CLEVELAND — The devil may have gone down to Georgia in search of a soul, but the Cleveland Gladiators are looking for an upset.
The Gladiators (10-7) visit the Georgia Force (10-6) tonight in the quarterfinals of the Arena Football League playoffs.
While most Americans were enjoying a day away from the office to celebrate Independence Day on Friday, the Gladiators were practicing.
“We’re right back in the same boat. We win or we go home,” said Gladiators quarterback Raymond Philyaw. “You put so much work into it just to get there. Then we have the opportunity to come out on top — that’s a good feeling, but we’ve got to have the same hunger to be able to do it again.
“When the season starts, you look at the schedule and to still be playing in July means you’re playing great football. Hopefully, we can keep it going Monday.”
The Force brings a more potent offense to the field than what the Orlando Predators brought to Cleveland last week in the playoff opener. Georgia’s 98 passing touchdowns were fourth in the league during the regular season, and fourth-year quarterback Chris Greisen has a talented group of young receivers.
Greisen has more attempts (584), completions (398) and touchdowns (97) than Philyaw (525, 358, 83). Each has completed 68.2 percent of his passes, while Philyaw has thrown seven fewer interceptions and has a higher quarterback rating.
“They talk about Georgia’s offense with Greisen and the young receivers,” Philyaw said. “We’ve got a high-powered offense as well, but we’ve still got to go out and compete.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge. It’s going to be tough to try to win on the road. I know we can do it. We’ve just got to believe we can do it.”
In its 10 wins, the Force has scored an average of 60.8 points and allowed 47.9. In six losses, the Force has given up an average of 61.5 points and scored 53.3.
“The key is probably going to be the start up front,” said Gladiators defensive back Brandon Hefflin. “If we can get pressure on the QB, force him into some bad passes or something like that, we’ll make plays.
“They’ve got three good receivers getting the job done. He’s got a pretty strong arm. They’ve just been real efficient the last couple games.”
Hefflin knows about defense and getting a good read on quarterbacks. The third-year player and former Toledo Rocket intercepted Orlando quarterback Shane Stafford twice and registered seven tackles en route to being named the AFL’s Defensive Player of the Week.
The Gladiators and Force have 10 common opponents this season: the Gladiators are 9-6 and Georgia 9-4.
“They’re probably one of the two hottest teams in the league right now, them and San Jose,” Gladiators coach Mike Wilpolt said. “They’ve won seven of their last eight games. Offensively, they’re one of the higher-scoring teams in the league.
“They’ve got a quarterback who does a great job getting it into his playmakers’ hands. Defensively, they play more zone. They slow the game down. Our receivers have to make some big plays out of the small, short passes.”
Matt Florjancic is a freelance reporter and sports show host for WOBL and WDLW. Contact him at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. 

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