Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Soul
PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Philadelphia Soul (3-0) offense came to play Sunday afternoon and defeated the Jacksonville Sharks (0-3) 63-52 to continue their winning streak at their home opener in front of 9,043 fans at the Rothman Field at the Wells Fargo Center.
“The new faces of the roster add a spark this season and lift up the entire team up,” Soul Head Coach Clint Dolezel said. “Ryan McDaniel came ready to play like he has since training camp. He has been our offensive leader all season making big plays and catches. Both teams knew each other well and it was an important win to grab in front of our fans for the first time this season.”
J. Lewis Small Playermaker’s of the Game were Ryan McDaniel and Tiger Jones. McDaniel led the Soul (3-0) receivers with 11 catches for 133 yards and five touchdowns. Marco Thomas added seven catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Shaun Kauleinamoku had three receptions for 55 yards and one touchdown. Tommy Taggart added ten rushes for 19 yards and one touchdown. While Jones led the Jacksonville receivers with 13 catches for 239 yards and five touchdowns.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game, Dan Raudabaugh finished the night by completing 21-of-30 passes for 261 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception.Jacksonville’s Tommy Grady completed 26-of-41 passes for 346 yards, eight touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
Anthony Jones led the Sharks (0-3) receivers with 13 receptions for 239 yards and five touchdowns, while Joe Hills added ten catches for 79 yards and 3 touchdowns.
LaRico Stevenson and Dwayne Hollis led the team with seven total tackles each. Beau Bell added a sack and 4.5 tackles for loss.
After winning the toss, the Soul deferred and kicked off to the Sharks to start the game. Former Philadelphia Soul wide receiver Tiger Jones scored the first touchdown of the game with 12:01 to play to put the Sharks up 7-0. The Soul’s Marco Thomas had a quick response and scored off a 41-yard touchdown pass from Dan Raudabaugh. The very next play, Jones put the Sharks back on top 14-7 after scoring his second touchdown of the game. In a back-and-forth match, Thomas scored his second touchdown of the game with 3:23 remaining, tying the game at 14-14.
The second quarter scoring kicked off when Raudabaugh found Sean Kauleinamoku in the endzone with a 34-yard touchdown pass to give the Soul a 21-14 lead. Tommy Grady completed a 28-yard pass to give Jones his third touchdown of the game with 8:27 to play and tied the game back up. Ryan McDaniel responded for the Soul and scored his first touchdown of the game with 1:23 to play to put the Soul back on top 28-21. McDaniel finished the quarter strong with an athletic one-handed catch in the endzone, increasing the Soul’s lead to 35-18 with only 11 seconds left in the half.
McDaniel scored the first touchdown of the second half with a 16-yard pass from Raudabaugh to expand the Soul’s lead to 42-21. Dwayne Hollis had an onside kick recovery to give the Soul the ball back at the 23-yard line. Shortly after that play, Tommy Taggart had a 6-yard touchdown run with 8:50 left in the third quarter. The Sharks scored with 4:35 to play when Jones caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Grady. A little less than a minute later, McDaniel capitalized in the end-zone and gave the Soul their biggest lead of the game, 56-28. Jacksonville added another with Joe Hill’s 3-yard touchdown catch from Grady to end the quarter with a 56-34 score. The Soul defense didn’t quit and Bryan Robinson denied the Sharks’ extra point.
With 11:41 to go in the fourth quarter, Jones’ scored his fifth touchdown of the game and made the score 56-40. McDaniel caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to give him his fifth and final Soul touchdown of the game with 7:20 left to play. Hills, finished the quarter strong with two touchdowns in the last five minutes. His final 1-yard touchdown catch from Grady with 40 seconds left to play made the final score 63-52.
Next week, the Soul remain home against the Cleveland Gladiators (2-1) on Saturday, April 18 at the Wells Fargo Center. The game will kick off at 7 p.m.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player: Philadelphia’s Dan Raudabaugh
Riddell Defensive Player: Philadelphia’s James Romain
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker: Philadelphia’s Ryan McDaniel/ Jacksonville’s Tiger Jones
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Philadelphia’s Ryan McDaniel’s one-handed touchdown in 2nd Quarter
Spalding Highlight of the Game: Philadelphia’s Shaun Kauleinamoku’s 34-yard pass touchdown.
