Gladiators stifled early in loss to SaberCats

The foundering Gladiators fell behind 34-0 in the second quarter Saturday night en route to their ninth straight Arena Football League loss, 61-34 to the Western Division-leading San Jose SaberCats at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Las Vegas (1-10) has been outscored by an average of 21.6 points since its lone victory of the season, a 79-69 win over the Grand Rapids Rampage in Week 2.

San Jose quarterback Mark Grieb completed 12 of his first 14 passes and the SaberCats (7-3) took advantage of four Gladiators' turnovers -- including two interceptions by QB Brian Jones that were returned for scores -- in building its 34-0 advantage.

Las Vegas finally scored with 57 seconds left in the first half on Thabiti Davis' 2-yard run.

But Grieb threw his third touchdown pass of the half 23 seconds later to put the SaberCats up 40-6 at intermission.

Grieb finished 18-for-24 passing for 280 yards and five TDs before being replaced by former Gladiators quarterback Craig Whelihan in the fourth quarter.

Jones completed 20 of 33 pass attempts for 232 yards and a score and was intercepted four times.