If there was any doubt that the Soul deserved their 2015 East Division crown, it was put to rest Saturday afternoon with Philadelphia’s 72-56 win over the Cleveland Gladiators.
With the win, the Soul take the season series over their arch rival, only a year removed from the three-game sweep the 2014 conference champion Cleveland Gladiators had over the Soul. The tides have certainly turned as the Soul now advance to 13-2 on the season, holding the division championship and clinching home field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.
The Gladiators meanwhile fall to 7-8, in danger of losing the final wildcard seed in the American Conference.
Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh continued his stellar season Saturday afternoon completing 20 of his 27 passes with 306 yards and seven touchdowns. Harvey Binford was Philly’s leading receiver with 145 yards and four touchdowns.
For Cleveland, quarterback Shane Austin was not as perfect as he was against Philly last season, going 19 for 39 in passing yet still throwing for 228 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. Receiver Amarri Jackson brought in 125 yards and three touchdowns for Cleveland.
Philly started the game off strong forcing Shane Austin to fumble the ball on the first snap of the game, which would lead to a Tommy Taggart touchdown.
Cleveland would respond quickly, marching down the field and tying the game 7-7 with a Jer Richardson one-yard touchdown.
On the Soul’s next drive, Lonnie Outlaw would score a costly 16-yard touchdown that would dislocate his shoulder, forcing him to leave the game while the Soul lead 14-7.
Late in the second quarter leading 21-14, the Soul appeared to stop the Gladiators on downs to regain possession, but a pass interference call advanced Cleveland to a first down. The drive would still result in a Cleveland turnover, as Lereco Stevenson intercepted a pass that was tipped by TJ Cobb with 5:33 remaining in the first half, Cleveland’s second turnover of the half to give Philly the ball.
Ryan McDaniel would punch in an eight-yard touchdown off the turnover to extend the Soul lead to two scores, 28-14 with 3:49 remaining in the half.
The Gladiators would respond three minutes later with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Austin to Amarri Jackson, but the drive ended up being a momentum builder for the Soul as the extra point attempt was blocked and returned by Joe Goosby for a two-point conversion for Philadelphia, who led 30-20.
The Soul would get the ball back with 30 seconds left before the half, and compiled a 23-second drive that resulted in a Harvey Binford touchdown to give the Soul a 37-20 lead heading into the locker room.
The Soul made a statement on the first snap of the second half, with Raudabaugh throwing a 36-yard bomb to a wide open Binford that extended Philadelphia’s lead to 44-20.
While Raudabaugh is on pace to earn the 2015 AFL MVP, he had a rare mistake with eight minutes remaining the third quarter, throwing an interception to the Cleveland backup Chris Dieker, filling in for safety. Cleveland marched down for a second straight score to cut the Philly lead to 44-34.
Philly would add on a touchdown and stop Cleveland on a fourth-down quarterback-sneak at the 14 yard line to regain the ball on the first possession of the fourth quarter, leading 51-34. Raudabaugh found Marco Thomas the very next play to go up 58-34.
Shane Austin’s struggles continued the next possession with a fourth down sack at the 20 yard line with 9:55 remaining in the game.
The Soul did not look back from there as Raudabaugh got to take a seat and let backup Bryan Randall see some playing time with five minutes remaining in the game leading 65-34.
Cleveland would make things interesting in the final minute of the game, scoring nine points in the final 30 seconds to cut the lead to 72-56 but would get no closer.
The Soul dominated the Gladiators in every facet of the game, as the offense, defense and special teams dominated the defending conference champions on nearly every snap. Saturday afternoon was refreshing to see the Soul show up to work after the bye week and take their hated rival to the house and damage their playoff hopes, while also adding momentum to their own.
The concerning light is that the Soul have lost a second receiver to injury, as Outlaw joins TK on the injury list and there has not been a timetable released on either yet. However, the Soul receiving core did not miss a beat when Outlaw went down early this afternoon as Harvey Binford proved why he belongs on one of the top rosters in the AFL.
Philadelphia has three more opportunities to show the league why they’re worthy of an Arena Bowl title before the playoffs begin next month, which begins next Saturday with a trip down to see our old friends in Jacksonville with the season series on the line against the Sharks.
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