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.