# 1987 Pittsburgh Gladiators season

The 1987 Pittsburgh Gladiators season was the first season for the Gladiators. They finished 4–2 and lost a 45–16 game against the Denver Dynamite in ArenaBowl I.

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site |
| 1 | June 19 | Washington Commandos | W 48–46 | 1–0 | Civic Arena |
| 2 | June 26 | at Chicago Bruisers | W 60–23 | 2–0 | Rosemont Horizon |
| 3 | July 2 | Chicago Bruisers | W 49–14 | 3–0 | Civic Arena |
| 4 | July 11 | at Denver Dynamite | W 49–32 | 4–0 | McNichols Sports Arena |
| 5 | July 17 | Denver Dynamite | L 31–32 | 4–1 | Civic Arena |
| 6 | July 23 | at Washington Commandos | L 31–52 | 4–2 | Capital Centre |

### Standings

1987 Arena Football League standingsviewtalkedit :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | PF (Avg.) | PA (Avg.) | STK |
| y-Pittsburgh Gladiators | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 268 | 199 | 44.6 | 33.1 | L 2 |
| x-Denver Dynamite | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 261 | 252 | 43.5 | 42 | W 2 |
| Washington Commandos | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 288 | 273 | 48 | 45.5 | W 1 |
| Chicago Bruisers | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 217 | 310 | 36.1 | 51.6 | L 1 |
y – clinched regular-season title
x – clinched playoff spot

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site |
| ArenaBowl I | August 1 | Denver Dynamite | L 16–45 | 0–1 | Civic Arena |

## Stats
### Offense
#### Quarterback

| Player | Comp. | Att. | Comp% | Yards | TD's | INT's | Rating |
| Brendan Folmar | 119 | 205 | 58.0 | 1349 | 21 | 9 | 85.2 |
| Mike Hohensee | 32 | 55 | 58.2 | 483 | 7 | 1 | 111.4 |
| Kevin Russell | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 72.9 |
| Stan Yagiello | 0 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |

#### Running backs

| Player | Car. | Yards | TD's |
| Creig Federico | 10 | 21 | 1 |
| Brendan Folmar | 14 | 13 | 2 |
| Mike Hohensee | 3 | 11 | 1 |
| Scott Dmitrenko | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Mike Stoops | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| John McClennon | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Ricky Mitchell | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Powell | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| Stan Yagiello | 2 | −3 | 0 |

#### Wide receivers

| Player | Rec. | Yards | TD's |
| Russell Hairston | 67 | 1126 | 18 |
| | 22 | 232 | 3 |
| John McClennon | 22 | 131 | 1 |
| Jim Rafferty | 20 | 170 | 2 |
| Creig Federico | 12 | 54 | 2 |
| Mike Powell | 5 | 81 | 2 |
| Kevin Russell | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| Ricky Mitchell | 1 | 21 | 0 |
| Greg Best | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| George Miller | 1 | 6 | 0 |

### Defense

| Player | Tackles | Solo | Assisted | Sack | INT | Yards | TD's |
| | 31 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 1 |
| Craig Walls | 19 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Russell Hairston | 17.5 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50 | 1 |
| Creig Federico | 17 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Dmitrenko | 15 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Stoops | 14.5 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| John McClennon | 12.5 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Ricky Mitchell | 11 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Rafferty | 10.5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Thomas Weaver | 9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Earnest Adams | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Powell | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Best | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Willis Yates | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Larsen | 2.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Special teams
#### Kick return

| Player | Ret | Yards | TD's |
| | 24 | 464 | 2 |
| Jim Rafferty | 10 | 69 | 0 |
| John McClennon | 5 | 80 | 0 |
| Scott Dmitrenko | 1 | 26 | 0 |
| Mike Stoops | 1 | 5 | 0 |

#### Kicking

| Player | FGM | 4pg | FGA | Pct. | XPM | 2pt | XPA | Pct. | Pts. |
| Lee Larsen | 6 | 0 | 21 | 28.6 | 13 | 0 | 28 | 46.4 | 31 |

## Awards

| Position | Player | Award | All-Arena team |
| Wide receiver/defensive back | Russell Hairston | Most Valuable Player | 1st |
| Offensive/defensive lineman | Craig Walls | none | 1st |
| Wide receiver/defensive back | | none | 2nd |