Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Soul
PHILADELPHIA (June 26, 2015) – The Philadelphia Soul clinched the playoffs with strong second half efforts with a 64-42 victory of the Tampa Bay Storm (6-7) in front of 8,214 fans at Rothman Field at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night. Philadelphia now stands at 12-2 and lead the American Conference.
“The first half of the game was like a chess match, the teams were feeling each other out and that’s going to happen sometimes, but we definitely played well in the second half.” said Soul head coach Clint Dolezel. “It’s really nice to clinch the playoffs this early, but that’s the last thing on our mind we’re trying to win the division next. We still have several tough games left, so we’re going to enjoy tonight but then after bye week we’re going to come back and get back out here.”
Marco Thomas led the Soul (12-2) receivers with 10 catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns. Ryan McDaniel had six receptions for 74 yards and one touchdown, while Harvey Binford had three receptions for 46 yards and one touchdown. Adam Smith had two receptions for 18 yards and two touchdowns.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game, Dan Raudabaugh finished the night completing 23-of-39 passes for 274 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Tampa Bay’s Jason Boltus completed 14-of-31 passes for 253 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.
Kendrick Ings led the Storm (6-7) receivers with four receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns, while Phillip Barnett added three catches for 56 yards and one touchdown.
Joe Goosby led the defense with 4.0 total tackles, while James Romain had 3.5 total tackles. Kent Richardson had 1.0 total tackles and one interception. Teddy Jennings had two sacks in his first home game back with the Soul, while Riddell Defensive Player of the Game Bryan Robinson added a safety.
After winning the toss, the Soul deferred and kicked off to the Storm to start the game. The Storm started off strong in the second meeting against the Soul and scored the first touchdown of the game with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Barnett to Boltus. Philadelphia responded with a 12-yard touchdown catch from Smith to tie the game 7-7. The Storm capped the first quarter scoring when Barnett connected with Ings on 21-yard pass play to lead the Soul 14-7 after one quarter of play.
The Soul started the second quarter off with a turnover on down, giving the Storm the ball on their own 21 yard line. After gaining the ball back, Gregory caught an impressive 29-yard touchdown catch from Boltus to put them up 21-7. The Soul responded with 8:27 left to play in the quarter with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to Binford. The Soul defense gained momentum with a big sack from Lawrence and Jennings. The score remained 21-14 to end the half.
Philadelphia started the quarter off strong with McDaniel’s 2-yard touchdown reception to tie the game 21-21. With 10:41 to play, Robinson came up with safety to give the Soul their first lead of the game. Raudabaugh found Outlaw in the endzone with a 9-yard pass to make the score 30-21. Despite back-to-back pass breakups, the Soul weren’t able to stop the Storm in the end zone on third down when Boltus found Gregory to give them their first touchdown of the third quarter. Thomas got his first touchdown of the game with a 45-yard touchdown reception from Raudabaugh to make the score 37-28 at the end of the third.
Richardson started the fourth quarter off with an interception. The Soul kept the offensive momentum going in the fourth quarter with Thomas’ 9-yard touchdown reception to push the lead to 44-28. Tampa Bay scored with 5:02 left in the game with a 1-yard touchdown run from Boltus. Thomas scored his third touchdown of the game with 3:12 to play making the score 51-36. Richardson’s fumble recovery lead to a 34-yard touchdown run to give the Soul a 57-42 lead. With only 30 seconds left in the game, Boltus found Ings with a 25-yard touchdown pass. Smith answered back with a 6-yard touchdown reception from Raudabaugh to make the final score 64-42.
Next week, there will be a League wide bye week. The Soul return home to face the Cleveland Gladiators at 1 p.m. at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, July 11. The game will be televised on CBS Sports.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player: Philadelphia’s Dan Raudabaugh
Riddell Defensive Player: Philadelphia’s Bryan Robinson
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker: Philadelphia’s Marco Thomas
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Philadelphia’s Lonnie Outlaws third quarter touchdown reception
Spalding Highlight of the Game: Philadelphia’s Bryan Robinson third quarter safety
