SB Nation Cleveland - Cleveland Gladiators' Season Ends In 50-41 Loss In Playoff Game To Georgia Forcehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48841/cleveland-fave.png2011-07-31T18:49:00-05:00http://cleveland.sbnation.com/rss/stream/20425792011-07-31T18:49:00-05:002011-07-31T18:49:00-05:00Georgia Force Defeats Gladiators 50-41, Ending Cleveland's Season
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<p>The Cleveland Gladiators' Arena Football League season came to an end on Sunday afternoon at the Q when the Georgia Force prevailed 50-41 in a first-round playoff game.</p>
<p>A 26-0 run by the Force pretty much wrapped this one up, taking Georgia from a 21-14 deficit to a 40-21 lead. Georgia was able to fend off any Gladiators' hopes with a last-minute touchdown to go up 50-34 and effectively end Cleveland's chances.</p>
<p>Quarterback John Dutton saw his first action since Week Two and came on to lead the Gladiators to three consecutive scoring drives in relief, but the Force were also able to keep scoring to keep Georgia safely ahead.</p>
<p>The Gladiators' season ends with a mark of 10-9, and a division championship, but unfortunately, no shot at the brass ring.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.arenafootball.com/news/georgia-advances-american-conference-finals">Go here for a complete recap</a> of this afternoon's game.</p>
https://cleveland.sbnation.com/cleveland-browns/2011/7/31/2308174/georgia-force-defeats-gladiators-50-41-ending-clevelands-seasonAncientMariner2011-07-28T10:15:07-05:002011-07-28T10:15:07-05:00Arena Football League Playoffs Kick Off This Week; Gladiators Face Georgia Sunday At The Q
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<p>The Cleveland Gladiators will kick off their hopefully-long playoff run this Sunday at 3 p.m at the Q when they take on the Georgia Force.</p>
<p>The Arena Football League has an eight-team playoff field, meaning two weeks of elimination games leading up to Arena Bowl on August 12.</p>
<p>The Force actually finished with a better record than the Gladiators, coming in at 11-7 as opposed to Cleveland’s 10-8, but since the Gladiators won the American Conference East while Georgia finished second in and AC South, Cleveland gets the home-field advantage.</p>
<p>The Gladiators own a victory over the Force this season, having won 62-48 on June 11 in Cleveland.</p>
<p>Georgia racked up 1007 points this season and surrendered 931, while Cleveland scored only 904, but gave up only 842.</p>
<p>In the other American Conference match-up this weekend, Jacksonville takes on Orlando. The winner of that game plays the winner of Cleveland-Georgia.</p>
<p>In the National Conference, Arizona faces Spokane this week while Chicago takes on Dallas.</p>
<p>Georgia was 6th in the <span class="caps">AFL</span> in passing and is led by quarterback Brett Elliott, who tossed 90 TD’s this year, while the Gladiators were 13th in the aerial attack and were led by Kurt Rocco’s 72 scoring tosses.</p>
https://cleveland.sbnation.com/cleveland-browns/2011/7/28/2300355/arena-football-update-7-28-arena-football-league-playoffs-kick-off-this-week-gladiators-faceAncientMariner2011-07-16T02:21:17-05:002011-07-16T02:21:17-05:00Cleveland Gladiators Division Champs After 67-55 Win Over Pittsburgh Power
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<p>A Cleveland football team beat a team from Pittsburgh to clinch a Division Championship on Friday night. While we all know it wasn;t the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.dawgsbynature.com/">Cleveland Browns</a> - the NFL is still at a labor impasse, though it appears the owners and players are on the cusp of a deal - those words still sound pretty sweet to Cleveland sports fans.</p>
<p>I'm talking, of course, of the Cleveland Galdiators, who clinched the American East Division in the Arena Football League with a 67-55 win over the Pittsburgh Power down at The Q. The Gladiators will enter the AFL Playoffs as the #2 seed in the American Conference and have guaranteed themselves of a home playoff game in the process.</p>
<p>Quarterback Kurt Rocco, who played his college ball at Mount Union, was 25-35 for 297 yards and eight touchdowns - yes, I said EIGHT TOUCHDOWNS - as the Gladiators broke open a tight game by scoring the first 20 points of the 4th quarter.</p>
<p>"We're all excited to be going to the playoffs, but we've still got work to do," Rocco said.</p>
<p>While you can't confuse the AFL for the NFL, there is plenty of NFL star power involved in both teams. The Gladiators have Browns Legend Bernie Kosar as a consultant for the team while the Power are partly owned by 4-time Super Bowl Champion, and Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann.</p>
<p>In a back and forth game that is synonymous with the Arena League's fast-tempo style, the Power led 48-47 entering the 4th quarter. The Gladiators scored the next 20 points, however, scoring touchdowns on three straight possessions while taking advantage of two Power turnovers.</p>
https://cleveland.sbnation.com/2011/7/16/2337972/cleveland-gladiators-division-champs-after-67-55-win-over-pittsburghJohn Bena