GLADIATORS EYEING PLAYOFF SPOT
Duke City head coach Dominic Bramante can lead his team to the postseason with a victory today.
It will be all or nothing for the Duke City Gladiators when they play host to the Dodge City Law tonight in a Champions Indoor Football league game at Tingley Coliseum.
The Gladiators (6-5), who made a startling leap into playoff contention with victories over the powerhouse Texas Revolution and Amarillo Venom the past two weeks, will earn their first playoff berth if they beat the Law no matter what goes on elsewhere thanks to tiebreaker advantages. A loss would oust the Gladiators.
“This is the most important game in the three years of this franchise,” coach Dominic Bramante said Friday. “If you would have told me before the season we’d be playing our final game of the season at home and controlling our destiny to get in the playoffs, I‘d have taken it.”
On Friday, the Gladiators got an even bigger bounce in their step, albeit at the expense of Dodge City, when CIF commissioner Ricky Bertz announced that sanctions were levied against the Kansas franchise for not adhering to the league guidelines that pertain to uploading game video in a timely manner. The Law was docked two wins, which cost it the No. 1 seed in the division and puts it at 7-4 and behind the new No. 1 seed, Amarillo. The records of other teams weren’t affected.
Said Gladiators majority owner John Lopez in an email: “I am proud of how swiftly, us as a professional league, acted on upholding the integrity of the league.”
All of which means that the Gladiators will now have an opportunity to earn the third seed with a victory instead of only the fourth. What’s also got to happen is that Dallas has to lose at Omaha tonight.
“That would be huge!” Bramante said of possibly earning a third seed. “At No. 3, if we win our first-round game (next week at Texas), and if Amarillo loses its game, we would get a home game in the next round.”
The last time the Gladiators and Law met, on May 13 in Dodge City, the Law won on a kickoff return TD with 10 seconds left, 64-62.
“I just now got the film from that game,” a semi-miffed Bramante said. “But without a doubt, that was the toughest loss of the season. It still hurts.” As does the opener at Dodge City, which the Law won over the Gladiators 59-52 with a last-minute score.
Last week, the home field came in handy when Duke City beat Amarillo 69-46. The Gladiators lost their three previous games against the Venom by a combined six points.
“The crowd was great,” Bramante said. “The noise for that game was phenomenal — you couldn’t hear yourself think.”
HONORS: Duke City’s Antonio Bray was named the CIF Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance last week against Amarillo. He had five kickoff returns for 120 yards, including a 50-yard score.