Raudabaugh finding his game, earns weekly honors

           In Arena Football, it’s no secret that the most important position is the quarterback. And for the past three seasons, Philadelphia has greatly benefited in having one of the league’s elite quarterbacks, Dan Raudabaugh.

      

      Raudabaugh’s performance in the Soul’s 60-55 win over the Iowa Barnstormers on Sunday, April 27 earned Raudabaugh the league’s Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Week award for the second time in three weeks. Raudabaugh was 26 for 35 on his passes Sunday, throwing for 283 yards and nine touchdowns in the victory.

After throwing a tipped interception on the first play of the game, Raudabaugh showed his resilience by constructing a near-flawless performance throughout the remainder of the game.

The Soul offense had an answer for nearly every situation that was thrown at them in the second half of Sunday’s game, trading touchdowns with the Barnstormers on every possession and the lead on each score. The game came down to the final two drives of the game, and Raudabaugh was handed a golden opportunity to win the ball game when the Soul defense forced the Barnstormers to kick a field goal, giving Philly the ball down by one point.

        

      In the final minute of the game, Raudabaugh was able to lead his offense 32 yards down the 50 yard field, and hook receiver Tiger Jones up with a six-yard touchdown with three seconds remaining to win the game.

      Despite the recent success on the Soul’s three-game win streak, it’s been far from a perfect season for Raudabaugh and his team. After the first three games of the season, Raudabaugh had the worst quarterback rating of all 16 starting quarterbacks in the league, and his team was winless to start the season. However, the following week Raudabaugh made AFL history against the Orlando Predators, setting the highest quarterback rating for a single game at 154.36 as he completed 20 of 22 passes for 254 yards and seven touchdowns, earning him the Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Week that week as well.

It’s no secret that the Philadelphia Soul go as Raudabaugh goes, as the success of the team’s leader has reflected the wins and losses of the team dating back to early 2012.

The former Miami Redhawk quarterback joined the Philadelphia Soul in 2012, along with a cast of players and coaches from the Dallas Vigilantes when the club folded at the conclusion of the 2011 season. Raudabaugh has brought the Soul to the past two Arena Bowls, looking magnificent more often than not on his paths to the championship games. The one argument that naysayers have brought up against Raudabaugh’s play has been his inability to seal the victory in the championship game, as his Soul have come home empty handed from the Arena Bowl the past two years. But there's no question that Raudabaugh has the ability to perform in the playoffs, as his 4-3 record in the playoffs shows he has the success to win against tough opponents. If Raudabaugh continues to lead his team to Arena Bowls, he's bound to finish the task and quiet those who may be critical to his game.

    The Soul still has a lot of work to do if they are going to return to their third straight championship game, but the turnaround of Raudabaugh and his teams play is a great sign of optimism for this team moving forward. They've proven their ability to make it through an 18-game season and reach the playoffs, and their performance in the postseason makes them a viable threat to any opponent they meet in August. The American Conference is tighter than ever this year, with the Cleveland Gladiators sitting atop the East division at 6-0, the Orlando Predators leading the South division at 5-2 and three teams tied with the Soul in the wildcard race with three wins.

There’s still 13 weeks left for Raudabaugh to lead his team to another Arena Bowl push, and despite the struggles we've seen from this team and the scrutiny it has received, it’s clear that the team is finding their game and a way to string together some wins. If this continues, I’ll take my chances on the arm of Dan Raudabaugh than any other quarterback in this conference the rest of the way.

No Fly Zone: The Soul win a Barnburner over Iowa on ESPN

The Philadelphia Soul welcomed ESPN back to Arena Football with a thrilling 60-55 win over the Iowa Barnstormers on Sunday, April 27 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

The team's third straight win improved the Soul to 3-3, putting them in a three-way tie for second place of the East Division with Iowa and Pittsburgh.

Dan Raudabaugh was 26 for 35 on the day, throwing for 283 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception.

 Tiger Jones caught the game winning touchdown in the final seconds of the game, and finished the night with five touchdowns and 52 yards on seven receptions. V’Keon Lacey had an impressive game, filling in the role at the third wide receiver position and coming up with three touchdowns and 63 yards on five receptions. Ryan McDaniel racked up 107 receiving yards on seven receptions. Derrick Ross ran for 36 yards, but was unable to find the end zone on Sunday.

Defensive lineman TJ Langley sacked Iowa quarterback Carson Coffman three times for 14 yards. Linebacker Brandon Perkins had one sack for five yards in the game.

It was a rough start to the game for Raudabaugh, who was picked off on the first play of the game on a tipped-pass that ended up in the hands of defensive back Ter’Ran Benton. Carson Coffman marched his Barnstormers down the field to the one yard line on the next drive, setting up the short touchdown for fullback Derik Steiner.

The Soul defense came out flat for the majority of the first quarter, as the teams continued to traded touchdowns throughout the first half of the game.

Late in the second quarter, Rob Redd returned a kick to midfield for the Soul, setting up a touchdown from Raudabaugh to receiver V’Keon Lacey, cutting the Iowa lead down to 28-26.

