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When the Soul kickoff against the Cleveland Gladiators this Saturday at 7 p.m., the game will in all likelihood be just a shell of what the rivalry once was between these former East Division foes.
The trash talking will no doubt be a part of the pregame rituals, the late hits will stir a rise from the offensive team and we will probably see a few unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
But it won’t be the same as the 2008 playoff match that saw Mike Brown leaping over kicker Jason Ball for a touchdown. There won’t be a sea of “yes!” chants from the crowd that will overpower the visiting Soul, like the two road matches of 2014.
The game might even lack the intensity of last seasons 47-35 first round playoff win at the Wells Fargo Center, where there was never a doubt the Soul would come out on top.
The truth is, the Soul-Gladiators rivalry is not what it once was, and it’s not just because the Gladiators moved to the National Conference this past offseason and no longer compete with Philly for a playoff seed.
The Soul have sustained a powerhouse year after year, and the Gladiators just haven’t been able to keep up.
But it wasn’t always this way. Even going back two seasons ago, Cleveland had their way with Philadelphia during the most successful season in Cleveland’s franchise history. The Gladiators took the league by storm, putting together a commanding 17-1 regular season record for the league’s top seed.
It wasn’t that Cleveland was tremendously better than Philadelphia that year. Five of Cleveland’s regular season victories came in the last seconds of the game, and two of which came over the Soul on hail mary throws to steal the win over a Philadelphia team that outplayed their most hated team from Ohio.
When the teams met up in the opening round of the playoffs, Cleveland nailed their season of comebacks with a field goal as time expired to eliminate the back-to-back defending conference champion Soul, enroute their own Arena Bowl appearance (where they would get smothered at home by the Rattlers).
Since that field goal two years ago, the teams have taken dramatically different paths in the AFL.
The Soul have won six straight over the Gladiators, while finishing last season with the American Conference’s top seed and currently hold the top seed of the AFL this season.
Philadelphia has been all that Cleveland hoped to become two years ago, with impressive wins on their season over the Arizona Rattlers and once undefeated Orlando Predators with a 7-1 record at the midpoint of the season.
Two of those wins have come against the Cleveland Gladiators, a 69-41 statement win to set the tone for the season on opening night in Cleveland, and a 67-50 win in Philly back in week four.
As for the Gladiators, their 4-4 record has them second in a very underwhelming National Conference that probably isn’t going to be represented by anyone but Arizona in the Arena Bowl.
The Gladiators will show up to play this weekend and try to prove that they are worthy of playing on the same field as the best team in the league. And to their credit, they’re on a three-game win streak, with their last two victories both coming in overtime against the Portland Steele and Tampa Bay Storm (the two worst teams in the league).
But you can look at the last match between the Soul and the Gladiators to use as any indication for anything that might arise this weekend. Cleveland jumped out to a two-possession lead over the Soul after careless mistakes on defense, costly penalties and turnovers by the offense.
But Philadelphia quickly showed just how much better they are than Cleveland now. Dan Raudabaugh constructed another outstanding performance in that match, completing 26 of 31 passes for 315 yards and eight touchdowns.
Dwayne Hollis brought in a timely interception in the second half, one of the three Philly’s defense brought in all game. Hollis also earned five tackles in the win.
Raudabaugh and Hollis were the storyline in the game last month, and they have been all season long.
We say it week in and week out, but Raudabaugh is on pace for his second MVP season, and after last week’s impressive win over Orlando he has to be the favorite at this point. Hollis is leading the league in interceptions with six, looking like a solid defensive player of the year candidate.
The Soul are giving us great moments this season to enjoy. There are playmakers on Cleveland’s team, such as defensive back Joe Powell and wide receiver Colin Taylor who can try and keep things interesting. And while anything is possible in this league, Philadelphia is the overwhelmingly better team in this rivalry.
Philadelphia is in a three way race with Orlando and Arizona for homefield throughout the entire playoffs, and they probably won’t let a Cleveland Gladiators team stand in their way this weekend.
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