Gladiators overwhelm Dallas
Set franchise scoring mark in 95-49 victory at Tingley
The there seems to be no stopping the Duke City Gladiators.
On Saturday night at Tingley Coliseum, the Gladiators scored on their first 10 possessions — and three more times on special teams — during a 95-49 Champions Indoor Football victory over the Dallas Marshals (1-3). The announced crowd was 1,060.
The victory was the most lopsided in a league game this season and eclipsed the Gladiators’ high-water scoring mark in their four-year history. In 2015, they totaled 86 in a game at Amarillo, but still lost 89-86.
And despite Saturday’s outcome being long-ago decided by midway in the fourth quarter, there was still plenty of drama left. Would the Gladiators reach the century mark?
Duke City QB Caleb Holbrook said that was the team’s aim.
“There was talk about it,” he said. “We definitely wanted to get to a hundred. We should have, but I’ll take that (95 points). From the start we kind of had some bad blood with them, so we wanted to run it up and prove that we’re one of the best teams in the league, and that’s why we did it.”
The game got off to a wild start with three TDs in the first 1:51, including back-toback 50-yard kickoff returns by Dallas’ Clifton Rhodes and Duke City’s Dello Davis, who added another 50-yard return late in the quarter. That last TD was followed less than three minutes later by another Gladiators score when DE Matt Moss blocked a Brad Dunavant FG attempt. The ball was picked up by DB Jayson Serda for a 5-yard TD with 53 seconds left in the first quarter.
But it was in the second half that the offense dominated.
“At halftime, we just made adjustments,” Holbrook said. “It was about time we had one of those games. We’ve been having problems finishing in the third quarter. So that was our emphasis all week.”
Holbrook, who also had two rushing touchdowns, had three of his six scoring throws in the game in the third quarter, in which Duke City outscored Dallas 21-0.
Three of his six TD passes went to Sedric Johnson, with Davis, Antonio Bray and Warren Oliver having one each.
On the ground, Bray led the way with 74 yards on seven carries, good for two TDs. One came on a 29-yard burst.
NEXT WEEK: Saturday’s home game against archrival Amarillo should be Duke City’s sternest test yet. The Venom also is undefeated (2-0), pending its late game Saturday against Wichita.
Last year the Venom won four of five meetings with the Gladiators, including a 70-41 first-round playoff game in the Panhandle.
LONG RIDE HOME: The Marshals began their 10-hour bus ride home after the game, expecting to reach the Metroplex at about midmorning today. Only a brief visit to a truck stop midway will interrupt the journey.
UPCOMING: After the Gladiators play Amarillo, they will play host to the Texas Revolution on April 14 in their fourth consecutive Saturday night home game.
They won’t return home until May 26 when the Venom will be in town again. In between they’ll have four road games wrapped around an off week.