On the next drive, reciver Darius Reynolds would fumble the ball for Iowa deep into Soul territory, which was recovered by Philadelphia’s James Romain at the three yard line with five minutes remaining in the half. The Soul would capitalize on the turnover, finding Lacey for his fourth touchdown of the game and putting the Soul on top for the first time in the game, 34-28.

Head coach Clint Dolezel caught the Barnstormers special team by surprise on the kickoff calling for an onside kick, which was recovered by Bryan Randall for Philadelphia.

With momentum on Philly’s side, however, they were unable to capitalize on the possession, going four and out with a fourth-and-three incompletion to give Iowa the ball with 15 seconds remaining in the half. A field goal from Ross Gornall cut the Soul lead to 34-31 heading into the half.

        

      Early in the third quarter, TJ Langley earned his second sack of the game on Coffman, bringing up a third-and-eleven for Iowa. The secondary would break down on the next drive for the Soul however, letting Coffman find Darius Reynolds at the five yard line, who was just barely able to extend the ball into the end zone with the tip of his fingers and give his team a 38-34 lead.

          

    The Soul defense was unable to come through and stand tall on third and fourth downs, and the two teams traded touchdowns throughout the third and the majority of the fourth quarter, with the lead changing on every score.

Down 52-48 with three minutes remaining, AFL fans throughout the Delaware Valley were holding their breath when Derrick Ross fumbled a Raudabaugh hand-off deep in Iowa territory. Ross was able to recover the fumble, bringing up a crucial third down late in the game. Tiger Jones found a laser pass from Raudabaugh to give the Soul a six point lead, but another missed kick from Carlos Martinez kept the Soul lead at two points.

The Barnstormers recovered a Soul onside kick, and continued their drive with intention to run out as much clock and Soul timeouts as possible. Their game plan didn't go accordingly however, and Iowa was forced to kick a field goal that gave them a 55-54 lead with 43 seconds remaining in the game.

That was just enough time for Dan Raudabaugh and the Soul offense to keep their rhythm going, as Raudabaugh and his receivers made it look easy marching down the field, burning time on the game clock away. With three seconds remaining in the contest, Raudabaugh found Tiger Jones who ran six yards for the game winning touchdown.

      

       It wasn't the prettiest win for the Soul, but ESPN and the Soul fans certainly got their money’s worth in one of the most exciting games for the AFL this season. The Soul certainly faced adversity throughout the game, and while it was troubling to see the defense continue struggles with the secondary, penalties and third/fourth downs, the team still found a way to get a huge win in the Eastern Division race.

Raudabaugh was able to shake off his interception on the first play of the game, and converted for the Soul on nearly every possession, including the final drive of the game which was the biggest one of the season through the first six games.

      

       The intensity of play will only get bigger from here, as the Soul will look to continue their win streak on Saturday, May 3 when they hit the turnpike to take on the Power in Pittsburgh, a city the franchise has never lost in. The ‘Battle of Pennsylvania’ is a matchup fans around the league have been looking forward to all season.

         

    This young Soul team with key veterans has gotten thrown into a lot of tough situations the first month of the season, and with the 0-3 start the team went through to open the year, it certainly feels great to be back at .500 as we are a third of the way through the season. This team is getting a lot of great experience under their belts, now let’s see what they can do with it the rest of the way. 

Soul hope to be turbulence in Barnstormers win streak on ESPN2

    

   The AFL returns to ESPN2 this weekend for the first time in six years, and who better to kick off the league’s return to the largest stage in sports television than your Philadelphia Soul?

The Soul will look to get their record back to .500 when they kick off against the Iowa Barnstormers at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 27 at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia. It might not be the sexiest matchup on the season to get on national television, as the 2-3 Philadelphia Soul host the 3-2 Barnstormers. The Soul will hopefully show, however, that the records don't reflect the talent of these teams.

     The Iowa Barnstormers sit at second place in the East Divisionl, and are led by former Soul head coach Mike Hohensee. Hohensee coached the Soul to a 6-12 record in 2011, their first season back from the 2008-09 AFL lockout, and eventually resigning at the conclusion of the  2011 season.

The Barnstormers are coming off a pair of home wins, the most recent a 31-12 win over the LA Kiss on Saturday, April 19. Quarterback Carson Coffman enters this week with a 96.3 quarterback rating, completing 112 of his 197 passes for 1,335 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. Marco Thomas is the biggest threat for Iowa offensively, who’s brought in 52 yards and 13 touchdowns on 43 receptions as a receiver, as well as leading the team on special teams with 157 yards on 10 kick returns. Darius Reynolds has been a decent supporting receiver for the team as well, bringing in 30 receptions for 385 yards and eight touchdowns.

         

    The biggest obstacle for the Soul this week will be the Iowa defense, which has been getting contribution from nearly everyone lining up on the defense side of the line. Defensive end Mike Lewis has five sacks on the season, all of which came last week against the Kiss. Six members of the defense have recorded interceptions through the first five games, including Tramain Thomas (4), De ‘Mon Glanton (3), Jason Simpson (2), Ter ‘Ran Benton (2) and Tyrone Clark (1). All five brought in at least one interception last weekend.

