When Sports Were Played: Gladiators prevail in Arena league’s first game
Did you know that the Arena Football League’s first game was played in Pittsburgh on June 19, 1987? The game was not televised so that any blunders would not be subject to national scrutiny. The Observer-Reporter, however, was there and we revisit the game in today’s “When Sports Were Played.”
PITTSBURGH – There were dancing girls at halftime, a remote control blimp, sideline workers who straightened the field between quarters and 2 1/2-yard penalties. Nobody said it was the Super Bowl.
“It’s football, but a totally different game,” said quarterback Mike Hohensee, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Pittsburgh Gladiators to a 48-46 victory over the Washington Commandos in the debut of Arena Football here at the Civic Arena Friday night. “It’s almost all passing. And you never know what’s going to happen.”
A crowd of 12,117 saw the game, the first of six Pittsburgh will play in this preview season. And if Friday’s game was any indication, players around the league are going to have to work more on conditioning if they’re going to survive.
“I’m wiped,” said Gladiators Craig Federico, whose recovery of a missed field goal with 2:14 to play was the margin of victory. “It’s hard to start celebrating. I’m going home and go to sleep.”
Almost all players play both offense and defense, and nobody understood until Friday just how difficult that would be.
“I don’t think our players realized what Iron Man meant until they played the game,” said Pittsburgh coach Joe Haering. “Nobody ever figured out the factor of fatigue on our players.”
By the end of the game, which consisted of four 15-minute quarters and took nearly three hours to complete, Haering was concerned about his team’s meager pass rush and slow pass coverage.
“It is really tiring out there,” said the Gladiators’ Russell Hairston, who caught three touchdown passes, including a 42-yarder on Pittsburgh’s first play from scrimmage.
California’s Brendan Folmar, a graduate of California University, did not see any action, but joined the fans in supporting the game.
“I thought they really liked it. I was even excited sitting on the bench,” he said.
But another Pennsylvania Conference quarterback saw plenty of playing time, former Indiana University player Rich Ingold. A graduate of Seton LaSalle High School, Ingold replaced Washington starter Mike Calhoun late in the first half and threw three touchdown passes, including a 25-yarder to a leaping Dwayne Dixon in the dying minutes that brought the Commandos within two points.
“I didn’t have anything to do,” said Ingold. “I ran out of options. I just threw it up to him.”
After that catch, Commandos’ kicker Dale Castro, who kicked four field goals in the game, missed a dropkick that would have tied the game.
“Like we said, there were going to be some things in the kicking game that turn some things around,” said Haering.
And he was right, especially on Federico’s touchdown.
When a Pittsburgh drive stalled in Washington territory, Haering sent kicker Lee Larson out to attempt a 35-yard field goal. It was wide, bouncing off one of the two rebound nets that are around the narrow goal posts. In the ensuing scramble, Federico had the ball.
The game was tied, 22-22, at the half after Ingold hit Dixon with a 14-yard touchdown pass. Scrambling away from the Pittsburgh rush, Ingold fired a strike to Dixon in the end zone.
“I can throw on the run,” said Ingold. “I’m only 5-11 and there are some guys 6-4 on the line. I’m a roll out quarterback.”
But Hohensee also proved to be capable of scrambling. After Washington pulled within two points, 36-34, early in the fourth quarter, he kept a three-play drive alive by eluding the Commando rush and passing 35 yards to Mike Powell.
Hohensee completed 25 of 39 passes for 354 yards, while Ingold hit 17 of 32 for 182 yards. Hairston caught 12 passes for 224 yards and James Rafferty caught five for 44.
For Washington, Dixon had 11 catches for 135 yards and Richard Dupree caught four passes for 35 yards. Gladiators’ Rock Richmond also returned an interception for a touchdown early in the second half.