Turnover-plagued Glory falls to 0-6 at Barcelona

Ohio Glory running back Adam Walker, in addition to being a straight-ahead kickoff returner and third-down back, was one of the team's top special teamers. He blocked a punt in Week 6 at the Barcelona Dragons which resulted in a safety in the Glory's 20-10 loss.

A stout defense can only do so much.

If there was one shining bright spot for the Ohio Glory in its first six games, it was its defense. And that defense continued to keep the Glory in games it had no business being in – such as the Week 6 contest at the Barcelona Dragons.

The Glory offense didn’t score a point until early in the fourth quarter, when the team already was down 20-2 thanks to a touchdown run, a blocked punt returned for a score and two field goals. Ohio also turned the ball over six times, including five interceptions thrown by quarterback Pat O’Hara.

But the Glory “D” continued to shine despite being put in less-than-favorable positions. Barcelona gained just 192 yards (and just 100 yards minus the 92-yard scoring drive to open the scoring early in the second quarter), and the Ohio defense forced three turnovers and recorded five sacks.

In the first six games of the season, the Glory defense didn’t put up numbers indicative of a winless team – 275 yards allowed per game, 12 sacks, 11 takeaways and just 11 touchdowns allowed.

O’Hara was 28-for-55 for 327 yards and a late 55-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Melvin Patterson despite the five picks – three of which went to Dragons cornerback Adrian Jones.

The Glory, also, of course, was a victim of bad luck on special teams. Down 14-0 late in the first half, Ohio scored a safety after running back Adam Walker blocked a Dragons punt. It could have been the touchdown which got the Glory back in the game, but the Dragons’ end zones at Montjuic Stadium were not the regulation 10 yards, so Ohio had to settle for 2 points, not 7.

Also, on the next possession following the O’Hara-to-Patterson touchdown pass, a high snap on a field goal attempt kept the Glory from making it a 20-13 contest.

After the game, Ohio Head Coach Larry Little said, “We are not going to give up in these last four games, you can count on that. We realize that we can’t play .500 football this year, but we can still win and salvage something out of the season.”

The Glory ended up doing just that.