Soul become first to beat every team in the league

Saturday's victory was as critical for a first place team as possible midway through the season.

The win came in timely fashion, one week after the Soul lost an upset to the par-Gladiators, and the Sharks had bit a miracle win out of the second place Orlando Predators.

Philadelphia needed a win over the team that had been struggling in every direction all season. The team that upset the Soul in Philly at the beginning of the year. The team that upset the Soul in last years conference championship.

The one team in the league the Soul hadn’t defeated yet this year.

They had one more opportunity to quiet the Sharks who have given them fits for a full calendar year before the playoffs started, in case they met once again in a heated postseason battle.

And that’s exactly what they did.

Saturday’s 56-42 win in Jacksonville had all the components needed to prove to the world that the Soul are still the best team in Arena Football.

Philly’s defense only generated one stop in the Cleveland loss, yet matched that number on Jacksonville’s second drive of the game.

Tied at 7-7 and at their own 20 yardline, Jacksonville’s Tommy Grady tried to find Tiger Jones 30-yards down the field in the Soul endzone but was intercepted by James Romain at the Soul goal line for the game's first turnover. Dan Raudabaugh connected with Ryan McDaniel 2.5 minutes later to give the Soul their first lead of the game, 14-7.

The Soul did face adversity to work through early on as well, as the offense suffered turnover problems as they did the previous week.

In the final five minutes of the second quarter, Ryan McDaniel fumbled the ball through a wall of lineman at the Jacksonville 12 yard line which was recovered by Micheaux Robinson to give Jacksonville the ball, tied 21-21.

Head coach Clint Dolezel’s play calling in the final minute of the half stole a possession away from the Sharks however, as he’s done to opponents numerous times this season. The Soul offense was able to shed 39 seconds off the clock before scoring a Darius Reynolds touchdown and handing the ball back to Jacksonville with just 12 seconds remaining. Grady was only able to run three plays before time ran out, sending the teams to the locker rooms tied 28-28.

Philly’s defense carried the momentum over to the second half, with Jacksonville getting the ball to start play yet turned it over on downs just outside the Soul endzone.

The teams traded scores the rest of the third quarter, but the Jacksonville offense showed to be out of sync at times just as they have all season. The (surprise and out of nowhere) acquisition of wide receiver Reggie Gray got the home crowd excited early, as Gray scored the first two Jacksonville touchdowns of the game, but the star-studded team knew that someone would be getting action cut with the addition. Gray finished with eight receptions for 66 yards in the game. Their leading receiver all season, Joe Hills, was quiet in the beginning, but came around in the game to still lead the team with 163 yards and two touchdowns.

The former Soul greats, Tiger Jones and Derrick Ross, were the ones who got less attention with Gray’s presence. Jones lit up his former team in the first meeting back in April with two touchdowns and 126 yards, but this time around only got five catches with 71 yards and did not find the endzone.

Ross, who always gets up and loud to play the Soul, got a little too high and loud with penalties making him a non factor in the game. He did bring in one score, but only gained nine rushing yards on six attempts and put his team in deep penalty holes.

The wear and tear showed in the fourth quarter, as the Soul defense stopped the Sharks on downs two more times with the last a goal line stand to seal the deal with 51 seconds remaining.

Raudabaugh finished the night completing 21 of 25 passes for 289 yards and six touchdowns. Despite McDaniel’s turnover issues, he made up for them almost every other chance he had, finishing the night with 167 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Reynolds hung up 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Jermaine Richardson was the better fullback in the match, finishing with 20 yards and a pair of touchdowns himself.

The Soul were the better team in the match, and showed once again why they have the best record in Arena Football. The win advanced them to 8-2, and dropped the Sharks to 4-5.

The path to the Arena Bowl is closing in, with just six games remaining in the regular season. The Soul have now beaten every team in the AFL, and while every team makes the postseason, they will probably be the only team who can say that when the playoffs start.