Vengeance for Las Vegas

Adam Candee

Monday, Jan. 31, 2005 | 9:50 a.m.

If they go on to a great season, then this one might look like the springboard for the Las Vegas Gladiators.

For now, it looks like Speedo trunks on the old hairy guy at the pool - enough to get the job done, but a pretty ugly sight otherwise.

The Gladiators won their season opener without their best effort Sunday, getting past Los Angeles with strong showings on defense and special teams in a 46-37 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center. It's an encouraging sign for a team that found ways to lose in the first half of last season, but instead made a handful of big plays in coming from behind in the fourth quarter.

"You never begrudge a win," Gladiators head coach Ron James said. "No matter how sloppy, a win's a win."

Las Vegas (1-0) committed three turnovers, had touchdowns called back on three of its 12 penalties and went more than 20 minutes spanning three quarters without a touchdown. Last year's 8-8 squad turned such unattractive statistics into losses, including a fourth-quarter comeback win by the Avengers in Las Vegas precipitated by a late onside kick recovery and go-ahead score.

That's exactly what the Gladiators did to Los Angeles (0-1) on Sunday.

Trailing 31-26 entering the fourth quarter, Las Vegas quickly scored to take the lead on one of Frank Carter's three touchdown runs. The Gladiators then went for a surprise onside kick that new kicker Mark Lewis executed perfectly after botching one earlier in the game.

"We knew that, at that point, would be a total surprise," James said.

Las Vegas recovered it, then scored on a 12-yard pass from Clint Dolezel to Junior Lord to take a 40-31 lead with 10:56 to play. Dolezel, who briefly went down with bruised ribs and also banged his throwing hand on a helmet, had a decent day with 251 yards on 18-of-30 passing, with three scores and two interceptions.

Lewis put the following kickoff high off the goal post, bouncing it back into play where Carter leapt over the pile to grab the loose ball. The consecutive special teams plays turned the momentum to the Gladiators.

After the teams traded turnovers on three consecutive possessions, Los Angeles pulled within three points on Greg Hopkins' 5-yard touchdown pass from John Kaleo with 2:20 left. The Avengers, though, inexplicably went for a two-point conversion that failed, then sent their onside kick try out of bounds.

"We had some stuff go our way," Dolezel said. "That has a lot to do with bringing some veterans in here."

Those veterans made a huge impact on defense. Defensive back Dameon Porter recorded 3 1/2 tackles and also had an interception that helped Las Vegas to an early 14-0 lead, while lineman Wilky Bazile had a sack of Kaleo. The Gladiators constantly pressured Kaleo in the pocket, never allowing the veteran quarterback to become comfortable and forcing some poor throws.

Kaleo finished 19-of-34 for 195 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions.

Porter, a former league two-way player of the year signed as a free agent in the offseason, wants the defense to set the tone for the Gladiators.

"That's going to be the case for us all year," Porter said. "Clint and Marcus (Nash) are going to get it done. If we play half as well as we did today, we'll be (all right)."

Las Vegas won for the first time in four tries against the Avengers, a team that tortured the Gladiators in big games during the past two years. That was not lost on James, who coached on those Vegas teams.

"Turnabout's always fair play," James said.

Most importantly for the Gladiators, they finished in the fourth quarter, helping to put the last-second nightmares of a year ago to rest. Last year's season opener featured Las Vegas allowing two touchdowns in the final 12 seconds to lose at Colorado.

"We were not going to let it happen," Carter said. "We were not going to let a letdown."

Even Porter, a newcomer, understood the importance to a large group of returning players of avoiding the kind of disastrous start to the season the doomed the team in 2004.

"We talked about it all of camp, making sure that's going to be the difference for this ballclub," Porter said.