Win has LV team excited, anxious

Adam Candee

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 10:12 a.m.

NEXT UP

What: Gladiators at N.Y. Dragons

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.

Where: Nassau Coliseum

TV: None

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

Line: Gladiators by 2, total is 111 1/2

Amid Monday's extended euphoria of the Las Vegas Gladiators' first win, a worn and ill Damon Mason wore the subdued look of the defeated.

The Gladiators had just completed a stirring fourth-quarter comeback against Tampa Bay in front of more than 12,000 fans at the Thomas and Mack Center, but the Las Vegas defensive specialist knew he did not play his best game. Storm wideout Lawrence Samuels beat Mason on a number of important plays, and Mason knew it.

"You're always your own worst critic," Mason said Thursday. "You never want to give up any touchdown passes. There's always room for improvement."

Mason will get his next opportunity just five days after his team's last game, and there will be no shortage of challenges once again when the Gladiators (1-2) visit the New York Dragons (0-3) Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

The short week and the prospect of facing an extremely tough quarterback (Aaron Garcia) create a dangerous situation for Las Vegas. Garcia led the Iowa Barnstormers' offense in 2000, and he helped then-Iowa and current Las Vegas wideout Mike Horacek earn league Offensive Player of the Year honors.

"Aaron's a great player, I've been playing against him since I've been in the league," Mason said.

Experience, skill, whatever -- the Gladiators must do something to keep the opponent off the scoreboard. Las Vegas will attempt to throw some different defensive looks at Garcia, the 2001 AFL Offensive Player of the Year, in the hopes of creating turnovers, as it did with two key fourth-quarter interceptions against Tampa Bay.

"We're going to try to give them different looks and try to throw them off," Mason said. "We're the multiple defense of Arena Football. But regardless of whether you play man or zone coverage, you have to execute."

Executing also means eliminating Las Vegas' season-long Achilles heel of turnovers. The Gladiators rank worst in the league with a minus-6 turnover margin.

The Dragons appear to be the poster child for America's perception of Arena Football: Score-happy, long-tossing offense, and if it is not too much hassle, a little defense now and then.

Unfortunately for the winless Dragons, owning the league's third-rated scoring offense has meant little. But Haege still fears what another dangerous attack will do against a Las Vegas defense giving up 53.7 points per game.

"They could easily be 2-1 or 3-0," Haege said. "They've lost all three close games."

Although just two teams in the league have given up more points than Las Vegas, Haege can take solace for at least one week because New York's sieve is one of them, having permitted an amazing 63.7 points per game through three weeks.

Defense in the AFL, however, is more a matter of execution than it is planning, especially considering the league's restrictive rules.