KISS it goodbye, Soul end LA's winning streak
Harrison Brown
Sunday June 21, 2015
It wasn’t pretty, but the Philadelphia Soul found a way to beat the LA KISS in the two team’s first meeting 56-48. The Soul are now 3-0 Vs. the three expansion team’s from the past two seasons. The game didn’t start until 11 PM Eastern time, and didn’t end until 1:36 AM Eastern time.
Rayshaun Kizer and Donovan Morgan faced the Soul for the first time in their LA careers. Morgan left Philadelphia after 2012 in favor of New Orleans. Kizer left Philly this past off season in favor of Arizona. Both players were traded from other team’s that they went to after Philly to get to LA.
Kizer has brought the KISS defense to a new intensity since he was acquired. Kizer was always a player coach, helping young defensive backs like James Romain develop their game. Romain has since replaced Kizer in the middle, and has had an All-Arena caliber season since.
Morgan has been the best weapon the KISS have had on offense, and has been the face of the LA franchise. Morgan caught six passes, and had 107 receiving yards on four touchdowns. Morgan is now tied for ninth all time in AFL career receiving touchdowns. Morgan was a huge part of the Soul’s success in 2012, helping the team reach their second Arena Bowl at the time.
The Soul had Teddy Jennings in the lineup for the first time in 2015.
Jennings had two sacks in his return to Philly and started at defensive end. Justin Lawrence showed his athleticism and started at mac linebacker, something he’s only took a snap or so at this season. Jake Metz saw a lot of action at his true position, defensive end. Metz brough constant pressure and looked good off the edge. Bryan Robinson started at defensive end, and Padric Scott moved back to nose, his true position last season.
The Soul were without one of their big three at wide receiver for the first time in 2015. Shaun Kauleinamoku was placed on inactive reserve on Wednesday, and was inactive for Saturday’s game. Harvey Binford started at receiver in place of Kauleinamoku. Binford was signed prior to the playoffs before last season but didn’t see action until this year. Binford caught the first touchdown of the game on a deep corner route.
Lonnie Outlaw continued to improve his game, catching a touchdown pass in the second quarter. Outlaw recovered an onside kick late in the fourth and continued to do a good job on kick return. Outlaw is a huge red zone threat at 6’6 and will continue to be the team’s red zone target through the air. Tommy Taggart is a great option to run the football in from close, but Outlaw will proved to be one of the best jump ball receivers in the AFL.
Quarterback Dan Raudabaugh struggled at times, throwing his first pick six of the season on and under thrown dig route in the endzone. Raudabaugh has been lights out for most of the season and still did some positive things overall in Saturday’s win. The offense still struggled to click for most of the game and just never truly felt like everyone was on the same page. Ryan McDaniel dropped a screen pass in the redzone on a fourth down early in the game that could’ve been a score. Marco Thomas dropped a hard thrown slant that was behind him later on in the game. This season, the Soul haven’t been known for mental mistakes like these, but this could be because of the late start time.
For the fifth out of their last six games, the Soul went into halftime either tied or trailing in a game they should’ve been winning. The only exception was the absolute demolition they put on the Tampa Bay Storm in week nine. The Soul and Kiss were tied at 28 entering halftime, but the Soul lead 21-7 at one point in the first half.
The Soul will need to get off to a fast start Vs. the Tampa Bay Storm next week at home. The Storm have beaten the Jacksonville Sharks and Cleveland Gladiators in their last two performances and are a team on the rise right now.