Despite coming off their best game of the season, this is a game the Soul should be able to take a strangle hold on early and dominate.
The Soul are coming off two wins as well, defeating the Jacksonville Sharks 54-41 on Saturday, April 19 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Center Jason Holman is going to have to continue the stellar play we saw from him in the last three quarters againt the Sharks last week, and less of the struggles he faced early on in the game that forced Dan Raudabaugh to scramble around and make costly decisions that turned into interceptions.

Raudabaugh was still able to throw his 229^th touchdown as a member of the Soul, passing Tony Graziani as the all-time leader in touchdown throws in Philadelphia Soul history.

Expect to see Ryan McDaniel continue has stellar season, who’s lead Soul recievers with 525 yards and 10 touchdowns on 41 receptions. Tiger Jones is beginning to catch up to McDaniel, as he’s brought in 442 yards for 11 touchdowns on 35 receptions.

And you know fullback Derrick Ross is going to want to show ESPN and the world his touchdown celebration and why he is the greatest fullback of all time.

Philadelphia’s defense has been stepping up as of late, as defensive back Rayshaun Kizer has 28.5 tackles and two interceptions on the season. Bryan Robinson has recorded 1.5 sacks in the first five games, which is a statistic I imagine he’s going to want to raise here quickly.

     

       With all statistics aside, the Soul are the better football team in this matchup with better personnel and who’s faced tougher opponents this season. The Soul are a half-game behind the Tampa Bay Storm for the final Wildcard spot in the playoff hunt, and three games behind the 5-0 Cleveland Gladiators for first place in the East Division. These games against lesser opponents like the Iowa Barnstormers are ones they must take care of if they are going to continue their success and make sure they’re at the top of the American Conference in August.

The team will be fired up for this one, and the crowd should be just as electric for this nationally televised game Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center. It’s going to be a great atmosphere with hopefully a game just as great for the home team, so let’s go out there and show everyone that we’re the best fan base in Arena Football. 

Changes to the Soul Roster: What they mean

     

  Earlier this week, the Philadelphia Soul confirmed changes to two of their roster positions, moving center Brennen Carvalho to injury reserve while trading Larry Brackins.

Carvalho was placed on injury reserve after tearing his Achilles and ending his season. He has been a crucial role to the Soul’s success the past few seasons while his contribution has gone overlooked by many, as most centers are in Arena Football. Carvalho did not lose a fumbled-snap in the 2013 campaign for the Soul, and his a great track-record dates back to his days with the Arizona Rattlers in 2010-11 before coming to Philadelphia in 2012. He has appeared in the last three Arena Bowls, and it’s clear that success has followed him wherever he has gone.

The Soul have been able to respond to key-roles in their game plan getting plucked away from them in years past, with Tiger Jones leaving the team for the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2012 season and Dustin Barno going down with injury in 2013. With Carvalho gone however, life has just gotten a lot harder for our quarterback Dan Raudabaugh.

Jason Holman will fill in the role defending Raudabaugh from ending up on the turf, and through the beginning of last week’s match against the Jacksonville Sharks, Raudabaugh was feeling the heat, throwing three interceptions under pressure. The game eventually cooled down and Holman found his game, which allowed the Soul to cruise to an important win over Jacksonville, and Holman will need to continue his success and make sure Raudabaugh has as much time and comfort as he needs. At the time it’s unclear whether Holman will remain at center for the Soul as the season continues or if the Soul will look elsewhere for a replacement at the position, but either way it’s going to be a big question mark for this team as the season progresses.

In other changes, Larry Brackins, who spent five of the past six AFL seasons with the Philadelphia Soul, has been traded to the Orlando Predators for future considerations. Brackins was a member of the Arena Bowl 22 championship Soul team in 2008, and will most be remembered for his eight-touchdown performance in the 2012 American Conference Championship game, which the Soul won over the Jacksonville Sharks to advance to Arena Bowl 25.

In his seven years in the AFL, Brackins has recorded 3,889 yards on 319 receptions while scoring 110 touchdowns. Brackins hasn’t seen the same success through the first five games of this season however, with only seven receptions for 73 yards and no touchdowns.

It’s clear that Brackins was not in head coach Clint Dolezel’s game plan this season, or just hasn’t played up to the expectations he has in years past. With star receiver Tiger Jones, who is the same age as Brackins (31), and the younger 26-year old Ryan McDaniel who has become one of the leading receivers in AFL the past two seasons, the Soul will survive the loss of Brackins, despite the love from the fans and teammates that will be hurting.

         

     The faces may have changed some, but the game plan, goal and overall cast has remained the same through this time of change for the Soul. It’s up to this team to come together through these tough situations and find a way to continue the winning-ways the team has experienced the last two weeks, and not fall any further behind in the push for the 2014 playoffs.

