Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Soul
PITTSBURGH (July 26, 2014) – The Philadelphia Soul (9-9) were unable to punch their own playoff ticket as the Pittsburgh Power scored early and often in their 64-34 victory in front of 9,549 fans on Saturday night at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Soul now have to wait for the result of the Cleveland-Tampa Bay game to see if they will make the playoffs. Philadelphia loses a tiebreaker with Tampa Bay, thus needing the Storm to lose tonight against the Gladiators.
“Disappointed doesn’t begin to describe how we are feeling right now,” said Soul head coach Clint Dolezel. “You hate having to back into the playoffs, but we will be rooting for Cleveland and get in the right frame of mind to be ready for next week. It was in our hands, now we need the help.”
Philadelphia’s Tiger Jones finished with eight receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Emery Sammons also helped the Soul by putting up six receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown. Markee White finished with five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh finished the evening by completing 11-of-35 passes for 102 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Bryan Randall came in the second half and completed 9-of-15 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns.
AFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year candidate, Derrick Ross led the ground game with seven yards on five carries and one rushing touchdown.
Defensively the Soul was led by Joe Goosby, who had 5.5 total tackles and one pass breakup. Also for Philadelphia, James Romain had 4.0 total tackles, while Rayshaun Kizer had 3.5 total tackles and a pass breakup.
Pittsburgh’s Tommy Grady, who earned Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game, completed 15-of-23 passes for 136 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Prechae Rodriguez led the Power with six receptions for 54 yards and four touchdowns, while Shaun Kauleinamoku had six catches for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
The Power defense was led by Virgil Gray, who earned Riddell Defensive Player of the Game, with 7.0 total tackles, two interceptions and eight pass breakups. Brandon Freman tallied 5.0 total tackles, while Sergio Gilliam finished with 2.5 total tackles.
The first quarter kicked off when the Power got a Grady to Rodriguez on a 14-yard scoring strike to make it 7-0 with 12:33 remaining in the first quarter. The Soul were unable to return with a touchdown, turning the ball back over to the Power. Grady completed a 7-yard scoring pass to Edwards, resulting in another Power touchdown. At the end of the first quarter, the Soul trailed the Power 13-0.
The Soul started the second quarter off rough with an interception by Gray with five minutes in the second quarter. They Soul defense got a stop on downs and took advantage when Raudabaugh’s pass to Jones resulted in the Soul’s first touchdown of the night. Striefsky’s kick was good and the Soul trail 13-7 with 5:30 remaining in the half. Grady and the Power were unable to return a touchdown. With another Soul turnover, the Power returned with a 13-yard touchdown from Grady to Kauleinamoku with 43 seconds remaining in the half. The Soul turned the ball over on downs, giving the Power another chance to score. Grady’s pass to Rodriguez with five seconds left, followed by another successful kick by Rauch. At the end of the first half, the Soul trail the Power 27-7.
The third quarter started off slow for Philadelphia, with an interception for Raudabaugh. Pittsburgh’s Rodriguez had another touchdown, with the kick by Rauch completed. The Soul’s offense were unable to responded strong, with another interception by Raudabaugh. The catch by Nelson resulted in another Power touchdown, Soul still trailing 41-7. With 5:30 remaining in the quarter, Soul finally score again when Ross plunged in from a yard out to make it, 41-14. Grady countered with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kauleinamoku, for another Power score. The Soul trailed, 48-14. Randall entered the game and connected with Sammons for a 28-yard touchdown with 2:26 remaining in the quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the Soul trailed, 48-21.
Grady started up the fourth quarter with a pass to Rodriguez for another Power touchdown, Power up 55-21. A pass from Randall to White resulted in another Soul touchdown with an unsuccessful two point conversion, giving Pittsburgh the two points on a Gilliam return. Nelson, relieved for Grady, and hooked up with James Shaw for a 10-yard score, kick by Rauch good, Soul trailed, 64-27. Randall’s final score to Jones from 10 yards out, gave the Soul a touchdown in the last minute of the game. At the end of the game the Soul fall to the Power, 64-34.
Should Cleveland beat Tampa Bay, the playoffs would begin next week with the Soul traveling to play the No. 1 seed Cleveland Gladiators at the Quicken Loans Arena. The game would be scheduled to kick off on Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player:Pittsburgh’s Tommy Grady
Riddell Defensive Player:Pittsburgh’s Virgil Gray
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker:Pittsburgh’s Arveil Nelson
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Pittsburgh’s Prechae Rodriguez’s 4-yard fourth quarter touchdown.
Spalding Highlight of the Game:Pittsburgh’s Sergio Gilliam’s two-point conversion return.
