Sharks never stop attacking to reach ArenaBowl XXVIII

Adam Markowitz
Sunday August 23, 2015

The plan was clear from the get go. The Jacksonville Sharks were going to attack, attack, and attack some more. They were never going to let the Philadelphia Soul dictate the American Conference Championship Game. And now, they're headed to ArenaBowl XXVIII.

An emotional Les Moss, surely thinking about his recently passed father, Perry Moss, broke down in tears following the final play of a wild 61-56 win. It's a sin that injured feet kept him from being down on the field with his players and fellow coaches who helped generate this triumph, but he deserves every bit of the praise which comes his way for this one.

Moss, who arguably could have been fired three months ago for Jacksonville's poor start to the season, deserves all the credit in the world for coming up with the perfect game plan to hand the Soul their first loss of the season at the Wells Fargo Center.

Last week against Orlando, the Sharks didn't take a heck of a lot of shots down the field. Tommy Grady took what the Predators defensive gave him, and Jacksonville worked down the field time and time again to put up 55 points in an easy victory. This week, they just continued to abuse James Romain and the Philadelphia secondary on deep throws. Sure, Grady only went 15-of-29 for 238 yards, but eight of his passes went for touchdowns, and that's why the Sharks are on their way to their second ArenaBowl.

Joe Hills, who now has 55 consecutive games played with a touchdown, proved last week that he is the best red zone threat in the AFL, scoring four times from in close to lead the Sharks to victory. Now he did it again with five touchdowns on five catches against Philadelphia.

The Sharks only failed twice from in close the entire game. The first was a rather boneheaded throw by Grady which was picked off by LaRico Stevenson in the second quarter. The second was on a questionable drive which started with 0:38 remaining in the game, a sequence in which the Sharks threw three straight incomplete passes with a five-point lead and burned just a total of 20 seconds off the clock.

Yes, the second of those drives nearly ended Jacksonville's season. But the Sharks' defense did the job when it had to, finishing up with a pick by LaRoche Jackson on the back line of the end zone to seal the deal with zeroes on the clock.

Those final crazy few seconds though, may as well have been a microcosm of Jacksonville's season.

The Sharks started off this year at 0-4; they're now the first team to reach the ArenaBowl after starting any worse than 0-2. Only two teams have started at 0-2 to reach the ArenaBowl, the last of which was in 2006 (Chicago Rush).

There were moments when Jacksonville looked like the greatest team in the league this year, but just when you thought it was back on track, it would lose to a team like Portland or Tampa Bay.

But when the Sharks needed it the most, just as they did in Orlando last week, they did it again in Philadelphia on Sunday night.

Jacksonville has become the first team since 2007 to win two road games to reach the ArenaBowl and the first team since Philadelphia in 2013 to win a conference championship game on the road. That game just so happened to be in Jacksonville.

But now, the demons have been exorcized for the Sharks. They have overcome all of their obstacles from the American Conference and are deserving conference champions. But can they go through their one last hurdle and claim the franchise's second championship?

We'll all find out next Saturday in Stockton, where the 19-1 San Jose SaberCats will await.