Soul Responds to 1st Loss With 71-27 Romp of Tampa

Report From Philadelphia Soul

TAMPA (May 23, 2015) – The Philadelphia Soul (8-1) got an outstanding individual performance from Joe Goosby, while the  entire Soul defense shut down the Tampa Bay Storm (3-5) to cruise to an 71-27 victory in front of 13,421 fans at Amalie Motor Oil Field at Amalie Arena on Saturday night.  The 44-point victory marked the worst loss in Tampa Bay’s 28-year team history.

“For a group of guys coming off a loss, battling through adversity – this team came out focused and won all three phases of the game tonight,” Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said.  “I couldn’t be prouder of these guys and really feel that we came together this week down here preparing for this game and it showed on the field.”

Joe Goosby swept the postgame individual awards – Russell Athletic Offensive Player, J. Lewis Small Playmaker and Riddell Defensive Player of the Game – the first time that has happened in team history since the expanded awards were given.

Ryan McDaniel led the Soul receivers with seven catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns.  Shaun Kauleinamoku added five catches for 63 yards and one touchdown.  Marco Thomas had five receptions for 45 yards, while Lonnie Outlaw had four receptions for 85 yards and one touchdown.  Joe Goosby, who pulled double duty as fullback and linebacker, added three rushing touchdowns for the Soul on offense.

Dan Raudabaugh finished the night completing 19-of-26 passes for 213 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.  In relief, Bryan Randall finished the game 4-of-6 passing for 57 yards and two touchdowns.  Tampa Bay’s Jason Boltus completed 12-of-30 passes for 133 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Julius Gregory led the Storm receivers with five receptions for 58 yards and two touchdowns, while T.T. Toliver added three catches for 37 yards and no touchdowns.

Goosby led the defense with 3.0 total tackles, a 6-yard interception for a touchdown, a blocked extra point returned for two-points and two forced fumbles.  Kent Richardson had 1.0 total tackle, a 10-yard interception for a touchdown and a fumble recovery, while James Romain had 4.0 total tackles and an interception. Bryan Robinson had two sacks for the night.

The Soul opened the scoring when Goosby plunged in from a yard out to cap a nine-play drive to give Philadelphia a 7-0 lead with 8:51 to go in the first.  On the next drive, Goosby stripped Tampa’s Gregory with the fumble being recovered by Beau Bell.  Goosby wasn’t finished yet, as he then scored on another 1-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 13-0 after the missed extra point to end the first quarter.

Philadelphia kept the pressure up on the next drive as Kent Richardson recovered a Toliver fumble to give possession back to the Soul.  The Soul capitalized when Goosby added his third 1-yard touchdown run and pushed the lead to 20-0 with 5:47 left in the second quarter.  The Soul defense stepped up once more with a stop on downs on the next Storm drive.  This time Raudabaugh needed only the next play to connect with McDaniel on a 13-yard touchdown connection to end the first half scoring and give the Soul a 27-0 halftime lead.

The first drive of the second half, Justin Lawrence deflected a Boltus pass into the arms of Goosby, who returned it for his fourth towchdown of the game and made the score 34-0 in favor of the Soul.  Tampa Bay finally got on the board when Boltus connected with Gregory on a 15-yard touchdown, but Joe Goosby blocked and returned the extra point for a two-point score for Philadelphia.  The score 36-6 with 8:35 left in the third.  The Soul then scored on their next drive when Raudabaugh found McDaniel on an 8-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 43-6 with 5:54 left in the third. The Storm counter when Boltus found Gregory on a 25-yard touchdown to make it Soul 43-12 with 3:34 left.  Raudabaugh answered to a 24-yard scoring strike to Kauleinamoku to make it 50-12 in favor of the Soul with 1:02 remaining in the third.  Richardson capped the third quarter scoring when he returned an interception for a 10-yard touchdown to make it 57-12.

Tampa opened the fourth quarter with a kickoff return by Kendrick Ings for a touchdown the make it a 57-19 Philadelphia advantage.  Bryan Randall took over for Raudabaugh in the fourth and connected with Adam Smith for 9-yard touchdown on his first pass, making it 64-19.  Tampa Bay answered with a 2-yard touchdown from Boltus to Phillip Barnett.  The successful two-point score made it 64-27 in favor of the Soul.  Randall connected with Outlaw on a 30-yarder to end the scoring and give the Soul a 71-27 victory.

Next week, the Soul head to Atlantic City to face the Las Vegas Outlaws in the DraftKings Boardwalk Bowl at 6 p.m. at the Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, May 30.  The game will be national televised on CBS Sports Network.

Russell Athletic Offensive Player: Philadelphia’s Joe Goosby

Riddell Defensive Player:  Philadelphia’s Joe Goosby

J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker: Philadelphia’s Joe Goosby

Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Tampa Bay’s Julius Gregory’s one-handed 25-yard TD in the third.

Spalding Highlight of the Game: Tampa Bay’s Kendrick Ings 56-yard kickoff return for a TD in the fourth.