The Soul own Jacksonville, win second straight

The Philadelphia Soul earned their second win of the season in their home opener with a 54-41 victory over the Jacksonville Sharks on Saturday, April 19 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Dan Raudabaugh went 15 for 25 in the victory, throwing for 197 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Tiger Jones gained 93 yards for three touchdowns on six receptions, earning him the J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the Game. Ryan McDaniel racked up 88 yards and one touchdown on two catches. Derrick Ross ran for 58 yards and three touchdowns.

The defense had their greatest performance of the season yet, as Rayshaun had 10.5 tackles, three breakups and a forced fumble to earn the Riddell Defensive Player of the Game. Bryan Robinson had 1.5 sacks, while James Romain had a fumble recovery.

The game started out with a pair of interceptions from both Dan Raudabaugh and Aaron Garcia on the opening drives for each team. Raudabaugh’s pass went through Tiger Jones’ hands up against the boards and was caught by Micheaux Robinson for a Jacksonville interception. Garcia would bring the Sharks down to Philadelphia territory, before throwing an interception in the end zone to James Romain. Raudabaugh found Tiger Jones on the next possession for the game’s first score.

Rayshaun Kizer forced a fumble from receiver Jeron Harvey on Jacksonville’s second possession of the game, which was recovered and returned by Romain for a touchdown, giving the Soul a 14-0 lead.

Newly acquired defensive back and kick returner Fred Shaw returned a kickoff 48 yards to start the second quarter. Derrick Ross punched the ball in for a two yard touchdown to give the Soul a 21-7 lead.

Linebacker Charlie Hunt brought in two interceptions for the Sharks in the second quarter, returning the first for a touchdown to cut the Soul lead to one point. Jacksonville was unable to capitalize on the second interception, turning the ball over on downs.

With 5:43 remaining in the third quarter, the Sharks tied the game at 27 apiece with a touchdown from Garcia to Jeron Harvey.

Raudabaugh responded on the next play of the game, finding a wide open Ryan McDaniel for a touchdown the length of the field to give the Soul 34-27 lead. On the kickoff, Clint Dolezel called for an onside kick which was recovered by Bryan Robinson for the Soul. Raudabaugh would find Tiger Jones for a nine yard touchdown to give the Soul a 41-27 lead with 47 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The teams exchanged touchdowns throughout the fourth quarter, and the Soul were able to maintain their two touchdown lead and escape with a 54-41 win.

         

   It felt same old same old in the game, as the Soul were able to defeat the Jacksonville Sharks for the fifth time in their last six meetings and defeated Aaron Garcia once again. It wasn’t necessarily a pretty win, as Raudabaugh committed three turnovers alone, but it was a big win at home in front of 12,300 fans, and over a team they could be battling for home field advantage or a wildcard spot.

The Soul are still at the bottom of the East Division at 2-3, but with 13 games remaining in the season it’s great to see the Soul finally coming together and finding their game back-to-back weeks. There's a lot of game to be played, and it's worth noting that the Soul were 2-3 after five games last season as well and still ended up in the Arena Bowl in August. The Jacksonville Sharks didn't seem to be in sync throughout portions of the game, but there’s no question that this will be a team to compete with down the stretch, and a win over Aaron Garcia is never one to discount.

Hopefully the Soul will be able to continue their home success and extend their win streak to three straight next week, as the Iowa Barnstormers will pay a visit at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 20 at the Wells Fargo Center, which will be broadcast on ESPN 2. 

5 Things to watch for in 2013 American Conference rematch

The Philadelphia Soul (1-3) return to the confines of the Wells Fargo Center tonight to kickoff their home play against a very familiar opponent in the Jacksonville Sharks (2-2) at 6 p.m. in Philadelphia.

The Soul are looking for their second win in a row after coming of a 69-56 win over the Orlando Predators on Thursday, April 10 at CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla. The Sharks, meanwhile, are coming off a 60-41 win over the Tampa Bay Storm on Friday, April 11 in Jacksonville. As the two teams battle tonight in South Philadelphia, here are the five things you should know and watch for heading into the game.

1.     The Soul are dropping their 2013 American Conference Championship banner, which they won over Jacksonville (again)

The Soul have owned the Jacksonville Sharks the last two seasons, winning four of the five contests and going 2-0 over the Sharks in the playoffs. Both of those wins came in the American Conference Championship game, with an 89-34 beat down at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday, August 3, 2012 at the Wells Fargo Center, and a 75-59 win in 2013 in Jacksonville. If there is one team that the Soul have felt confident playing the last few seasons, it’s been the Jacksonville Sharks.

2.     New faces for the teams

The Sharks may have won two of their four games this season, but the team you will see on offense for Jacksonville tonight will be a complete different team than the one that’s suited up the first four games for Jacksonville.

Quarterback Aaron Garcia sat out the first four games of the season for the Sharks, while he sat on the refused to report list due to financial reasons, but has suddenly decided to show up for his team that he led to an Arena Bowl title back in 2011. Garcia started last season with the San Jose Sharks, but after ugly performances just a few weeks into the season Garcia was traded to the Orlando Predators. In Orlando, Garcia threw for 84 touchdowns and 4,015 yards and led the Predators to the playoffs, where his season was ended by the Philadelphia Soul in a 59-55 loss in the semifinals. Soul fans will remember that Garcia was marching his team down the field to win the game in the final minute of the match, before Bryan Robinson stripped the ball from Garcia and recovered the fumble to seal the victory.

