Monday, May 12, 2003 | 10:11 a.m.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- A shot at the Eastern Division title and home field in the playoffs disintegrated Sunday for the Gladiators when a tightly contested game quickly turned into a 76-52 blowout.
The Detroit Fury, which lost 58-45 at Las Vegas on April 27, outscored the Gladiators 28-3 in the fourth quarter at the Palace to take sole possession of first place in the division with an 8-7 record.
"It's very frustrating," said Gladiators coach Frank Haege. "We dropped the ball, literally, in the fourth quarter."
Haege said the Gladiators (7-8) must win Saturday at home against Buffalo (5-10) to make the playoffs.
The Gladiators opened the fourth quarter with a 49-48 lead, the only difference a missed PAT by Fury kicker Nick Gatto. After the Fury scored to open the quarter, the Gladiators settled for a 36-yard field goal by Steve Videtich that cut the Fury lead to 55-52 with 9:38 remaining in the game.
Trailing 62-52, Gladiators quarterback Jay McDonagh fumbled the ball away with 1:49 left and the Fury converted the turnover into a touchdown to go up 69-52. On the ensuing kickoff, Sedrick Robinson fumbled the ball away to Detroit.
After Fury quarterback Andy Kelly scored on a 1-yard keeper with 22 seconds left to ice the 76-52 decision, he and Las Vegas defensive specialist T.J. Hill scruffled and a near brawl erupted. Both players were ejected and will likely face fines this week.
McDonagh completed 18-of-27 passes for 216 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions for the Gladiators. Mike Horacek caught eight passes for 92 yards and three touchdowns and Sean Riley added four catches for 60 yards and one touchdown.
"Jay McDonagh, I thought he played a nice game," Haege said.
But Fury coach Al Luginbill said the game came down to his quarterback coming up bigger. Andy Kelly completed 25-of-40 passes for 310 yards and nine touchdowns with no interceptions for the Fury.
"I thought we played well around him," Luginbill said. "We went up for the ball. We had more breakups on defense. We made some plays on the ball.
"It still comes down to our quarterback, in the crunch, being better than theirs."
Luginbill said the turning point in the game was forcing Las Vegas to go for the field goal. Haege didn't second-guess himself afterward.
"It was fourth-and-10," Haege said. "We'd kick it, no matter what."
Haege didn't think the game would quickly slip away from his team after McDonagh's fumble.
"I thought it was just going to come down to who had the ball at the end," he said. "But it kind of hinged on that turnover."
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