Soul-SaberCats game quite different from last

Andy Lopusnak
Friday April 22, 2011

Exactly a thousand days have passed since Philadelphia and San Jose met in ArenaBowl XXII. Little did anyone know that soon after Bon Jovi hoisted the ArenaBowl trophy after his Soul won 59-56 that there'd be no AFL in 2009 at all and these two clubs wouldn't play any games until 2011.

Though the AFL returned in 2010, there was a void left without the two teams that met in the 2008 title game. The AFL of 2010 looked like the league's developmental league, arenafootball2, with a majority of the 17 teams coming from the af2. So neither team returned because of uncertainty with the reboot. However, after the resurrection of the league proved successful, the Soul and SaberCats returned this season.

Aside from the logos and a few names, the 2011 Soul and SaberCats look nothing like the teams that met for the AFL title that swampy Louisiana Sunday almost three years ago.

Philadelphia is a team lost. After an overtime win in Week One over expansion Pittsburgh, the Soul has lost four straight, including the last three by a combined 12 points. Philly led or was tied in the final seconds in all three contests.

Similar to 2008, the Soul has gone to its backup quarterback. Unlike that championship year, Ryan Vena is no Matt D'Orazio. Philadelphia started the season with Justin Allgood under center. Last year, Allgood lead the AFL in passing touchdowns; but Soul head coach Mike Hohensee benched him after three games and a 1-2 start. After a fantastic opener against expansion Pittsburgh, where Allgood completed 69.4% of his passes for 300 yards, five touchdowns and no picks; he completed just 54% in his next two games with six combined touchdowns and seven turnovers (five interceptions, two lost fumbles).

Therefore, Hohensee went to Vena, who has the most interceptions in the AFL since the league's rebirth. In two starts, the portly passer has completed 57.6% of his passes with eight passing scores and three interceptions. Though Vena isn't very accurate for AFL standards, he brings something other QBs in the league don't - he can run the ball. On the year, Vena has posted just as many rushing TDs (eight - tied for fourth most in the AFL) as passing TDs. For a big guy, he's elusive and has run for 72 yards (eleventh in the league) on 17 carries. I love a mobile QB and the 2005 season when I was the PR guy for Grand Rapids and Michael Bishop became the only player to run for 100 yards in an AFL game (also AFL's ingle-season rush yardage king) was special despite the team's pathetic 4-12 record. I know firsthand that you cannot win in this league when your QB's best asset is his running game. Thus far, Soul fans are learning that too as Vena is 0-2 as the Soul's signal caller.

At press time, the Soul has yet to announce if Vena will be the starter tonight or if Allgood will be under center against the SaberCats. If Vena goes, then he will have to account for a San Jose pass defense that's one of the best in the league (12 sacks is second best and 80 sack yards is most). In Vena's two starts, he's been sacked seven times, but also has 62 rushing yards and four rushing TDs on just seven carries.

Aside from QB, Philly has one of the most explosive receivers in the league in Donovan Morgan, who was with Allgood in Tulsa last year and was the 2008 AFL Rookie of the Year when he was with Hohensee in Chicago. Thus far, Morgan is averaging 15.7 yards per catch (second best in the league) on 42 grabs for 661 yards (second in AFL) and ten touchdowns. He's been the one offensive constant for the Soul with four 100-yard games (missed the century mark last week by just two yards). However, if you take away his great Week One performance (14 catches for 189 yards and five scores), Morgan is averaging seven grabs for 118 yards and has five total TD catches. Look for the SaberCats to put defensive back Eddie Moten on Morgan as much as possible. Moten, a former Philly player and three-time All-Arena performer, had two interceptions in last week's San Jose win at Tulsa in just his second game in the green and gold.

If Moten contains Morgan, the Soul still has Syvelle Newton and Larry Brackins to deal with. Newton posted season highs in receptions (seven), yards (105) and touchdowns (two) last week. Brackins has just six combined catches in the last two weeks but caught two TDs for the Soul the last time these two teams met in ArenaBowl XXII.

San Jose is still led by the dynamic duo of quarterback Mark Grieb and head coach (now part owner as well) Darren Arbet. The two have combined for more wins since 1999 than any other QB-coach tandem (including last year when neither were involved in the league), along with two ArenaBowl titles (Grieb was hurt for the ArenaBowl XVI win). Prior to this season, Grieb's last AFL pass was 14-yard score with 17 seconds left in ArenaBowl XXII, but a failed on-side kick prevented the two-time ArenaBowl MVP from getting another title on his Hall of Fame resume. The two-year absence hasn't fazed Grieb, who leads the AFL in passing yards, is second in completion percentage, is third in passer rating and is fourth in passing touchdowns.

The SaberCats have been dealt with some major set backs despite the team's 4-2 record. Otis Amey, who led the AFL in total TDs and total points in 2008, has yet to play because of a preseason injury. Rodney Wright left the team after three games to be with his family - at the time Wright led the AFL in all-purpose yards and receptions. On defense, Gabe Nyenhuis, the 2010 AFL Defensive Player of the Year, was placed on injured reserve two weeks ago. All three were expected to be significant for the season.

Players like Samora Goodson have filled the void offensively. Goodson has posted three straight games with at least ten catches, 110 yards and two TDs. In addition, San Jose boasts one of the top fullbacks in Chad Cook, who leads the AFL with 14 rushing scores. On defense, the Nyenhuis has hurt, but the pass rush is still one of the best in the league with George Hypolite anchoring the line. His four sacks are second most in the league as is the team's 12 QB takedowns.

The biggest problem for San Jose this season has been its secondary that allowed touchdowns in all but two possessions in the team's two losses. San Jose's defense is last in total yards and passing yards per game. If your offense is as good as the SaberCats' is then the defense doesn't need to make as many plays but being last is never a good thing. Last year, ArenaBowl champion Spokane was third in total defense and fifth in passing defense.

This game features the AFL's top two active head coaches win leaders: Hohensee (141 wins) and Arbet (125 wins). Back in 1994, Hohensee brought in Arbet to coach the linebackers of the Albany Firebirds. That 1994 team is considered on the best ever not to win a title. A year later, Arbet joined the expansion SaberCats and in 1999 was named the team's head coach. That same year, he brought in the little known Grieb and the rest is a cheesy cliché. With a win, the Grieb-Arbet team will reach 100 total wins together - the second most ever by a QB-coach combo in league history behind Danny White and Sherdrick Bonner. 

The Soul is much better than a 1-4 team, but just cannot finish games. If the last three games were played for 59 minutes, then Philadelphia would be 4-1. We won't know until near kickoff which QB will start for the Soul, but the outcome the last four weeks has been the same for the 2008 champions.

San Jose is hot and cold. Prior to last week, the SaberCats hadn't even won a game in which they turned the ball over even once. With the addition of Moten to a struggling secondary, San Jose is 2-0 and is allowing 44 points per game compared to almost 59 in the first four games. The defense bailed San Jose's offense that committed three first-half turnovers out last week.

Then there's the Hohensee-Arbet factor, where the Jedi master is 5-1 since 2005 against his Padawan learner.

Though tonight's game doesn't have the same feel as a thousand days ago, it's just great to say that there's a rematch after all the shenanigans of the past two years, eight months and 27 days (or some 86 million seconds if you were holding your breath).