The Sharks have also made some key acquisitions this week, bringing in former Soul reciver Andrae Thurma and receiver Jomo Wilson from the Talons, while their leading receiver Mardy Gilyard has spent time at a tryout with the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes.

The Soul, meanwhile, have acquired Fred Shaw, the defensive back from the Talons in a trade that sent defensive back Kyle Whitehurst to San Antonio. In 2013, Shaw had 13 interceptions with 64.5 tackles, and in 2012 recorded 120 tackles and eight interceptions. Shaw will look to be a much needed change for this Soul defense that has greatly struggled most of this season through the first four games.

3.     Dan Raudabaugh is a beast.

While it was a rough start to the season for Raudabaugh, the Soul quarterback is coming off the greatest single-game performance by a quarterback in Arena Football history, completing 20 of 22 passes for 254 passing yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. Raudabaugh seems to have picked up where he left off his last two seasons, where he has proven to be the best quarterback in the American Conference, and is probably only behind the Rattlers Nick Davila as the best in the AFL. And as Raudabaugh has went, so have the Soul. If Philadelphia is going to continue their success against Jacksonville, Raudabaugh will need to have a big game tonight.

4.     Ross needs a rebound game

Derrick Ross did not have a bad performance in Orlando last weekend, putting up two touchdowns, but he had an ineffective one for Ross’ normal standards. Ross had 12 carries for 20 yards in the team’s victory, which are actually normal numbers for Arena Football fullbacks, but Ross is the greatest fullback in the history of the game and is used to playing bigger roles in his teams victory. I have a feeling we will see Ross tear past the Sharks defensive line this week and run for his first lawn-mowing celebration of the season

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5.     The Soul will need to take care of home-field play the rest of the season

The Soul have played their first four games of the season on the road, dropping the first three in Arizona, San Jose and Tampa Bay before getting back to Soul-forum last week in Orlando. They've played the hardest stretch of their season, and will finish the rest of the year playing nine of their last 14 games at home in the Wells Fargo Center. There are some interesting opponents coming to Philly this season, including the first place 4-0 Cleveland Gladiators, the 3-1 Pittsburgh Power and the San Jose SaberCats that defeated the Soul on Sunday, March 23 in San Jose. The Soul haven’t been able to get it done on the road so far, and will need to play their best at home if they are going to reach the American Conference playoffs.

The Sharks are going to be a good team in this conference as the season unfolds, and we may end up meeting them in the playoffs for the third straight season. However, there are too many important pieces to this team being thrown together in a short time this week, which will make it hard for them to play their best game on the road in Philadelphia this week. The Soul have had Aaron Garcia and the Jacksonville Shark’s number the past few seasons, and I think that streak will continue tonight in the Soul’s season opener. 

Raudabaugh makes history as Soul dance in the Jungle

               

    Dan Raudabaugh’s record-setting performance led the Philadelphia Soul to a 69-56 win over the Orlando Predators on Thursday, April 4 at CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla.

Raudabaugh had an amazing game Thursday night, completing 20 of 22 passes good enough for 254 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Raudabaugh’s performance earned him the greatest single-game completion percentage in the 27 year history of Arena Football.

Tiger Jones finished the night with 91 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Ryan McDaniel finished with 113 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.  Derrick Ross was limited to 17 rushing yards and 10 receiving, while racking up a pair of touchdowns.

On the opening drive of the game, the Soul were committing the same defensive mistakes that cost them in their first three games, committing penalties on fourth down and incompletions, giving Orlando perfect opportunities to jump on them early. However, the Soul defense would stand tall and force the Predators to turn the ball over on downs to start the game.

Raudabaugh wasted no time getting the Soul offense moving, finding Tiger Jones for the first score of the game.The teams would exchange scores and end the first quarter at a 14-14 tie. Philadelphia would open the second quarter scoring three straight touchdowns, and would head into the half with a 41-28 lead.

The Soul opened the third quarter the way their offense started the game with a Tiger Jones touchdown, this time of forty yards to extend their lead to 48-28.                                                                 

   In the final minutes of the third quarter, the Predators scored a quick touchdown to cut the Philadelphia lead to two scores, and appeared to recover on onside kick before getting flagged for an offside kicking team, giving possession to the Soul.

The Orlando defense kept up with the Soul offense through the short field, and nearly forced a fourth down situation for Philadelphia in the redzone, but an interference call in the back of the end zone gave Philly the ball at the one yard line and a first down.

Derrick Ross had trouble reaching the endzone as Orlando stood tall on the goal line, but found his way through the scrimmage on third down to deflate the Predators defense and quiet the Orlando crowd.

         

        The Soul defense continued the team’s momentum through the next drive, forcing a turnover on downs with 10 minutes remaining in the game and giving the Soul the ball once again. Raudabaugh would find Ryan McDaniel in the endzone for his second touchdown of the game, giving the Soul a 69-42 lead which sent the Orlando faithful filing for the exits.

