Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

No passing fancy

Remember the movie "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade," when Harrison Ford had to navigate the path of letters and then pass over the invisible bridge to get to the grail, risking death with a wrong move?

Well, even Indy moved with more job security than Jay McDonagh did in his only three steps as the Gladiators' starting quarterback Sunday in Orlando. One drop back, one pass, one interception -- and one swift hook from coach Frank Haege.

Such is life on the Las Vegas quarterback carousel these days, as the Gladiators unexpectedly search for consistency from the most vital position in arena football.

"There's no doubt about it -- it's not a good thing to go back and forth with quarterbacks," Haege said. "You want to have the one guy, the leader, and everybody is comfortable with him. Ideally, you'd like that at every spot, but it's just a little more visible at the quarterback spot.

"If you can just go with a guy and stick with him, I think it's your best chance of building consistency and confidence all the way across the ranks."

To that end, Haege will give McDonagh, a second-year man from Western Michigan, another chance to start this week against Detroit. Backup Todd Hammel, an 11-year AFL veteran, appeared disappointed with the decision, declining to comment.

Neither quarterback is used to a setup with such transience.

"You can't control those things," McDonagh said. "The only way you can control it is to make sure things go right and that's what I'm trying to do. I have the confidence of the team back with me and we go from there. But absolutely, it's tough."

Haege will stick with McDonagh in large part because of the track record between the two. McDonagh quarterbacked Haege's Quad Cities team to the af2 championship in 2001, and McDonagh then won the starting job from a bigger name in Glenn Foley last season in New Jersey.

"When you know a guy, it's a 'dance with who brung you' kind of thing," Haege said. "That's just the way it's gonna go."

McDonagh came into the year as the established starter after tossing 62 touchdowns to 15 interceptions in leading the Gladiators to a 9-5 record and Eastern Division title in 2002. Hammel joined the team as a veteran backup insurance policy.

McDonagh struggled out of the blocks, however, throwing seven interceptions in the team's two opening losses. McDonagh started three more times, but was benched in the first half of that third game against San Jose after putting up two more interceptions.

So began the QB shuttle: Hammel then started in a win at Carolina and a loss against Chicago, but McDonagh returned to win at Buffalo. McDonagh then started and completed victories against Georgia and Colorado, but was yanked in favor of Hammel in a blowout loss at Grand Rapids, the game before the quick hook in Orlando.

Also, while Hammel started or relieved, Haege still called on McDonagh in goal-line situations to take advantage of his mobility.

"It's very frustrating," McDonagh said. "It's hard to play like that. But, you know, if I stay negative or bring down the team with a poor attitude, that's not going to help anybody. The best thing I can do is suck it up, learn from it and put it all together."

Neither quarterback's stats overwhelm. McDonagh's 15 interceptions in 12 games already match his total from last season, when he proved himself a strong quarterback. Hammel has completed 69 of 123 passes (56.1 percent, slightly below McDonagh's 58.2 percent) for 841 yards, with 13 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

Neither registers among the league leaders in any passing category, other than McDonagh's 15 interceptions (second).

"I'd rather just focus on what's going on right now and not even dwell why things are going bad," McDonagh said. "I'm just trying to be the most positive that I can."

Who starts at quarterback affects the receivers as well. Mike Horacek is McDonagh's favorite target, evidenced by the fact that Horacek has led the team in receptions in all but one game when McDonagh played the bulk of the time. In Hammel's two starts, Sean Riley led the Gladiators in catches.

"I think it works more against the quarterback than it does for us as receivers," Horacek said. "I think it makes in tougher on them when they're in and out."

Haege feels McDonagh can regain the touch that made him a standout.

"I believe in Jay," he said.

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