CLEVELAND — The Arena Football League playoffs made their debut in Cleveland on Monday night and it was well worth the wait for the Gladiators and the 13,896 fans that packed Quicken Loans Arena.
In the first-ever AFL postseason game in Cleveland and the first playoff appearance by a Cleveland AFL team since 1992, the fourth-seeded Gladiators held off the fifth-seeded Orlando Predators 69-66 in a National Conference wild-card game.
The victory was revenge of sorts for Cleveland, which, as the Thunderbolts, was drubbed by Orlando (50-12) in the only other postseason appearance by a Cleveland arena team 17 years ago.
The Gladiators advance to face the second-seeded Georgia Force on the road Monday at 8 p.m. (ESPN2), while the perennial arena power Predators bow out after reaching the postseason for the 17th straight time — equaling the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings for the most consecutive playoff berths in sports.
“This was special, with this being the first one in Cleveland,” said Gladiators coach Mike Wilpolt, who led the team to a 4-12 finish last year in Las Vegas. “We played for 60 minutes tonight. We had some mistakes, but we forced them to make some mistakes, too.”
Cleveland quarterback Raymond Philyaw’s eighth touchdown pass of the night — a 15-yard strike to Randy Hymes with 6:49 to play — provided the game-winning score, with both teams adding a touchdown apiece before Cleveland recovered an onside kick and ran the clock out for the win.
Hymes’ TD came after the final and most costly of the Predators’ mistakes.
With Orlando driving for the go-ahead score, receiver T.T. Tolliver caught a pass from Shane Stafford but coughed up the ball without being hit as he went down and Cleveland recovered at its own 4-yard line.
The Gladiators capitalized on the miscue, scoring a little more than three minutes later to go up 69-60 on a 9-yard run from Willis Marshall.
Tolliver’s fumble was the fourth turnover for the Predators, who also missed three extra points.
“You get what you deserve in football,” said Orlando coach Jay Gruden, the older brother of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John Gruden.
Both teams finished the regular season with 9-7 records, Cleveland winning the head-to-head matchup 62-43 at home. In the early stages of Monday’s opening half, it didn’t look as though the Gladiators would produce the same result.
But while Orlando’s offense controlled the majority of the game’s first 30 minutes and led by as many 12 points, it was the Gladiators that got hot at the right time.
Trailing 33-24 with 1:20 left before intermission, Cleveland scored 10 unanswered points to take its first lead, 34-33, on a 27-yard field goal from Jason Ball with no time left on the clock.
“Going in at halftime with the lead was kind of surprising, because we didn’t play very well,” Wilpolt said. “We got the momentum going our way at the end.”  
The Gladiators maintained the momentum in the second half, scoring their 17th unanswered point to lead 41-33 when Philyaw connected with Robert Redd from 26 yards out for the first points after intermission at 13:16.
Philyaw threw for the second-most yardage (436) in AFL playoff history to move past NFL great Kurt Warner, completing 29 of 48 attempts with one interception.
Stafford matched Philyaw’s TD output, but was intercepted twice, completing 30 of 42 passes for 376 yards.
With the first Cleveland AFL victory secured, the Gladiators are looking for more next week.
“We just got on the rollercoaster,” said defensive lineman Karon Riley. “We had to stand in that long line. I think we’ve still got some clicks left in us.”
Noteworthy
The AFL is employing instant replay in the postseason for the first time, using it to uphold a first-quarter fumble recovery for Orlando and a fourth-quarter fumble recovery for Cleveland.
(bullet) Browns safety Brodney Pool flipped the opening-coin toss, wearing a Gladiators jersey. The toss went to the Gladiators.
(bullet) Gladiators owner Jim Ferraro and team president Bernie Kosar addressed the crowd at midfield prior to the opening kickoff.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
                 1    2    3    4    —    F
Orlando        20    13    20    16        66    
Cleveland        14    20    14    21        69    
First quarter
ORLANDO 7, CLEVELAND 0: Chas Gessner 10 rec from Shane Stafford Matt Kohn (Dan Frantz kick), 13:10.
CLEVELAND 7, ORLANDO 7: Robert Redd 25 rec from Raymond Philyaw (Jason Ball kick), 11:28.
ORLANDO 14, CLEVELAND 7: Gessner 26 rec from Shane Stafford (Frantz kick), 7:51.
CLEVELAND 14, ORLANDO 14: Willis Marshall 15 rec from Philyaw (Ball kick), 4:29.
ORLANDO 20, CLEVELAND 14: T.T. Tolliver 55 kick return (kick failed), 3:35.
Second quarter
ORLANDO 26, CLEVELAND 14: Gessner 4 rec from Stafford (kick failed), 11:55.
ORLANDO 26, CLEVELAND 21: Randy Hymes 29 rec from Philyaw (Ball kick), 7:14.
ORLANDO 26, CLEVELAND 24: Ball 23 fg, 2:41.
ORLANDO 33, CLEVELAND 24: Odie Armstrong 31 rec from Stafford (Frantz kick), 1:20.
ORLANDO 33, CLEVELAND 30: Redd 29 rec from Philyaw (Ball kick), 0:38.
CLEVELAND 34, ORLANDO 33: Ball 27 fg, 0:00.
Third quarter
CLEVELAND 41, ORLANDO 33: Redd 26 rec from Philyaw (Ball kick), 13:16.
CLEVELAND 41, ORLANDO 39: Tolliver 24 rec from Stafford (kick failed), 12:32.
CLEVELAND 48, ORLANDO 39: Hymes 14 rec from Philyaw (Ball kick), 9:19.
CLEVELAND 48, ORLANDO 46: Tolliver 25 rec from Stafford (Frantz kick), 7:05.
ORLANDO 53, CLEVELAND 48: Tolliver 29 rec from Stafford (Frantz kick), 2:30.
Fourth quarter
CLEVELAND 55, ORLANDO 53: Redd 29 rec from Philyaw (Ball kick), 13:59.
ORLANDO 60, CLEVELAND 55: Stafford 6 run (Frantz kick), 9:33.
CLEVELAND 62, ORLANDO 60: Hymes 15 rec from Philyaw (Ball kick), 6:49.
CLEVELAND 69, ORLANDO 60: Marshall 9 run (Ball kick), 0:52.
CLEVELAND 69, ORLANDO 66: Tolliver 3 rec from Stafford (pass failed), 0:31.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING: (Cle) Philyaw 29-48-436-8-1; (Orl) Stafford 30-42-376-8-2.
RUSHING: (Cle) Marlion Jackson 5-12, Marshall 1-8; (Orl) Stafford 2-12, Armstrong 1-2, Kevin Nickerson 1-(-2).
RECEVING: (Cle) Redd 14-204, Amey 7-119, Marshall 4-39, Hymes 3-58, Jackson 1-16; (Orl) Gessner 12-101, Tolliver 11-185, Nickerson 5-56, Armstrong 2-34.     

NEXT UP

WHAT: AFL playoffs, Southern Division final
WHO: Cleveland at Georgia
WHEN: Monday, 8 p.m.
WHERE: The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Atlanta
TV/RADIO: ESPN2; WKNR 850-AM
 

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