            

    With five minutes remaining, a scrum broke out between the Orlando offense and Philadelphia defense when Predators receiver Greg Car and Soul defensive back James Romain traded punches, earning each an ejection.

           

     The Predators made a late push in the final minutes of the game to cut it to a two score defecate, but it was too little too late for Orlando as the Soul escaped the jungle with a 69-56 victory to end the three game losing streak. The Soul now sit at 1-3 to start the season.

               

    

            This was not a perfect game for the Soul, but they clearly showed that they were the better team in this contest from the first drive of the game until the final snap. This was the best performance on the year by Philadelphia’s defense, which probably had some to do with head coach Clint Dolezel calling the defensive plays on the field for the first time this season. The defense forced numerous turnovers on downs throughout the game, while Joe Goosby intercepted a pass from Predators quarterback Jason Boltus in the second quarter to give the offense the ball and carry momentum.

The real story of the night was Dan Raudabaugh, who sat in dead last in the league in quarterback rating through the first three games of the season, but turned around to break AFL quarterback records and carry his team to a big road victory over Orlando, avoiding an 0-4 start that would surely bring panic to the team and proving why he is a great leader.

The team can finally head home next weekend for the home opener to drop the 2013 American Conference Champions banner from the raptors in front of the team they beat in the conference championship game last season, the Jacksonville Sharks. The Sharks have suddenly become an interesting opponent due to their quarterback situation, which we will take a look at later in the week when we preview the game. But for now, it appears that the Soul have found their game again, and it’s great to see the Soul back on the winning side of things, and hopefully they will be able to carry the firepower over to their next Florida opponent next Friday. 

Winless Soul try to avoid road sweep in Orlando

CsnPhilly.com

The road trip will come to an end for the Philadelphia Soul this weekend as they battle the Orlando Predators at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10 at CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla.

The road has not treated Philadelphia kind through the first three games, as Soul sit at 0-3 to start the season after two trips out west to Arizona and San Jose, along with a travel down south to central Florida, where the Soul have spent the last week in Tampa Bay and Orlando. Now, Philadelphia will hope to avoid falling even further behind in the American Conference playoff run as they battle another potential postseason contender in the Predators.

The last time these two teams met, the Philadelphia Soul defeated the Orlando Predators 59-55 in the opening round of the 2013 American Conference playoffs on Saturday, Aug. 23 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Predators held the lead for most of the contest, but a late Soul rally gave the lead to Philadelphia in the final minute of the game. Aaron Garcia than began marching his Predators down the field to take the lead once more and possibly win the game, but Garcia would have the ball stripped and recovered by Bryan Robinson to seal the deal for Philadelphia and send the Predators, along with former Soul head coach Doug Plank home for the season.

Much has changed since than for the Predators, as Doug Plank has retired and Aaron Garcia is unsure of his status as a member of the Jacksonville Sharks. Rob Keffe has taken over as the head coach in Orlando, and Jason Boltus has been putting up pretty good numbers at quarterback for the Preds. Orlando is leading the South division with a record of 3-1, as they jumped out to a solid start of the year with home wins over the Jacksonville Sharks and the Los Angeles Kiss, along with a road win in the ‘War on I-4’ rivalry over the Tamp Bay Storm.

The Predators are coming off a 62-55 loss to the New Orleans Voodoo Thursday, April 3 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La. In the final minute of the game, the Predators had an opportunity to seal the victory, as Orlando recovered a Voodoo onside kick, with the score tied at 55 apiece. However, Boltus threw a third-and-goal interception which was returned for a touchdown to solidify a 62-55 win for the Voodoo.

On the season, Boltus is 88-149 in passing, throwing for 1173 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions, earning him a 106.9 quarterback rating. Khalil Parden has been Boltus’ main target this season, bringing in six touchdowns and 388 yards, the third most in the league this season. Greg Carr and Kendal Thompkins have also brought in six touchdowns a piece.

Defensive back Tanner Varner, a former Soul, has made his defensive presence known in Orlando in the first four games of the season, bringing in two interceptions good enough for 74 yards and a touchdown. The defensive line for the Predators hasn’t been able to get the quarterback as much as they probably would like, only recording one sack on the season, coming from defensive back Mark Robinson.

For Philadelphia, the Soul will need to concentrate on committing fewer penalties from the beginning to the end of the game. Defensive penalties have been giving their opponents offense too much yardage and extra plays, making themselves work overtime when they are usually behind on the scoreboard. The defense has also struggled creating turnovers, as a Joe Goosby interception was the only stop for the Soul in Tampa Bay last week, which came when the game was virtually out of reach. Whether it is on downs, fumbles or interceptions, this defense needs to get the ball back to the offense if they’re going to get their first win this week.

On the offense, this team obviously has the playmakers that will give them more than enough opportunities to rack up the points and keep the team in games. Ryan McDaniel has actually passed Tiger Jones in yards gained with 296, while Jones has 258 yards. Both receivers have brought in six touchdowns each. Derrick Ross is leading all fullbacks in the league with 85 yards, and also touchdowns with seven.

