Gladiators need win against old playoff foe

Adam Candee

Friday, March 12, 2004 | 10:20 a.m.

Sunday, 3 p.m., Thomas & Mack Center TV: None. Radio: ESPN 920-AM

The last time that the Arizona Rattlers stood across the field from the Gladiators, they were efficiently dismantling Las Vegas in a 69-26 opening round playoff thrashing last season.

When the Rattlers visit the Thomas & Mack Center on Sunday afternoon, the stakes will feel nearly as high for the Gladiators. Stuck at 2-3 after a flat loss last week at Georgia, Las Vegas would fade to the back of the playoff race if it cannot get its first win in franchise history against Arizona (3-2).

"To go 2-and-4, we'd be chasing our tail the rest of the year," Gladiators coach Frank Haege said. "We get a win and even things back up, we'll be right back in the thick of the race. It's not a must-win, but it's a need-to-win game."

Las Vegas quarterback Clint Dolezel did Haege one better, comparing Sunday's game to the Gladiators' first dire straits situation of the year.

"We're kind of treating this as when we went to Grand Rapids," Dolezel said. "We were 0-and-2 and it was pretty much a must-win. This is too."

In the Arena Football League's revamped playoff format, no team can afford a slow start. The top eight teams in the league qualify for the postseason, regardless of division or conference. Division champions do not receive automatic berths, as they did last season when 12 teams made the playoffs. Eleven teams have better records than Las Vegas going into this week, although a handful has played only four games.

Just as they did last week without offensive specialist Terrill Shaw (strained gluteus, out at least six weeks), the Gladiators will be adjusting on the fly without a top player. This time, it is defensive specialist and kick returner T.J. Hill, one of Las Vegas' top players. Hill suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the loss to Georgia.

Chameion Sutton, a rookie from UNLV signed from the practice squad just last week, will take over for Hill at defensive specialist. He will be baptized by fire against one of the league's most experienced offenses, led by quarterback Sherdrick Bonner and receivers Randy Gatewood and Siaha Burley.

"We're going to put them in situations to make plays," Gladiators defensive specialist Marvin Taylor said. "Just go out there and just react. You know the system -- just react. Don't get caught up with thinking too much about being in the right place."

Sutton and fellow rookie defensive back Jeremy Unertl are both likely targets for Arizona.

"'You're in a learning situation where they're going to come at you," Taylor said. "They came at me when I came in when I first started a game in 2001. They're going to test you. How well you handle that is going to determine how well they keep picking on you."

Offensively, Las Vegas stagnated last week as it turned the ball over four times, three of them on interceptions of Dolezel. The Gladiators are adjusting their schemes to make up for the deep threat lost with Shaw.

"I think Cornelius Bonner will take up a lot of that slack," Haege said. "We're going to have to use him a little bit differently. He's going to stretch the field some more and allow Marcus Nash to do some of the underneath stuff he's good at."

Arizona is having no trouble on offense, increasing its output in each of the last four games. The Rattlers have won three straight games.

"They're not going to make a lot of mistakes," Taylor said. "They're going to execute, period. We have to smart enough to figure out what they're trying to do and just play off that. It's just like basketball -- you go down, they score, you score. It's just the name of the game."