Glory suffers shutout in storm-filled game at Riders

Ohio Glory Head Coach Larry Little couldn’t keep mistakes from continuing to pile up on his team, as six turnovers, eight penalties and just 129 yards of total offense all contributed to a 17-0 road loss against the San Antonio Riders. Ohio finished the first half of the 1992 season at 0-5.

The 0-4 Ohio Glory wasn’t likely to find the sledding any easier in Week 5, as it was traveling to play the San Antonio Riders, the co-leaders in the North American West division.

When looking at the final score – 17-0 – it might seem as if the Glory played a decent game, but simply continued to have trouble offensively.

As was the case with the Glory, it wasn’t that simple.

A little more than six minutes into the game, Glory quarterback Pat O’Hara threw a 53-yard “pick-six” to Riders cornerback Gary Richard. What made this particular interception noteworthy was O’Hara was on his back at the time.

O’Hara had fallen after being stepped on by center Curtis Wilson and was on his back, but still chose to throw the ball in the field of play, rather than throw it away or simply take the loss.

"I fell down, but still thought I could make the pass even from where I was sitting," O'Hara said following the game. "It was a horrible mistake on my part, but one I'll have to live with it."

Twenty years later, Glory Head Coach Larry Little recalled the play this way, "I didn't know what to think. I just asked him, 'Why?’ ”

O’Hara’s second and final interception of the day came when the ball bounced off a Glory player’s helmet.

Backup quarterback Babe Laufenberg also threw two interceptions, and two Glory lost fumbles rounded out the team’s six turnovers.

Ohio’s defense, easily the team’s bright spot in the first half of the season, held San Antonio to one offensive touchdown and one field goal despite all of the Glory offense’s foibles. The Glory “D” also kept the score from being much, much worse by getting multiple key takeaways inside of its own 7-yard line.

While the Glory defense was doing its best to keep the game competitive while being on the field for nearly 41 minutes, just 129 total yards of offense, the six turnovers and eight penalties kept Ohio from getting any traction.

The game was stopped for 23 minutes late in the second quarter due to a hailstorm, and much of the first half was contested in a driving rainstorm.

The Glory finished the first half of its expansion season at 0-5. If it was going to avoid the same completely winless fate of its predecessor, the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks, it was going to have to improve in a hurry.

Luckily, it did.