       

     Orlando has turned a lot of heads this season around the league, with very low pre-season expectations placed on them with star players getting traded away, a change in ownership and moving to CFE Arena after the Amway Center kicked them to the curb. But the Predators found a way to win their first three games of the season, and very well could be undefeated if not for quarterback mistake in New Orleans.

        

    With that said, the Predators are not of the same pedigree as the top teams of the league such as Arizona, San Jose, and I’ll even throw Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to the mix. Even though the Soul have not yet recorded a win this season, Philadelphia has a much more talented roster than Orlando, and sooner or later that has to start coming through and equating to wins no matter how gritty or rowdy an opponent is.

  I could see how the Predators could give Philadelphia their fourth loss of the season, as the hostile Orlando fans will be making a lot of noise in the crowded CFE Arena with a very low roof that has the potential to interfere with a kickoff. But this is the first weekend of the season where Philadelphia has not had a long plane ride to deal with just days before their game, and have instead stayed in Florida for the week and took the two hour drive from Tampa Bay to Orlando on Tuesday night. Orlando on the other hand has presumably taken a plane ride home from New Orleans sometime in the past seven days, while the Soul have been at their home waiting for them.

         

     This is not necessarily a must-win game for the Soul, but it’s another potential wildcard or home-field advantage tiebreaking matchup. The Soul will end this road trip and return to the Wells Fargo Center next week for their home opener, which will be home to nine of their final 14 games. Hopefully by the time their plane lands in Philadelphia this weekend, they will have a road win in the books. 

Soul fall to Tampa Bay, remain winless to start season

                                                "No Touchdown" 

The Soul weren't going to get a break down in Tampa on Friday if they caught one in mid-air and ran it into the end zone. When everything seems to be going against you in a game and you add a few turnovers to the mix, the game is going to get really ugly, really fast.

And that is exactly what happened to the Philadelphia Soul, who fell to the Tampa Bay Storm 63-49 on Friday, April 4 at Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa Bay, Fla.

On the opening drive of the game, it seemed that the Soul were going to be handed an opportunity to take control of the game early on, as Carlos Martinez’s kick bounced off the uprights and landed onto the field of play, where the ball was recovered by a member of the Philadelphia kicking team. However, after further discussion it was determined the ball hit the wall before the Soul recovered it, giving possession to Tampa Bay.

The Storm capitalized on the break by scoring a touchdown moments later as quarterback Randy Hippeard found receiver Samuel Trunks on a 26 yard touchdown. The Soul would march down the field trying to equalize the score, but a fumble by Derrick Ross inside Tampa’s 10 yard line gave the ball back to the Storm.

The teams would exchange touchdowns throughout the first half, and the Soul trailed Tampa Bay 35-21 heading into the locker room.

The Soul would open up the second half with a Tiger Jones touchdown from Raudabaugh, making it a one possession game. The Soul would not get any closer in the contest however, and would turn the ball over numerously in the second half to lose 63-49.

The only defensive stop for the Soul came off a Joe Goosby interception in the fourth quarter.

Raudabaugh played his best game of the season, completing 32 of 47 passes 335 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.

            The bottom line for this team’s inability to put a good performance together for a full game and bring in their first win of the season is sloppy play, that’s getting numerous calls against them, with a sub-par defense thrown into the mix.

The stats sheet isn't going to show you how many infractions the Soul actually committed in this game, but the mental mistakes caused the team to turn the ball over on downs time and time again, along with giving the Storm offense extra-yardage and get closer to the end zone.

The defense has had many other problems this season, as they have kept their team out of contention in most of these three losses with the inability to make stops in games or generate turnovers. Goosby’s interception, which was the only stop in the entire game, was the first for any member of this team on the season. Ted Jennings has the Soul’s only fumble recovery, while he and Brandon Perkins have recorded the only two sacks in the first three games. This team has not played well on defense, and needs to make some major adjustments moving forward.

Now that we have established that the Soul single handedly lost this game by themselves, we can take a look at the touchdown Tiger Jones scored in the third quarter of the game, while his team trailed by two touchdowns, but was taken away after further review..

                     

To be honest, I can't say I have the AFL rule book in front of me, but I can tell you that the NFL rule book states:

A touchdown is scored when: 

(a) the ball is on, above, or behind the plane of the opponents’ goal line and is in possession of a runner 

 who has advanced from the field of play

(Section 2, Touchdown plays)

We've seen this play a million times in all football on every level, where the ball has crossed the plane and it's a touchdown, regardless of what results after it has crossed.

This is not the infamous 'Calvin Johnson rule', where a player must catch the ball and maintain possession as he lands on the ground and stands up; Tiger already had the ball, and was running in the end zone, which he did and earned his six points. 

Basically, it was a touchdown, and everyone involved but the officials knew it was. Even the Tampa Bay announcers, Jack Harris and Darek Sharp (who referred to Tiger Jones as a “sphincter” during one of his touchdowns in the first quarter) were in disbelief when the touchdown was taken away from Jones, who clearly crossed the plane with the ball, but had it stripped after leaving the end zone. Head coach Clint Dolezel waited for the referees to review the video tape outside of the end zone at which it was being reviewed, and turned around running as fast as he could in anger away from the officials (probably best for their safety) once they told him it was ruled a fumble.

