Las Vegas maintains lofty goals for season

Friday, April 7, 2006 | 7:14 a.m.

The goals set by the Las Vegas Gladiators in training camp haven't changed - not even after a near-disastrous 1-4 start.

But now that the team has won four of its last five games and is tied for first place in its division, those goals have come into sharper focus.

"To win a division championship, to make the playoffs and to give the Las Vegas fans a home playoff game," head coach Ron James said, ticking off the team's ambitions. "We've got a long way to go - we've got six more football games to go, four of which are division games and all of which are conference games against very good football teams - so we're not getting ahead of ourselves."

Although the makeup of his team has changed since the Gladiators opened the season, James said he still believes his squad is capable of making a run at the division title and into the postseason.

"As individuals, we have talent out there for sure, but I think player to player, leaguewide, we're not the most talented team," James said as he prepared his team for Sunday's noon kickoff against Nashville at the Thomas & Mack Center. "But if we play together, we can be the most effective.

"This team will be as good as we let ourselves be. It sounds kind of trite but, really ... we're not relying on one person."

That was never more evident than in last Sunday's 63-49 victory against division rival Los Angeles, in which the Gladiators' leading receiver, Marcus Nash, did not have a touchdown reception.

"He's one of the premier players in the league and he didn't score," James said of Nash, who had seven receptions for 99 yards. "Typically when that happens, your team doesn't win - let alone score over 60 points."

Instead, receivers Joe Douglass, Aleric Clark and Coco Blalock picked up the slack with a combined five touchdown receptions on 11 catches.

No apologies

James said he hasn't had second thoughts about what some Gladiators fans viewed as a questionable call Sunday to attempt an onside kick while leading by 19 points early in the third quarter. Los Angeles recovered the kick and scored two plays later.

"One of the things that we've been trying to preach all season long is that when you get (a lead), you don't play conservative; you go after it and try to make plays," James said.

"If we had executed properly, no doubt we would have recovered and gone in to score and extended the lead even further. The fact that you didn't leads to second-guessing, but it's never led to second-guessing in our locker room."

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