Records for Dolezel, Nash trumped by team’s mistakes

Adam Candee

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | 9:05 a.m.

They filled notebooks and tape recorders with talk of pride and resilience, the immeasurable qualities they feel brought them back from a 28-point deficit against the defending league champion.

Unfortunately for the Gladiators, wins remain the only measure the Arena Football League is interested in knowing about teams wanting a playoff berth. And they didn't get one of those Monday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, losing a wild one to San Jose, 81-75, in a pivotal game in the postseason chase.

"Most teams, if they would have gotten down 28 points against a good team like San Jose, would have put it in the tank," Gladiators coach Ron James said. "We answered the challenge. We came back and fought back and had a chance to win the game."

Tying the game after trailing 55-27 midway through the third quarter is an amazing feat, as is Gladiators quarterback Clint Dolezel matching an AFL single-game record with 11 touchdown passes and offensive specialist Marcus Nash breaking his own team mark with 215 receiving yards.

As Nash points out, however, that's all tasty frosting on a rotten fruitcake because the Gladiators (5-4) fell out of the Western Division lead and must head Sunday to surging Colorado (6-2) -- winners of five consecutive games -- in a contest they suddenly need to win to avoid falling behind in the American Conference playoff race.

"A loss is a loss," Nash said. "No matter how we were able to come back or not, we still lost the game and that's what it comes down to. Close doesn't count. We have to come through with a win."

Failing to do that allowed Los Angeles (6-3) to take sole possession of the division lead and dropped the Gladiators into a tie in the loss column with Chicago (4-4) for the final playoff spot in the conference. The win also gives San Jose the tiebreaker over the Gladiatorsby way of a season sweep.

"We'd like to have this one, no doubt, but it's not going to make or break us," Dolezel said.

All the familiar hallmarks of the Gladiators' mediocrity during their time in Las Vegas popped up Monday to undercut some excellent play. Four turnovers, nine penalties and three special teams miscues hurt Las Vegas as it failed to go three games over .500 for the first time since moving here in 2003.

After tying the game at 68 with 1:44 to play, kicker Mark Lewis continued his season-long struggles in the late part of the game by missing the extra point try wide right, his second miss of the game. San Jose scored with 57 seconds remaining to take a 75-68 lead, then attempted an onside kick that Las Vegas center Lucas Yarnell caught and dropped, allowing the SaberCats to recover and tack on a touchdown to put the game out of reach.

Dolezel seemed frustrated but unconcerned, focusing on the silver lining of the comeback and his own resurgence after missing five weeks with a broken finger. In three games since returning to the lineup, Dolezel has thrown 25 touchdowns.

"We'll definitely grow stronger from this loss," Dolezel said.

Dolezel finished 30-of-55 for 395 yards, with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. Nash caught 14 passes for 215 yards and six touchdowns.

Like most of the Gladiators, Nash mixed in some poor play with his brilliance. He fumbled with no defenders near him early in the third quarter to set up the touchdown that put San Jose ahead by 28 points with 8:15 left in the period.

That marked the low point for the Gladiators, who were loudly booed by the home crowd of 9,277 after their fourth turnover of the game. Dolezel began the comeback four minutes later with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Coco Blalock and the Gladiators defense finally came alive after a terrible start, forcing two turnovers while the special teams recovered an onside kick in a span of less than seven minutes.

When Dolezel hit Nash with an 11-yard scoring strike with 10:44 to play, Las Vegas won back the crowd by tying the game at 55. The Gladiators used less than nine minutes to implausibly get back into the game.

"We did a great job in regaining our composure in fighting hard and fighting back and never giving up," Nash said.

The problems began when the Gladiators mangled the final minute of the first half, turning a potential tying drive into the onset of a huge problem. Trailing 27-20, Las Vegas recovered an onside kick with 55 seconds left in the half, but Dolezel promptly threw an interception that San Jose's Tremain Mack returned 18 yards for a touchdown.

The Gladiators got the ball back with another chance to close the half with a score, but receiver Joe Douglass had an easy touchdown pass bounce off his helmet and into Mack's arms with 23 seconds remaining. The SaberCats' Rashied Davis punched in one of his seven touchdowns with a 1-yard run to put San Jose ahead by 21 points at halftime.

Davis torched the Gladiators, catching 10 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns, running for three more scores and returning a kickoff 53 yards for a touchdown after Las Vegas tied the game at 55. Davis compiled 302 of San Jose's 467 total yards.