There was controversy on the Soul’s next possession, where Ryan McDaniel appeared to score a fourth-down touchdown as he stretched the ball over the plane of the end zone, but after further review, the officials determined he was shy of the white stripe, another call that Harris and Sharp along with their guest Adam Markowitz, the AFL guru from the great ArenaFan.com, all disagreed with.

The Soul will get two more chances at the Tampa Bay Storm this season, as they host the Storm Saturday, May 17 at the Wells Fargo Center, and will travel back to Tampa to finish the season series on Saturday, June 7.

But this team has a lot to work on this week as they prepare to take on the Orlando Predators at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10 at CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla. The Soul will remain in Florida this week to prepare for their fourth straight road game to start the season, and hopefully the lighter travel will be beneficial for this club. I’m not sure if anyone envisioned this team starting the season 0-3, and with Cleveland (3-0) and Pittsburgh (2-1) staying strongly above them in the standings, they need to figure their game out quickly if they plan on competing in the playoffs for the third straight season. It’s certainly going to be an interesting night in Orlando and South Philadelphia this Thursday. 

Soul return from bye week in Tampa Bay

        

                                                    CBSPhilly.com

   The Philadelphia Soul will search for their first win in the Sunshine State this weekend as they take on the Tampa Bay Storm at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 4 at Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa Bay, Fla.

  

          Tampa Bay heads into Friday’s game with a 2-1 record, with a pair of wins over the New Orleans Voodoo and the San Antonio Talons.                                                                               

The Storm’s most recent game however was a 56-52 home loss to the Orlando Predators on Saturday, March 29. Tampa held an eleven point lead for most of the fourth quarter in the “War on I-4” rivalry over Orlando, and after recovering an onside kick from the Predators while clutching on to a four point lead, Tampa Bay appeared to be cursing to their third straight win to start their season. However, a fumble by Storm quarterback Randy Hippeard gave the Predators the ball back with 45 seconds remaining. Orlando capitalized on the opportunity, scoring the game winning touchdown and leaving Tampa Bay with the win.

            Hippeard still stands with a 100.1 quarterback rating through the first three games of the season, as he has completed 56 of his 97 passes, throwing for 841 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. Amarri Jackson has caught 21 of Hippeard’s passes for 247 yards and seven touchdowns. Justin Hilton is also off to a great start for the Storm’s receiving core this season, bringing in 328 yards and eight touchdowns.

            The Storm’s secondary has stepped up big on the defensive end, as defensive back Chris Smith has five of the team’s six interceptions in the team’s first three games. Linebacker Richard Clebert has recorded three sacks.

           Last season, the Soul defeated the Storm 73-55 at Tampa Bay Times Forum, in a game where Dan Raudabaugh threw for 297 yards and seven touchdowns for Philadelphia. Fullback Derrick Ross rushed for three touchdowns in the win.

           The biggest concern for the Soul approaching this weekend is the status Derrick Ross, who left the team’s last game in San Jose on Sunday, March 23 due to injury in the third quarter, and did not return to the game. The team has not released any information regarding Ross’ injury or status over the bye week. This has made the Storm game plan for Ross being in the lineup, but if he is unable to suit up come Friday, it will certainly be huge for Tampa Bay’s game adjustments and a major blow for the Soul.

  

          In the first two games for Philadelphia, the Soul’s biggest weakness may have been game adjustments, or lack thereof on offense. The Soul seemed to try and force the deep ball on all downs, despite success at the short-game efforts. When the defense of San Jose appeared to have read the Soul’s game plan up and down the field, Philadelphia failed to make the proper adjustments, while Arizona and San Jose were all over the Soul receivers once downfield.

Dan Raudabaugh has been intercepted once in both games this season, throwing for five touchdowns and 397 yards while completing 33 of 62 pass attempts, earning him a 53.2 completion rating and a 79.8 quarterback rating. To Raudabaugh’s defense, he has only played the two best defenses in the league the season that are the frontrunners to win the Arena Bowl.

           Despite Tampa Bay’s 2-1 record, I don’t see the Storm posing as big of a challenge to Philadelphia as the teams out West did last month, with or without Ross lining up at fullback. The Storm have put up the numbers on both sides of the ball, but have won both games by less than a touchdown against two winless teams that don’t look to be improving anytime soon.

The Storm’s secondary has been thriving in their first three matches, but have not faced a receiving core like Tiger Jones, Ryan McDaniel and Larry Brackins, all of whom will give the Tampa Bay defense a tiring night. Everyone on the Soul roster knows the importance of this game, and knows what the dangers of falling to 0-3 can entail as the Pittsburgh Power and Cleveland Gladiators have had decent starts to their seasons. This team has battled adversity the past two years it’s been together and knows how to battle back from slow starts to the season, and the hard part of the schedule is over. Conference play should be a great refresher for this team, and will hopefully build some momentum that they can ride the next four months.