Soul Battle Dragons in Typical Scrimmage
Jason Moyer
Friday February 22, 2008
In this edition the Dragons began the talking with shouts of “too much TV” and “last man standing”, referring to the Soul’s numerous appearances on the ESPN broadcast schedule and their behind the scenes look at an Arena Football team. The Soul simply responded with “talk is cheap” and “get off the field”.
The altercation this year occurred when Dragon defensive back John Walker intercepted a Matt D’Orazio pass and began high-stepping his way into the end zone. The only problem was that Walker went into his celebration too early.
D’Orazio dragged Walker down with a horse-collar that would have made Dallas Cowboy safety Roy Williams proud. New York lineman Adam Roberts tried to peel the Soul quarterback off of his teammate using D’Orazio’s facemask. This led to a multi-player fracas resulting in the ejection of three players.
As the game wound down, Dragon kicker Chris Onorato nailed a 42 yard field goal as time expired that led to a Dragon celebration. While members of the Soul asked, “did they just win the ArenaBowl?” Bad feelings? Yes indeed!
However, a preseason scrimmage is more about roster spots than winning or losing. With the Soul having to cut their roster from 37 to 24 players by Monday, here is a list of some of the position battles.
WR – The starters seem to be set with Chris Jackson, Larry Brackins and Kenny Henderson. This leaves Chris Horn, Scottie Vines, Darius Watts, and J.J. Outlaw campaigning for the last roster spot or two. Horn may have helped himself the most with five catches and a touchdown in the second half.
DB – Eddie Moten, Mike Brown, and Brian Mance look to be locked in as the starters, leaving Rob Keefe, Dee Webb, and Reggie Lewis battling for a position. Keefe had an interception and fumble recovery and his enthusiasm would be a perfect fit for Philadelphia.
OL – Mike Mabry, Martin Bibla, and Phil Bogle will undoubtedly be quarterback Tony Graziani’s guardians again. Jabari Levey, Steve Edwards, Van Nelson, and Jason Thomas are left contending for roster spots. Thomas may have an advantage because of his ability to play the center position.
DL – Gabe Nyenhius, Bryan Save, and Tom Johnson received most of the playing time in the first half. But look for Delbert Cowsette to push for some action as he was around the Dragons quarterback multiple times in the second half.
While other positions also have their battles, it’s clear that Head Coach Bret Munsey will have some difficult decisions to make come Monday.
Jason Moyer is an elementary school teacher in the western New Jersey area. He is an avid follower of the Arena Football League and has been covering the Philadelphia Soul with ArenaFan.com since 2005. Jason resides in Whitehall, PA with his wife and daughter.
