeting and the Gladiators won 14 - 0. These two teams in fact match up very well. They both have explosive offenses and have great defenses. The Glads are #1 in offense and #2 in defense. The Commandos are #2 in offense and #1 in defense. Both also have good special teams.

The difference between these two teams in in the offensive and defensive lines and here the Gladiators win. In the last meeting the Commando quarterback was sacked an astounding 13 times. If this happens again the Gladiators will win. If somehow the Commandos have fixed their line issues then this game is anyone's guess. The Commandos have a deep threat and like to throw to him. The Gladiators like to wear you down pounding the ball with the best running game in the league.

Regardless of the outcome of this game it will most likely be one for the ages. Please come out and cheer the Gladiators on to victory!

Gladiators to Play in Conference Championship

This Saturday, May 5th at 6:00pm the Gladiators will take on the River City Commandos in the Florida Conference of the FFA, Championship Game. The winner of this game will go to the Alliance Bowl on May 19th in Daytona Florida. The winner of the Alliance Bowl will be crowned the best Minor League team in Florida and possibly the country.

These two teams have only met 3 times in the past. The results were 2 Gladiator wins and 1 Commando win. This year in their only meeting and the Gladiators won 14 - 0. These two teams in fact match up very well. They both have explosive offenses and have great defenses. The Glads are #1 in offense and #2 in defense. The Commandos are #2 in offense and #1 in defense. Both also have good special teams.

The difference between these two teams in in the offensive and defensive lines and here the Gladiators win. In the last meeting the Commando quarterback was sacked an astounding 13 times. If this happens again the Gladiators will win. If somehow the Commandos have fixed their line issues then this game is anyone's guess. The Commandos have a deep threat and like to throw to him. The Gladiators like to wear you down pounding the ball with the best running game in the league.

Regardless of the outcome of this game it will most likely be one for the ages. Please come out and cheer the Gladiators on to victory!

QB Paul Lively and Michael Lynch. Paul threw Michael the nice pass in the end zone.

Gladiators Win Alliance Bowl In Dramatic Fashion

The Alliance Bowl pits the two best teams in the FFA, which is nearly always the two best teams in the state of Florida and arguable two of the best teams in America together, in what could be called the minor league version of the Super Bowl. After a long tough season there is a North Division Champion and a South Division Champion. The Champion representing the North was your very own Southwest Florida Gladiators. The Champion from the South was the Twin County Raiders.

The Gladiators came into the game with a record of 12-1 and in 2015 had won the Alliance Bowl. So in their favor was some experience in being in the big game. This year also reunited Head Coach Gerald Perry and Coach Anthony Hills the same combination of coaches that masterminded the 2015 Championship. The Gladiators have a league leading defense and also lead the league in running yards.

The Raiders came into the game with a record of 11-2 and have

never played in the big game before. However, they were built to

win this game as they are a collection of all star players from across

the south of Florida assembled specifically to win this game. The

Raiders have a very good defense as well and offensively have a

passing game that is explosive and dangerous.

In the first quarter the Raiders drew first blood with a quick touch-

down strike. It was an acrobatic catch by their star receiver over the

Gladiators star DB. The Raiders went for a 2 point conversion

knowing the Gladiators have a great kicking game and made it. The

score was 8-0. Later in the first quarter the Gladiators defense came

up big and gave the offense the ball in great field position. The Glads

pounded the ball into the end zone and kicked the extra point to make

it 8-7 Raiders. I can't really describe how hard a hitting game this was

at this point. The Raiders lost their starting center and the Gladiators lost this years #1 running back and a defensive lineman all in the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Gladiators make several costly mistakes. The first one occurred when two defenders ran into each other allowing the Raiders receiver to score. The Raiders were stopped on their 2 point conversion attempt making the score 14-7. Then at the end of the second quarter the Gladiators were in scoring position and twice missed wide open receivers in the end zone. Then missed on an easy field goal. At halftime the score was 14-7 Raiders.

During halftime Head Coach Perry calmed everyone down and helped them shake the big game jitters. Both teams as it turned out were staying with their game plans and headed back out onto the field.

In the third quarter the Gladiators started to wear the Raiders down. The hard running game was taking its toll on the Raiders defense and the Gladiator defense had gotten back in rhythm and was stifling the Raider offense. Coach Perry then made a surprising move, he benched his starting QB who was struggling all night and went with his backup for a couple of series. Later in the quarter he switched back to his starting QB and the Glads drove down into to long field goal range and surprised the Raiders with a 42 yard field goal attempt that was made with yards to spare. This seemed to shake up the Raiders and they started fighting on the sidelines. They didn't think the Gladiator kicker had that kind of range and it scared them. The third quarter ended 14-10 Raiders.

The fourth quarter saw more of the same. A stifling Gladiator defense and a Raider defense that was getting tired with the constant pounding they were taking. At the mid point of the quarter the Gladiators changed offensive plans and went in to scoring mode. They quickly drove down the field but made a mistake that turned the ball over the Raiders. With about 4 minutes left in the game the Gladiator defense came through again and shut down the Raiders giving the ball back to the Glads. The Gladiator offense was now firing on all cylinders. The QB was hot and the receivers just wouldn't drop anything. They were hit so hard helmets went flying but still not a single drop. They drove down the field to inside the red zone with pass after pass. Then Coach Perry called something that totally caught the Raiders tired defense off guard. He called a QB run. The Raiders didn't know that the Gladiator QB had been drafted by the NFL as a receiver and that he was fast. The ball was snapped to him and everyone expected a pass as there was barely a minute left in the game. The ball was snapped and he took off for the corner of the end zone and with 1:09 left in regulation ran in untouched for the go ahead score. Gladiators 17 - Raiders 14. The Raiders had one last chance with a minute left but the Gladiator defense stripped the ball and recovered the fumble to end the game for the Gladiator win.

It was billed as a great game and it turned out to be one of the best in Alliance Bowl history. In the end the Gladiators were just too much, too big and too strong and the Raiders faded late in the game. Granted the Raiders were younger and maybe a bit faster but when you get tired that doesn't matter.

For the Gladiators it was their second FFA Championship in just 4 years making them one of the two elite teams in the FFA. Now the question becomes can they make this a dynasty? This author things so. They have a good mixture of youth and experience. There coaching staff is second to none and they have a well run organization. Come see them in 2019 and decide for yourself. But for now just call them CHAMPS!