UNIONDALE, NY— A near-capacity crowd of 13,783 packed the Nassau Coliseum yesterday afternoon for the Dragons season-opener. They came to see an Arena Football League game, though some spectators could have sworn the Dallas Desperados channeled the Chicago Bears’ vaunted Super Bowl-winning defense from 1986.

For nearly 50 minutes, the Desperados were working on AFL history: becoming just the second team in AFL history to post a shutout in a game predicated on offensive scores nearly every possession.

But the Dragons finally did get on the scoreboard after Mike Horacek posted a 45-yard touchdown catch-and-run with 11:47 remaining in the game, though it only prevented a historic drubbing as Dallas dominated their Eastern Division rivals for a 60-7 blowout victory in a nationally televised contest. It was the largest margin-of-victory by a road team in league history.

Dallas swept the season series against the Dragons (0-1) last year en route to capturing the division title with a 13-3 record, including an 82-38 victory in Texas during the 2006 regular season finale. They started the new campaign by posting their third straight series victory thanks to five Dragons turnovers.

“We’re a fairly young group as far as experience is concerned,” coach Weylan Harding said. “Facing one of the league’s best teams, they let us know how much work we have to do. We didn’t quit. The protection got a whole lot better after the first series.”

Quarterback Clint Dolezel led an effort that was even more dominating than last spring’s drubbing, completing at least one touchdown pass to four different receivers before leaving the game in the fourth quarter. The AFL’s second all-time leading passer finished with seven touchdowns, going 21-28 for 249 yards and no interceptions in helping to build a 53-0 lead.

Will Pettis registered three touchdown receptions and eight catches while Marcus Nash added two scores and a game-high 10 receptions. Former Dragon Zeus White added a rushing touchdown.

The Desperados (1-0) eventually rested Dolezel in favor of backup Nick Browder, who led the Dragons to a 10-6 record and a wildcard playoff spot last season while filling in for the injured Aaron Garcia.

After Browder switched teams in the offseason, Harding was forced to turn to journeyman Leon Murray to start since Garcia is still out indefinitely after fracturing his tibia last February. The fifth-year veteran looked awful before being pulled at halftime, recording no touchdowns while throwing a pick in going 8-18 for 64 yards.

“At this point right now, I don’t feel confident about commenting on his performance until we look at the film,” said Harding, who refused to address his quarterback situation for the immediate future. “I don’t know what exactly what happened. Possibly the receivers could have helped him out a little better with some of the routes.”

Backup Rohan Davey came in off the bench for the third quarter’s first offensive possession, preventing a shutout victory. The former New England Patriot and Arizona Cardinal made a case to start March 18 against Chicago— the next game after an early bye week—by going 12-21 for 131 yards and a pick, though he connected with Horacek for the lone touchdown.

“When you have a new team and everyone’s coming together, it takes awhile to jell,” said Horacek, who tied Chris Antony with a team-high six catches. “When the live bullets went, we weren’t quite ready. The blame goes to everyone. We all played poorly tonight.”

Added Davey: “The best thing we can do now is move forward. It’s only one game, we have to put it behind us.”

The jeers started midway through the second quarter after Dallas defensive end Richie Simpkins stripped the ball loose from Ricky Hall on a handoff. Bobby Perry recovered at the Desperados 7-yard line, setting up Dolezel’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Nash that made it 26-0.

Despite bringing back 2005 AFL Rookie of the Year and interception leader Billy Parker, the Dragons found no answer for Dolezel, who added his fourth touchdown of the first half on a five-yard screen pass to Terrance Dotsy in the final minute for a 33-0 halftime edge that nearly silenced the once-passionate crowd.

Parker, who played on the Carolina Panthers practiced squad in 2005 and participated in their training camp last summer, made five tackles. Chris Brown, Jermaine Jones and Bobby Perry each added an interception for Dallas.

Standing outside the locker room after the game, Harding said he will use the impending bye week to dissect all facets of the loss.

“The good is you get to go back and regroup and go over every point of your offense and get those things cleaned up,” said Harding, who guides the Dragons into the playoffs in each of his first two seasons as head coach. “The bad thing is you don’t get to go out there right away, so the guys are kind of stewing.”

“This will never, ever happen again. I’m confident about that.”

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