Written by Adrian Beecher
ORLANDO- For the second week in a row Orlando fell in overtime due to a failed 2-point conversion, this time it came at the hands of Cleveland, 56-55 . Randy Hippeard provided another solid performance for Orlando completing 27 of 36 passes for 350 yards and 7 touchdown passes and led his team down the field for an answering score in overtime.
On the opening drive of the game, QB Shane Austin was able to find Amarri Jackson on a 20-yard touchdown pass that opened up the scoring on the night. Orlando wasted little time, answering the Gladiators score on their opening possession as Randy Hippeard connected with LaMark Brown for a 4-yard touchdown pass that tied up the game at 7 with 7:44 left to play in the 1st quarter.
Shane Austin finished the first quarter completing 7 of 9 passes for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns on both of the Gladiators opening drives. With Orlando trailing 13-7 as the 1st quarter was drawing to a close, Preds QB Hippeard found Michael Simons on a 22-yard screenplay to the right side. That setup Orlando with a 1st and 10 at the Cleveland 11 yard line as the 1st quarter came to an end.
Hippeard would finish off the drive in the 2nd quarter with a quick strike to Larry Brackins on a 4-yard touchdown pass, this gave Orlando their first lead of the game at 14-13. The scoring trend continued with the Gladiators answering back, with the help of 3 major defensive penalties on Orlando to set the Gladiators in prime field position.
Both teams lit up the scoreboard on each of their first 4 possessions in the first half and Orlando was leading 28-27 with 41 seconds left in the 1st half. As the Gladiators took over they looked poised to take the lead or at least score before the half. The Preds had other plans though as Orlando DB Emanuel Cook intercepted Austin’s pass to deny Cleveland of a score for the first time on the night. This took us to the half with Orlando leading.
Hippeard finished the first half for Orlando completing 14 of 17 passes for 169 yards and 3 passing TD’s. Cleveland’s Shane Austin finished the first half completing 12 of 16 passes for 160 yards and 4 TD passes.
As the 2nd half got underway, Orlando wasted little time finding the end zone with Hippeard connecting with Brandon Thompkins to make it 35-27 with 11:33 left in the 3rd quarter. Cleveland answered right back as Shane Austin found Dominic Goodman on an 18 yard touchdown pass to draw the Gladiators within 1.
Orlando continued to pour on the pressure as Larry Brackins found the back of the end zone for the 2nd time of the night to make it 42-34 Orlando. Again the Gladiators answered with a score of their own cutting the lead to just 1 again just before the start of the 4th quarter.
In the fourth quarter Orlando did all they could to hold onto their 8-point lead after scoring with 13: 02 left to play in regulation. And they did a stellar job until the final seconds of the 4th quarter. With just 2 seconds left in the clock, Shane Austin connected with Colin Taylor in the end zone for 6 and then again with Amarri Jackson for the 2-point conversion. This tied the game up with and sent the game into overtime.
Unfortunately for Orlando the result was the same as week 5’s loss. After answering the Gladiators opening overtime scoring drive with a touchdown of their own, Orlando was faced with a decision to go for two or kick the PAT. Last week the choice was to go for two and they came up short. This week Head Coach Rob Keefe made the same call and much to his disappointment the play ended in the same result, a 1-point Predators loss.
Coach Keefe spoke about his decision postgame. “We’re gonna go for two, if we didn’t go for two and we just kicked an extra point it would have gone to sudden death. Obviously they got the ball first, first person to score wins. That’s why you go for two.”
The loss puts Orlando at 3-3 on the season and costs them their lead in the South Division after Tampa defeated Jacksonville Saturday to improve to 3-3 as well. The Predators will now head to the city of brotherly love to face the 6-0 Philadelphia Soul next Friday with a 7:30 pm scheduled kickoff.
On the opening drive of the game, QB Shane Austin was able to find Amarri Jackson on a 20-yard touchdown pass that opened up the scoring on the night. Orlando wasted little time, answering the Gladiators score on their opening possession as Randy Hippeard connected with LaMark Brown for a 4-yard touchdown pass that tied up the game at 7 with 7:44 left to play in the 1st quarter.
Shane Austin finished the first quarter completing 7 of 9 passes for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns on both of the Gladiators opening drives. With Orlando trailing 13-7 as the 1st quarter was drawing to a close, Preds QB Hippeard found Michael Simons on a 22-yard screenplay to the right side. That setup Orlando with a 1st and 10 at the Cleveland 11 yard line as the 1st quarter came to an end.
Hippeard would finish off the drive in the 2nd quarter with a quick strike to Larry Brackins on a 4-yard touchdown pass, this gave Orlando their first lead of the game at 14-13. The scoring trend continued with the Gladiators answering back, with the help of 3 major defensive penalties on Orlando to set the Gladiators in prime field position.
Both teams lit up the scoreboard on each of their first 4 possessions in the first half and Orlando was leading 28-27 with 41 seconds left in the 1st half. As the Gladiators took over they looked poised to take the lead or at least score before the half. The Preds had other plans though as Orlando DB Emanuel Cook intercepted Austin’s pass to deny Cleveland of a score for the first time on the night. This took us to the half with Orlando leading.
Hippeard finished the first half for Orlando completing 14 of 17 passes for 169 yards and 3 passing TD’s. Cleveland’s Shane Austin finished the first half completing 12 of 16 passes for 160 yards and 4 TD passes.
As the 2nd half got underway, Orlando wasted little time finding the end zone with Hippeard connecting with Brandon Thompkins to make it 35-27 with 11:33 left in the 3rd quarter. Cleveland answered right back as Shane Austin found Dominic Goodman on an 18 yard touchdown pass to draw the Gladiators within 1.
Orlando continued to pour on the pressure as Larry Brackins found the back of the end zone for the 2nd time of the night to make it 42-34 Orlando. Again the Gladiators answered with a score of their own cutting the lead to just 1 again just before the start of the 4th quarter.
In the fourth quarter Orlando did all they could to hold onto their 8-point lead after scoring with 13: 02 left to play in regulation. And they did a stellar job until the final seconds of the 4th quarter. With just 2 seconds left in the clock, Shane Austin connected with Colin Taylor in the end zone for 6 and then again with Amarri Jackson for the 2-point conversion. This tied the game up with and sent the game into overtime.
Unfortunately for Orlando the result was the same as week 5’s loss. After answering the Gladiators opening overtime scoring drive with a touchdown of their own, Orlando was faced with a decision to go for two or kick the PAT. Last week the choice was to go for two and they came up short. This week Head Coach Rob Keefe made the same call and much to his disappointment the play ended in the same result, a 1-point Predators loss.
Coach Keefe spoke about his decision postgame. “We’re gonna go for two, if we didn’t go for two and we just kicked an extra point it would have gone to sudden death. Obviously they got the ball first, first person to score wins. That’s why you go for two.”
The loss puts Orlando at 3-3 on the season and costs them their lead in the South Division after Tampa defeated Jacksonville Saturday to improve to 3-3 as well. The Predators will now head to the city of brotherly love to face the 6-0 Philadelphia Soul next Friday with a 7:30 pm scheduled kickoff.