By Brian Bohl
UNIONDALE- Jason Willis caught the ball off a screen and juked past an over-pursuing Cleveland defender. Several strides later, the Dragons receiver culminated his impending 31-yard touchdown reception by high-stepping into the end zone.
Once Willis added his final-minute touchdown in a 56-39 victory over the Gladiators, the wide out helped the Nassau Coliseum crowd celebrate by grabbing a cheerleader’s pom-poms and waving them widely.
“I needed to celebrate and get the crowd hyped,” Willis said. “We ended on a good note. So, why not get the crowd into it?”
Fun was not the adjective being used to describe the team’s mood following a 1-4 start.
But once quarterback Aaron Garcia recovered from another leg injury and returned to the lineup, the Dragons emerged as the Arena Football League’s hottest team in April.
Garcia, who tossed seven touchdowns against no interceptions against Cleveland, led the Dragons to a 4-0 mark in April. Beating the Gladiators showed just how far the franchise has come in nine weeks. During the season opener, Cleveland outplayed the Dragons and Garcia suffered a leg injury that kept him out of two games.
Flash forward to Saturday night, and a healthy Garcia was lighting up the scoreboard and capitalizing on defensive spots. Willis torched the secondary for 12 catches, 158 yards and two touchdowns. Kevin Swayne matched the entire Cleveland receiving corps by logging four touchdown receptions.
“It’s [about] confidence. Everyone is coming together,” Willis said. “When everyone is doing their job, nothing goes wrong.”
The offensive onslaught continued an impressive trend. During the four-game winning streak, the Dragons have outscored opponents by a combined 83 points.
The 17-point win over the Gladiators actually represented the smallest margin of victory during that stretch, giving the Dragons (5-4) momentum heading into the upcoming bye week.
“When you’re 37 years old, you’ll take a week off any time you can get it,” Garcia said. “Guys are beat up, so we’ll rest up. Hopefully we can be even better.”
Improvement could mean a ticket to the AFL’s postseason after the Dragons missed out on the playoffs last year. The Dragons passing defense-a glaring weakness in 2007-is ranked third-best in the 18-team league.
Even after placing DB Angel Estrada on injured reserve, defensive backs Billy Parker and Levy Brown are benefitting from sustained pressure on the defensive line, allowing the Dragons to rack up 15 interceptions. Monty Montgomery, signed the Friday before the game, filled in for Estrada. He registered a team-high five solo tackles and even picked off a pass late in the fourth quarter that was negated by a penalty.
“We miss Angel, but injuries happen in football,” Parker said. “He [Montgomery] wasn’t expecting to play immediately. He answered the bell and when we needed him, he played exceptionally well.”
The passing attack continued to parlay defensive stops into points.
Parker’s first-half interception set-up Garcia’s touchdown pass that forged 35-20 halftime lead. Continued pressure against Cleveland quarterback Raymond Philayaw ensured there would be no comeback.
“We always feed off our defense,” Willis said. “It’s motivation for us. We don’t want to let them down. It’s half and half. So if they score, we expect us to go out there and make a stop.”
With seven games remaining following the bye, the Dragons have one more game against division rivals Philadelphia and Dallas. Both teams are still undefeated and could be a potential playoff opponent should Weylan Harding’s team advance that far.
The fourth-year coach said his unit could still improve, including tightening up receiver coverage and limiting penalties. The Dragons were flagged for 11 penalties for 89 yards.
“You see the guys starting to believe in each other and see what we have here,” Harding said. “The scariest thing is we can be so much better. We had so many opportunities in the first half where we could have stopped them. We need to get those things cleaned up and make sure guys are staying hungry.”