Raudabaugh's eight TDs keeps Soul perfect vs. Orlando
Harrison Brown
Saturday May 9, 2015
PHILADELPHIA - ArenaFan's own Dave Carlson said it best on the ArenaFan Message Boards Saturday morning. Find me the Philadelphia Soul’s losses.
The only coast to coast road trip they’ll have to take is to the city of Angels to play the Los Angeles KISS (and currently the KISS couldn’t beat a drum let alone the hottest team in the AFL). They’ll take on Jacksonville (1-5) and Tampa (3-3) in the upcoming weeks, and neither of them have shown any dominance except for Tampa’s wins against New Orleans and Jacksonville (whom the Soul handed big losses to).
There’s three teams on the schedule that could potentially beat the Philadelphia, and that’s Jacksonville at home (if they ever figure out how to use the 2014 AFL All-Star team they bought themselves), Cleveland at home (if the defense figures out how to stop the three All-Arena caliber receivers the Soul have), and Orlando at home (if they figure out how to protect whoever is their quarterback). Notice, every team only has a shot to beat the Soul at home. In my opinion NO team in the AFL comes to Philadelphia and beats the Soul.
Friday night was the prime example of that. In Week 1, the Soul beat the Predators 70-63 in a back and forth game in which no one had a clear edge until the end. On Friday, the Soul beat the Predators for a second time 62-48 in a game which only the Soul had a clear edge. After Friday’s win, the Soul advanced to 7-1 all-time versus the Predators, one of the best franchises in league history.
Dan Raudabaugh has had his best start to a season in a year in which a lot of new players were placed around him.
“He’s seeing it, and he’s doing it this year. We have good talent around him and protecting him,” Soul coach Clint Dolezel said at the post-game press conference. “We’re not running the ball as much, so a lot of that is on his shoulders.”
On Friday, Raudabaugh threw for 323 yards and eight touchdowns on 22 completions.
"We did some things that were uncharacteristic. I thought we weren't always on the same page like we typically are. I thought we had a dang good week of practice, I felt prepared coming in and the guys did to,” Raudabaugh said. “Very rarely are we gonna go out there and get stopped on the first drive. We answered the bell after that, but the third quarter was a little bit sloppy. The guys made big plays when we needed them, Sean, Ryan, Marco even Adam when we needed them and I can't say enough how well the line has blocked."For the second week in a row Ryan McDaniel has been shut out of the Soul’s offense. This week, McDaniel had five receptions, 44 yards and a touchdown. The Soul have higher expectations for McDaniel in the coming weeks.
“Ryan and I are typically on the same page, and the last two weeks we've been on different wavelengths,” Raudabaugh said. "I think some of its me. When he does one thing, and I expect another, it makes it look like we don't know what we're doing, when really we have an idea of what we want to do, but it's just not happening. We have to take what they give us sometimes, and unfortunately tonight I forced some throws into tight windows which I shouldn't have. I got all the faith in the world in that kid, I love him like a brother, and I promise you we're better players than we have shown."
Dolezel echoed those sentiments. "McDaniel and Dan aren't on the same page right now, and that's a lot on the defense and what they're doing. We've had to go play catch in other spots and that's what we did. They play zone when he's in motion and they try to make us throw it somewhere else, and if we do that we still move the ball right down the field. There's going to be games like that, when Marco has a big one, when SK has a big one and McDaniel has had two off weeks but next week he could have a big one, so that's just how it works."
The coaching staff decided to keep Beau Bell out for his second week in a row against the Predators. Beau suffered an ankle sprain against the New Orleans VooDoo in Week 5.
"I feel good, it's precautions and it’s the coach's decision. It's not my decision right now and they want to make sure I'm fully healthy and ready to go," Bell said.
For the second week in a row, Curtis Young started at mac linebacker and looked solid there.
“Curtis is doing a good job, and he's done his job as a mac well. He keeps getting pressure on the quarterbacks and makes them nervous. It helps the whole defensive line and we get pressure all over the place," Bell said.
“I'm a versatile guy so wherever they need me on the field I'll produce whether it's nose, Mac, or defensive end," Young said. Dolezel said last week that Young had interest in playing the mac linebacker spot this season, and Young has had to do so because of Bell’s injury.
When asked which spot he preferred, he said, "It's tough because I'm a natural defensive end, and I won a Super Bowl at end, but wherever I can rush I'll be happy at"
The Predators started quarterback Bernard Morris this week due to Randy Hippeard being injured. Head coach Rob Keefe said, "Randy is day to day right now, and with us having a Friday game, it was real tough. We have to have our travel listings in by Wednesday, and we leave early Thursday morning and we felt he wouldn't be ready for a Friday game."
Morris is the league's top running quarterback when he’s on the field. Morris will often force teams to keep their jack linebacker closer to the line of scrimmage so he can spy.
“He's a threat. If you don't rush your lanes correct, he can be a nightmare for you as you can see from the two long touchdowns he had tonight from simple small mistakes," Young said.
Despite sitting tonight's game out, Bell has faced off against Morris before and had similar things to say about his game.
"Morris is a dynamic quarterback. He's very good at moving and getting extra yards. On third down, he can make a move and get an extra five yards and get a first down. We have to be conscious of him, and a couple times tonight he got loose. Next time we face him we have to keep him contained."
Next week the Soul will take on the Jacksonville Sharks, the AFL’s most disappointing team so far this season. Jacksonville is currently 1-5 and lost in the Soul’s home opener 63-52. The Soul will face former members of the team, Derrick Ross, Tiger Jones, Wayne Tribue, Jason Holman, and Micheaux Robinson.
