Tuesday, March 8, 2005 | 9:04 a.m.
Gladiators quarterback Clint Dolezel is one procedural hurdle from coming back to the lineup and coach Ron James is eager to see him.
"Quite honestly, we need it," James said Monday.
While his star quarterback readied for a return, James cleared a different kind of hurdle Monday, admitting a key mistake in the waning moments of Friday night's 42-41 loss to Austin at the Thomas & Mack Center.
James suffered through the stormiest few days of his short tenure as head coach this weekend after his decision not to go for a two-point conversion on the Gladiators' final touchdown with 1:48 to play allowed the Wranglers to win -- instead of just tie -- with a scoring pass at the buzzer.
James admitted fault, saying he would choose differently given the same circumstances in the future.
"At the end of the game, it should not have ever come down to the last play," James said. "At the end, I've got to do a better job of getting the team in position to push the overtime issue. Squarely, that's going for two. In hindsight, that would have been the perfect decision. It's a mistake that I'm going to have to live with."
After the game, James said he intended to call a timeout once his team lined up for the extra point try and ran down more time. Interviews with his players, though, revelead that they were unaware of that plan and went ahead with the kick while James could not get the officials' attention to call the timeout. The extra point try by Mark Lewis missed to leave Las Vegas ahead by five points.
Gladiators owner Jim Ferraro criticized the decision outside the locker room and most players tiptoed around questions about James' call. The loss dropped Las Vegas out of first place in the Western Division and evened their record without Dolezel at 2-2. Backup quarterbacks Craig Whelihan and Rod Robinson both split a pair of games in Dolezel's absence.
Dolezel went in Monday for a final medical check of his broken right middle finger and he expects to take the field Saturday at Columbus as Las Vegas (3-3) begins a stretch of five out of seven games on the road.
"I expect (Clint) to play, but the final word from the doctor hasn't been given yet," James said.
The Gladiators also expect starting lineman Steve Konopka back this week after he missed almost a month with an adductor strain. Cornerback T.J. Hill, out for the past year after tearing his ACL early last season at Georgia, could finally be ready to come back as well.
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