The Pittsburgh Power Arena Football team (3-3) traveled to Cleveland, OH, to take on the undefeated Cleveland Gladiators (6-0) tonight. At the Quicken Loans Arena in front of a crowd of 11,087, the Power were unable to stop the Gladiators with a final score of 55-28.
Winning the coin toss, Cleveland elected to receive the opening kickoff. On their first possession, quarterback Shane Austin connected with wide receiver Dominick Goodman in the end zone to take the early lead over Pittsburgh, 7-0. On the ensuing drive, the Power could not get down the field and ended up turning the ball over on downs allowing the Gladiators field position on Pittsburgh’s own eight-yard line. Taking advantage, Austin ran the ball in the end zone increasing Cleveland’s lead, 14-0. Pittsburgh’s second attempt resulted in another turnover on downs and Cleveland made a touchdown out of it for the 21-point lead. Grady stepped it up on the team’s third possession finding wide receiver Shaun Kauleinamoku for a 41-yard touchdown pass and Pittsburgh’s first score of the night. The first quarter ended with Cleveland ahead 21-7.
The second quarter opened with the Power’s first offensive stop of the night making the Gladiators turn the ball over on downs. With the stop, Pittsburgh worked their way down the field and fullback Tommy Taggart carried the ball in for the touchdown. The Power decreased Cleveland’s lead to 21-14. The Gladiators went on to punch in two more touchdowns capturing a 35-14 lead. With :04 seconds remaining in the half, Grady completed to wide receiver Rodney Wright and cut the Power’s deficit to 14. Cleveland then ended the second quarter with kicker Pettrey connecting a 33-yard field goal for the 38-21 lead.
Pittsburgh received the ball to start the third quarter and after getting an automatic first down on a fourth down attempt off a Gladiator’s holding penalty, Grady capitalized and connected a five-yard pass to Kauleinamoku in the end zone to cut their deficit to ten. Cleveland answered with Austin finding tight end Jason Jones for the touchdown and going ahead 45-28 over Pittsburgh.
Cleveland grabbed the first score of the fourth quarter with a 44-yard field goal completion by Pettrey, increasing their lead to 20 points, 48-28. On the ensuing drive, Wright fumbled the ball on the Gladiator’s 7-yard line. With the turnover, Cleveland went down the field and Austin connected with Goodman for his third touchdown grab of the night and increased their lead to 55-28 with just under three minutes to play. The clock ran out without either team scoring again.
The Pittsburgh Power return home next week hosting East Division rivals Philadelphia Soul on Saturday, May 3. Kickoff at CONSOL Energy Center is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.