Gladiators’ fans have been down right restless waiting on the football season to get here. Thursday’s JV game offered a taste of the season ahead but Friday night’s varsity loss to Maypearl has left “Gladiator Nation” hungry for a win over the Mart Panthers next Friday. (Continued…)

Willis Field, Italy — After a rousing “Meet the Gladiators” pep rally inside Italy Coliseum before the JV game, Italy’s JV Gladiators kicked off their 2010-2011 season against the Maypearl Panthers on Thursday. (Continued…)

Thursday, August 26, at 4:30pm, there will be a community pep rally held in the dome at the Italy High School Campus. The entire community is invited to come and meet our varsity and JV football players and the varsity cheerleaders. With the Gladiators’ preseason opening this week with games against the Maypearl Panthers it is a perfect time to come together and pump our Gladiators up. Beat Maypearl !!! (Continued…)

The Gladiators must recover quickly from a rough outing with three-time defending TAPPS State Champions, the Waco Reicher Catholic Cougars. Italy will be marching into Maypearl to tangle with the Panthers on Friday, August 27, at 7:30 p.m. It may be a pre-season game but the Gladiators will be using their long-time rivals as a gage to measure how good they could be this season. (Continued…)

The JV and Varsity Gladiators will scrimmage the Waco Reicher Cougars on Friday, August 20, starting at 6:00 p.m. at Waco Reicher. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Italy but it has been relocated to Waco. (Continued…)

Perceived contenders for the district championship this season, the Italy Gladiators are well on their way to making that goal a reality after a strong showing against the Valley Mills Eagles during a scrimmage on Saturday. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators went all pads on Friday during both 2-a-day practice sessions. Lineman worked the seven man sled for the first time and and receivers adjusted to catching with the shoulder pads on. (Continued…)

With the first scrimmage only days away, football fever is at an all time high. Attached are the schedules for the Varsity, Junior Varsity and Junior High Italy Gladiator Football teams. Go Gladiators! (Continued…)

With week one of 2-a-day practices coming to an end, the Italy Gladiators will suit up in full contact armor on Friday. (Continued…)

The 2010 Italy Gladiators, head coached by athletic director Craig Bales, began their 2-a-day football practices on Monday to kickoff a highly anticipated campaign to reclaim the district championship that has been so close yet so far away. (Continued…)

The 2009 Italy Gladiators football team had 15 players named to the District 21-A All-District list. Junior Jasenio Anderson was named District 21-A’s Most Valuable Player, 1st Team Punter and 1st Team Kicker. Anderson and his teammates helped to restore a winning football tradition in Italy by getting into the playoffs for the first time since 2005. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators(5-4) who finished tied for 2nd in District 21-A were matched against the Lovelady Lions(10-0) and their 19-seniors in a battle for the bi-district championship. Italy took an early 14-0 lead but the Lions came roaring back. (Continued…)

With a trip to the Playoffs guaranteed, the Italy Gladiators traveled to Patton Field in Itasca for one last district battle against their old rivals, the Itasca Wampus Cats. Italy’s sideline looked more like a M.A.S.H. unit before halftime as Itasca added insult to injury by taking a 16-8 lead over the Gladiators into halftime. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiator Junior High and JV football teams capped off their 2009 seasons with home games against the Itasca Wampus Cats. For the 8th Graders, the night marked their final football game as Junior High Gladiators. For the JV, they were just glad to finally play a game before the sophomores move up to the Varsity level next season. (Continued…)

Under the direction of Coach Craig Bales who is in his second year as head coach, the Italy Gladiators have come full circle. Unlike three seasons ago when Italy didn’t win one game, the winning tradition is being restored in Gladiator country. (Continued…)

The Friday pep rally inside the old gym at Italy High School was a fun time for students, cheerleaders, players, faculty and the community. A speech from NFL great and Italy alum Keith Davis highlighted the event along with the IHS cheerleaders as they performed a dance routine to the song, “Thriller.” (Continued…)

The Italy JH Gladiators had their hands full, of mud mostly, against the Dawson Bulldogs on Thursday. It was a hard fought game between both sides but when the final buzzer sounded, the game ended in a tie, 6-6. (Continued…)

Friday, October 30 at 3:00 p.m., the whole community is invited to enjoy the Gladiator Pep Rally. Keith Davis will be the guest speaker at the Halloween themed event – Wear your costume! (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators blasted into Wortham’s Bulldog Stadium and pounded “Big Blue” into submission. Italy’s high powered offense didn’t rely on it’s air attack in this one, instead the Gladiators defeated the Bulldogs at their own running game. The win puts Italy at 4-0 in District with the Dawson Bulldogs coming to town on Friday. (Continued…)

ITALY – The undefeated Wortham Bulldogs showed their might against Italy’s Junior High team on Thursday at Willis Field. Amazingly, with less than a minute to go and Wortham in control of the ball, a scoreless Italy team avoided being shutout by the Bulldogs in dramatic fashion. (Continued…)