Friday, March 27, 2015

Soul open season in Orlando


The 2015 season is set to kickoff this weekend for the Philadelphia Soul as they travel to the heart of the jungle to take on the Orlando Predators at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 29 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

It will be a new group of faces for the Soul this weekend since their season ending loss in Cleveland last summer, as the Soul have once again adopted a majority of new faces from a talented-defunct team.

When their rival Pittsburgh Power folded this past offseason, the Soul added seven members from the Power this offseason, including fullback Tommy Taggart, defensive back Brandon Freeman, defensive lineman Justin Lawrence, outside lineman Keith Newell, wide receiver Shaun Kauleinamoku and defensive lineman Curtis Young, along with their former head coach Derek Stingley hired on as the defensive coordinator.

Head coach Clint Dolezel and quarterback Dan Raudabaugh are returning for their fourth season together in Philadelphia, and are returning to the Amway Center for the first time since their heartbreaking loss to the Arizona Rattlers in Arena Bowl XXVI back in 2013. Philadelphia played Orlando twice last season, once in Orlando, but the Predators played their home games at CFE Arena for the 2014 season due to contract issues.

The Soul swept the Predators in their two-game series last season, taking the first game 69-56 on April 10 in Orlando before finishing off the series with a 42-35 win July 7 in Philadelphia.

It’s worth noting that the Predators’ season was ended last year in a 56-48 home loss to the Power on Aug. 3 in the opening round of the playoffs since many members of that Power team have made a new home in Philly.

Bernard Morris will be at quarterback for the Predators again this season, after spending his first season in Orlando last year on the refuse to report list for the first half of the season along with battling injuries, sharing reps with Jason Boltus.
Morris played in nine games for Orlando last year, throwing for 47 touchdowns and six interceptions, with a 64.9 completion percentage.
Gregg Carr was Orlando’s leading receiver last season scoring 36 touchdowns and averaged 79.7 yards per game.
One of the bigger additions for the Predators this offseason came this past week when Orlando signed defensive end Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, who is entering his first year in the AFL after spending time with the Philadelphia Eagles (2010) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2011-13).  

Orlando is a team that has more experience playing together as a whole than Philadelphia currently does, but the Soul clearly have the more talented roster. The biggest challenge for the Soul will be flowing together as team early on and seeing if the players can mesh together well and compete for an Arena Bowl. The Soul struggled out the gate last season dropping their first three games, but finally got things rolling when they traveled to Orlando to take on these same Predators. Hopefully this matchup can get the Soul rolling again this season.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

2015 Soul roster sees facelift heading into training camp




When the Philadelphia Soul open their 2015 training camp this week, they will be without eight major players that have helped them reach the playoffs three straight seasons.
Fullback Derrick Ross, wide receivers Tiger Jones and V’Keon Lacey, defensive back Rayshaun Kizer, center Brennen Carvalho, lineman Jason Holman, defensive lineman Bryan Robinson and linebacker Brandon Perkins have left the Soul, either to signings/trades with other teams or currently sit as free agents.


The most surprising move the Soul made this offseason however was the trade of Ross to the L.A. Kiss in exchange for linebacker Beau Bell, who is considered by many across the league to be the best linebacker in the AFL.


The announcement of the trade was not surprising at the time, as Ross made it clear on social media that a change in Philadelphia was coming:


Ross’ tenure in Philadelphia was nothing short of legendary, becoming the AFL’s all-time rushing leader with 2,260 yards and 142 touchdowns in his four seasons playing Arena ball, three in Philadelphia.
While Ross criticized the Soul’s front office, and maybe rightfully so, there’s always two sides to every situation and Ross has spoken out against team authority on social media before, notably criticizing the coaching staff for not giving him the ball in their loss to the Arizona Rattlers in Arena Bowl 26.


Nonetheless, Ross was a class act for the fans on and off the field, making himself a fan favorite and will certainly be missed in Philadelphia.


The Soul have brought in Tommy Taggart from the defunct rival Pittsburgh Power, who rushed for 167 yards last season averaging 2.5 yards per game and scoring 10 touchdowns.
Brennan Carvalho has been another key to Philadelphia’s success the past few seasons, standing tall as one of the best centers in the league, but after returning to the Arizona Rattlers this past offseason, the Soul grabbed Shannon Breen from the Cleveland Gladiators in his replacement. Breen was named to the All-Arena Second Team last season, and started all 18 games for the Cleveland Gladiators last year, who finished with the best record in the regular season before falling to the Arizona Rattlers in the Arena Bowl.


The Soul have preached for two years now about bringing in young talent, which has resulted in the departure of wide receiver Tiger Jones, who was named All-Arena each of his three seasons with Philadelphia, along with teammate receiver V’Keon Lacey, who averaged just shy of 11 yards per reception last season.


Also gone from the Soul this offseason is defensive back Rayshaun Kizer, the third All-Arena player to leave the Soul after signing with the three-time defending world champion Arizona Rattlers. Kizer has brought in 29 interceptions the past three seasons with the Soul, and last year set the record for interceptions in a playoff game with four.


Here is a further look at the Soul 2014-15 offseason moves:


Notable losses from 2014 roster:


Derrick Ross-  L.A. Kiss
Tiger Jones-  Jacksonville Sharks
V’Keon Lacey-  Portland Thunder
Rayshaun Kizer-  Arizona Rattlers
Brennen Carvalho-  Arizona Rattlers
Jason Holman-  Jacksonville Sharks


Free agents unsigned:
Bryan Robinson
Brandon Perkins


Key additions for 2015 season:


Linebacker Beau Bell
Fullback Tommy Taggart
Center Shannon Breen
Wide receiver Shaun Kauleinamoku
Wide receiver Tyrone Goard
Wide receiver Dominique Curry
Defensive lineman Justin Lawrence
Offensive lineman Keith Newell





The Soul are set to begin training camp this week, with field practice beginning today and full-padded action beginning Tuesday, March 10. Quarterback Dan Raudbaugh is returning for his third season in Philadelphia, and some members of past teams such as Joe Goosby, Kent Richardson, James Romain and others still remain.
When Philadelphia kicks off their 2015 season in Orlando against the Predators Sunday, March 29, it’s unsure yet if the Soul will be a better or worse team than the one that lost on a last-second field goal to the Gladiators in the opening round of the playoffs last season, but one thing is for sure: they will be a different team.