Jaws' Soul Prevail, Send the Sharks Swimming

Harrison Brown
Sunday April 20, 2014

The Jacksonville Sharks didn’t make it clear who was starting Saturday night’s game at quarterback against the Philadelphia Soul until about 30 minutes before the game. Granted, anyone who knew who Aaron Garcia figured it would be the future Hall of Famer, but in Jacksonville’s game notes, RJ Archer was the projected starter. After Garcia took first team reps and Archer was the holder for warm-up PAT’s, it was clear a legend was playing.

The Soul entered the game without All-Arena Center Brennan Carvalho. After speaking with Carvalho and Coach Clint Dolezel that’s something to get used to, as Carvalho will miss the rest of the season. This left Jason Holman as the only offensive lineman able to go at center.

Dan Raudabugh said after the game, “Credit to Jason Holman stepping in at center, and we ran a lot of five step protection which isn’t easy.”

At first Holman played poorly. One clear play was when Raudabaugh took a hit from nose guard Rashaad Duncan, Holman’s man to block. “I think we had about four turnovers in tonight’s game," stated Raudabaugh. "We have to cut that out if we want to win games.”

Raudabugh’s final stat line’s only blemish is his three interceptions, going 15-25 for 197 yards and four touchdowns.

“We’re known for rushing the ball a lot in the first quarter, so we tried to keep them on their heels and throw the ball in the first quarter, and then we ran a lot in the second so it worked to our advantage,” said Dolezel.

Jokingly at the post-game press conference when asked about his touchdown run Ross said “G.O.A.T” (greatest of all time.) Ross is the greatest of all time and had a good game tonight rushing for 58 yards on 10 attempts with three touchdowns.

For the second week in a row, the defense stepped up and was the deciding factor in the game. This time it wasn’t the defensive backs, rather the defensive line stepping up and hitting Garcia five times. Teddy Jennings lead the way with two and a half sacks while TJ Langley, who missed some of the first half due to two encroachment penalties, also picked up a sack on the first play of the second half. Bryan Robinson picked up one and a half sacks concluding the Garcia beat up.

The Soul will take on the Iowa Barnstormers next week on Sunday April 27th at 4:00 p.m. ET. The game will be on ESPN2; this will be the first AFL game on any televised ESPN channel this year.