Gladiators put Soul on the line in Philly

Adam Candee

Friday, May 7, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

Las Vegas Gladiators (5-7) at Philadelphia Soul (5-7)

Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Wachovia Center

Radio: ESPN 920-AM

Clint Dolezel will be the first to offer that all eight of his interceptions have come on the road. And he knows well that the Gladiators have won just once in six tries away from home.

This time, though, the stars are aligned about as well as they can be for Las Vegas to reach the halfway point of its six-game drive to the playoffs. Coming off wins against Detroit and Indiana, the Gladiators travel Saturday to Philadelphia to face a struggling Soul outfit.

"They're in that little funk that we were in for four games right now," Dolezel, the Gladiators quarterback, said. "It's very easy when you're in that to get down early and just say, here we go again."

Philadelphia (5-7) and Las Vegas (5-7) are both two games out of the eighth and final playoff spot, with the loser of this game likely falling out of postseason contention. And for the Gladiators, the pressure of staying in the hunt is compounded by the team's season-long road struggles.

Las Vegas has won just once in six tries away from home, and even that victory came over lowly Grand Rapids. All eight of Dolezel's interceptions have occurred away from the Thomas & Mack Center -- as the quarterback will be the first to say. An explanation of the troubles, though, is harder to find.

"We've had a tough go of it on the road," Gladiators coach Frank Haege said.

The Gladiators' five road losses have been by an average of 13.4 points, with only their season-opening heartbreaker at Colorado (43-42) coming by less than 15 points. They have lost each of their past three road games by 17 points.

"We've played decent," Dolezel said. "We haven't gotten a lot of breaks on the road."

The same goes for the Soul, which shares the league-worst road mark of 1-5 with Las Vegas and Grand Rapids. For Philadelphia, though, last week's 58-40 defeat at Colorado is the only time it has lost by more than a touchdown on the road.

At home, though, Philadelphia is a much tougher opponent. Co-owned by rock star Jon Bon Jovi, the expansion Soul is drawing excellent crowds, selling out 17,597 seats at Wachovia Center in each of its last four home games.

The Gladiators, who blared Bon Jovi music at Thursday's practice to simulate arena noise, understand that the cozy environment could quickly snap Philadelphia from its malaise -- much as two straight home games did for them.

"It's nice to have the two wins behind us," Haege said. "We've got us a little confidence, think we've got a little momentum. But that doesn't mean anything if we don't show up out there. It's a long trip and it's going to be a full house, so it's definitely going to be a challenge."

Boosting the Gladiators' hopes is the return of receiver Terrill Shaw, who has not played since February 29, from a strained gluteus. Shaw, who came from Grand Rapids along with Dolezel in the offseason, was supposed to be the Gladiators' deep threat to complement the big possession target of Marcus Nash.

Haege said that Nash, who has developed the same kind of chemistry with Dolezel that Shaw once enjoyed, will remain as the Gladiators' offensive specialist while Shaw plays some at wideout and some at linebacker.

"We're not going to count on him," Haege said. "We're going to count on Marcus Nash and let Terrill Shaw be a bonus."

Still, Dolezel does not mind getting back the receiver who teamed with him -- and current Soul head coach Mike Trigg -- to win an ArenaBowl with the Rampage in 2001.

"An 80 percent Terrill is pretty good," Dolezel said. "There's a lot of guys in this league and a lot of teams that would take that."