Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Soul
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Soul (13-2) clinch the top seed in the American Conference and home field advantage for the playoffs with a 72-56 win over the Cleveland Gladiators (7-8) in front of 8,784 fans at the Rothman Field at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon.
“Its really nice to clinch home field throughout the entire playoffs, there’s no question,” Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said. “We’re still pushing for the Arena Bowl, so it’s a one game at a time deal. It’s a tough division conference on the other side as well so we know we’ll have our hands full, but it’s definitely nice to be home.”
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker of the Game, Harvey Binford led the Soul receivers with seven catches for 145 yards and four touchdowns. Marco Thomas also added seven catches with 93 yards and once touchdown. Ryan McDaniel had five receptions for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Tommy Taggart added two rushing touchdowns on seven carries.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game, Dan Raudabaugh finished the night by completing 20-of-27 passes for 306 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception.
Cleveland’s Shane Austin completed 19-of-39 passes for 228 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.
James Romain led the Soul defense with 7.5 total tackles while Joe Goosby added 5.5 total tackles. LaRico Stevenson had 2.0 total tackles and an interception. Justin Lawrence blocked an extra point in the second quarter, resulting in a touchdown. Teddy Jennings had a forced fumble and one sack.
After winning the toss, the Soul deferred and kicked off to the Gladiators to start the game. Teddy Jennings’ strip on the Gladiators first possession forced a fumble, which was recovered by Kent Richardson. The Soul capitalized when Taggart got the Soul on the board with a 1-yard score at the 12:22 mark in the first and gave Philadelphia a 7-0 lead. Cleveland came back with their own 1-yard run by Jeramie Richardson making the score 7-7. Raudabaugh answered back with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Lonnie Outlaw to put the Soul up 14-7. Cleveland’s Shane Austin finished the quarter with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Collin Taylor tying the score 14-14 at the end of the first.
Binford opened the second quarter off with a 20-yard touchdown reception from Raudabaugh to give the Soul back the lead. With 5:33 remaining in the half, LaRico Stevenson came up with an interception. Following the interception, McDaniel had an 8-yard touchdown reception increasing the lead to 28-14.
Austin brought Cleveland down and hooked up with Amarri Jackson for a Gladiator score bringing it to a 28-20 Soul advantage. Justin Lawrence blocked the extra point, which led to a Romain running it into the endzone. With seven seconds left to play, Binford got his second touchdown of the game off a 22-yard pass from Raudabaugh, making the halftime score 37-20.
The Soul started the third quarter off strong with Raudabaugh connecting to Binford on a 36-yard touchdown pass. A little under three minutes later, Austin ran the ball in for an 18 yard touchdown, putting them back on the board but still trailing 44-27. Cleveland scored again on Austin’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Amarri Jackson with 7:16 remaining in the third. The Soul capped the third quarter scoring when Taggart again found the end zone, making the score 51-34.
With less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Thomas scored his first touchdown of the game with a 14-yard reception, putting the Soul on top 58-34. Binford made a spectacular catch over the boards resulting in another Soul touchdown. Austin threw a 37-yard touchdown pass with 5:26 remaining to make the score 65-41.
McDaniel’s 3-yard touchdown receptions put the Soul up 72-41. Cleveland responded with a 14-yard touchdown reception from Jackson. The Gladiators scored only a few seconds later after a Soul fumble, shortening the lead to 72-48. Cleveland got a team safety with 16 seconds remaining, making the final score 72-56.
Next week, the Soul travel to Jacksonville to face the Sharks (7-6) on Saturday, July 18 at the Jacksonville Veteran Memorial Arena. 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 Harvey Binford
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Philadelphia’s Harvey Binford’s fourth quarter touchdown
Spalding Highlight of the Game: Philadelphia’s Teddy Jennings first quarter forced fumble
