Gladiators hand Soul first loss, 67-55
Friday May 2, 2008
CLEVELAND - Marlion Jackson ran for four touchdowns to lead the Cleveland Gladiators over the Philadelphia Soul, 67-55, at Quicken Loans Arena. Raymond Philyaw ended 25-of-30 for 295 yards with five touchdowns and one interception for Cleveland, which improved to 5-4 on the season.
Larry Brackins hauled in career-highs 14 catches for 146 yards with two touchdowns for the Soul, who suffered their first loss of the season. Chris Jackson added eight receptions for 65 yards and three TDs for Philadelphia, which lost for the first time in 10 games this season and had a 12-game regular-season winning streak dating back to last season end. Jackson’s first TD catch gave him 300 for his career, making him just the third player in league history to accomplish the feat.
Matt D’Orazio started at quarterback for the Soul, but left the game with 11:24 left in the third quarter with a left ankle sprain and did not return. He ended 16-of-21 for 141 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for a score.
Tony Graziani came on for D’Orazio and finished 15-of-23 for 150 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
The Soul hit the field again on Monday, May 12 when they travel to face the Georgia Force at 8 p.m. (et). The game can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD and heard on 950 ESPN (WPEN).
With the game tied at 55-55, the Gladiators took the lead on a five-yard TD pass from Raymond Philyaw to Joe Minucci. However, Bryan Save blocked the ensuing PAT and with 4:04 left the Soul took over.
Philadelphia moved the ball to midfield with one minute left, but the first snap after the warning was mishandled and the Gladiators recovered and Philyaw hit Otis Amey with a 23-yard TD pass to secure the win.
The Soul jumped out to a 13-0 lead early. D’Orazio hit Brackins with an 18-yard scoring strike just over 2 ½ minutes into the contest. Then, after Connor Hughes missed the ensuing PAT, his kickoff hit off the upright took a Soul bounce and Dee Webb recovered in the end zone for the touchdown.
The teams exchanged touchdowns the rest of the quarter with the Soul carrying a 20-14 lead into the second. Jackson scored on a two-yard run to get Cleveland on the board. Brackins hauled in a six-yard TD pass for the Soul and Amey had a 12-yard TD catch for the Gladiators.
The second quarter scoring started with Jackson hitting his career milestone when he hauled in a three-yard TD pass from D’Orazio for a 27-13 lead. However, Philly went into halftime with only a 34-27 lead, as Amey came away with a 16-yard TD catch with 17 seconds left in the stanza. Hughes missed a 38-yard field goal for the Soul as time expired.
The third quarter started for the Gladiators the same way the game started for the Soul. Jackson ran for a score and the ensuing kickoff hit off the iron and was recovered by Robert Redd for a touchdown to give Cleveland its first lead of the game, 41-34.
After D’Orazio went down with an injury the two teams exchanged turnovers, but the Soul managed to tie the game when Graziani hit Darius Watts with a 20-yard TD pass. Jackson answered with his third TD run, a three-yard burst, but the PAT was blocked by Anthony Dunn.
Graziani and the Soul answered with a TD drive, as Jackson hauled in an eight-yard pass for a 48-47 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Jackson scored on a four-yard TD run early in the stanza and Amey completed the two-point conversion to again put the Gladiators ahead seven points 55-48. But Graziani and Jackson hooked up for a second time, this time from seven yards out to tie the game with 6:21 left.
NOTES: Brackins’ second TD catch was his 21st of the season, marking a new single-season career high for the wide out. He had 20 TD catches as a rookie last season…The 67 points scored by Cleveland was the most allowed by Philly this season…Brackins previous career bests were 10 receptions and 139 yards, both set on March 29 against Tampa…The 55 points scored was a season-low for Philly.
