Soul march on Washington, hold Valor scoreless in second half for convincing win

Two weeks in, two wins deep for the Philadelphia Soul.

And after an offseason of so much change to the Arena Football league, the Soul have learned two things quickly into their season:

1) Nothing is going to come as easy as the critics predicted

2) The sole undefeated Soul are still the best team in the league (despite what Washington’s announcers predicted five minutes into Saturday’s match).

To be honest, it’s somewhat understandable why Washington was overhyped early on Saturday night.

After Philadelphia’s defense failed to hold the Valor’s offense on a fourth and goal during Washington’s first possession, Dan Raudabaugh threw an uncharacteristic interception moments later, which was returned for a touchdown by our good friend and reigning world champion, Tracy Belton, to put his new team up 14-0.

But what the new Washington announcing crew failed to remember is that this Soul squad has seen nearly every scenario imaginable the past six years.

Meanwhile, Raudabaugh and company added another impressive comeback to their resume against their new rival Saturday, not only holding the Valor to just one score in the second quarter, but totally shutting them down in the second half and not allowing a score in the final two frames to earn the 49-31 win.

There were many encouraging signs in the victory, as Raudabaugh shook off the early struggles to complete 23 of 36 passes for 247 yards and five touchdowns.

Philly’s defense, which was the biggest question mark on the team heading into the season, saw great step ups from James Romain’s pick six in the first half off Erik Meyer, who recently decided to return to the AFL, giving Philadelphia their first lead of the night, along with a series of turnovers and four-and-outs in the second half to cruise to convincing fashion.

Things got very chippy throughout the win with unsportsmanlike penalties, trash talking and much shoving, in what will certainly be a heavy rivalry in the coming days.

It was clear that Washington's biggest weakness was their lack of running game, which ultimately led to four-and-outs for the Valor and could be something that holds them back from competing for a title this season.

The Soul have certainly earned both wins through their first two weeks, and though they’ve had their struggles, they have also looked like the far superior team in both matchups.

There’s still two teams the Soul haven’t faced in Baltimore and Cleveland, but both teams have suffered losses to teams Philly has defeated.

So the Soul should be feeling high and mighty returning back to the Wells Fargo Center for their home opener to raise the championship banner and face the Baltimore Brigade Saturday night, in a game that should be more than a party in South Philly.

Soul begin hopeful repeat season in Tampa

It’s been 232 days since the Philadelphia Soul officially became the greatest team in indoor football, with their upset over the now divergent Arizona Rattlers in Arena Bowl XXIX.

Now, the road to repeat begins for the Soul tonight when they visit the Tampa Bay Storm in west Florida.

The vast majority of the champions who earned their rings earlier this week have returned for the 2017 season, and there are even more returning faces than originally anticipated earlier this offseason.

The reigning Arena Bowl MVP Shaun Kauleinamoku has resigned at the wide receiver position, while Joe Goosby, who was originally picked up by Baltimore in the expansion draft, was retained by Philly via trade.

Jake Metz, who sat as a free agent for the majority of the offseason was signed weeks ago, but has been picked up by the Buffalo Bills for the time being. Everyone involved with the Soul community could not be happier for Metz and we all hope he keeps his position in the NFL, but if the Bills go in a different direction he will be back in Philadelphia.

The Soul have also added new pieces for the year, such as former Arizona Rattler fullback Mykel Benson, who hopes to be apart of a championship celebration like the one he and his teammates watched the Soul experience in the snakepit last year.

Now the chance to prove to the league that Philly is still the best in the land starts tonight at 7 p.m.

And while the league has seen many changes since we last met in August, one of the returning figures are these Tampa Bay Storm who are one of the only three teams returning from last season, including Philadelphia.

The Soul have not seen live competition yet this season, but the Storm are entering their second game of the year after defeating Cleveland 46-40 last week, showing much better effort than the two-win team they had on the field last season.

The play from Randy Hippeard to Joe Hills proved to be the difference maker, as the duo hooked up three teams en route their teams win.

For the Soul, the name of the game will be shaking the offseason rust and proving that this defense is still a dominant force after losing key names such as Tracy Belton and Jake Metz.

So before we kick off 2017, let’s remember all the joys and memories we experienced last August, such as Dwayne Hollis’ fumble recovery from Benson (welcome to the good side once again, Myk) for a 48 yard touchdown, or Tracy Belton’s recovery in the end zone moments later on the kickoff to put Philadelphia up three touchdowns early on the now IFL Rattlers.

And we certainly can’t forget James Romain’s game-icing interception on Nick Davila to put our second championship on ice.

They are moments we will never forget and helped define this franchise. But now it’s time to make new memories with turnovers, touchdowns and of course what we all hope for and invision for the end of the season: a third world championship.