Jaws, Soul Take Final Bite Out of Sharks, Head To ArenaBowl XXVI

Adam Markowitz
Saturday August 10, 2013

JACKSONVILLE - They didn't quite "get this" last year, but they are going to have a chance to do it this season. The Philadelphia Soul are on their way to ArenaBowl XXVI after knocking off the Jacksonville Sharks 75-59 in the American Conference Championship Game on Saturday night.

The Soul might have been the #2 team in the conference according to the standings, but they proved right from the get go that they were indeed the best team in the American Conference on Saturday night, especially in the trenches and at the back. The offensive line might have allowed three sacks, but for the most part, QB Dan Raudabaugh had all of the time that he needed to make throws all night long. The defensive line had QB Bernard Morris under duress for most of the night. The secondary was getting hands in on passes and picking some off. The offense wasn't flawless by any stretch of the imagination, but it was certainly good enough to win. The special teams made the plays that it had to. It really was a rather complete, though certainly imperfect effort.

Morris looked uncomfortable in the pocket all night long. He completed just 4-of-10 passes to start the night on his first four drives, and on those drives, Jacksonville only had one touchdown with one stop on downs and two interceptions. At the bat of an eyelash, it was 20-7 Philadelphia, and the romp was on.

After trading touchdowns all the way through the one-minute warning of the first half from there, the game turned on a dime when Philadelphia recovered an onside kick with 0:54 left to play in the half. Little-used WR Andrae Thurman recovered the kick and raced the other direction to set Philly up for the TD that gave it a three-score lead and a chokehold on the game that would never be relented.

Morris had 33 seconds to work with to try to get Jacksonville back within two scores, but a pass inbounds without any timeouts remaining proved to essentially be a death sentence to the half. The Sharks tried a long field goal that K Marco Capozzoli clunked off of the bar as the half expired.

The Soul did everything that they could to keep the pressure on, recovering every onside kick that came their way. Things though, were anything but perfect. Raudabaugh was intercepted by DL Jerry Turner with 7:39 left in the third quarter, and the big man raced the other way 23-yards for the score that put some life into the 9,161 in attendance at Sea Best Field.

Philly had the answer on the next drive, as WR Ryan McDaniel hauled in a great touchdown grab to extend the lead by out to three touchdowns. After a TD cut the lead to 14 once again, opportunity struck for the Sharks to start the fourth quarter in the form of a DB Micheaux Robinson pick.

Just a few short plays later though, the game was essentially over with. Morris couldn't connect on four straight passes, giving the ball back to the Soul and taking all of the life out of a suddenly raucous building.

FB Derrick Ross' fourth touchdown of the game stretched the lead out once again to 61-40, and the Soul never let Jacksonville get closer than 15 again.

"You never can count a team out, especially a talented team like Jacksonville. There's not a league safe enough in arena football," said Head Coach Clint Dolezel.

Ross had a fantastic game, rushing for 54 yards and accounting for 31 receiving yards. The rest of the numbers for the Soul were underwhelming considering the fact that the team scored 75 points. Raudabaugh went 18-of-27 for 220 yards with eight scores, but he also turned the ball over three times. McDaniel led the team with 88 receiving yards.

However, what can be said about the Soul is that they were insanely efficient. They only ran 20 plays in the first half and scored 40 points. For the game, they only ran 44 plays.

Morris was inefficient all night long, though his final stats look at least somewhat respectable. He completed 31-of-49 passes for 416 yards with eight TDs, but he did turn the ball over those three times and couldn't come up with crucial completions when they were needed most.

WR Markee White caught 14 passes for 188 yards and four TDs, while WR Jeron Harvey had seven catches for 101 yards and three trips to the end zone.

The Sharks finished up a season that Head Coach Les Moss classified as "a disappointment" at 13-7 including the postseason. Though the team earned the right to host the American Conference Championship Game for the second time in its four years of existence, it still clearly wasn't enough to keep the long faces from being all over the Jacksonville locker room.

"There's nothing positive when you lose. There can only be one man standing at the end of the season, and that's what everyone is playing for," said Moss. "I really felt like this team had what it takes to get there, but we had some players that made some key mistakes."

For the Soul, it's back to the ArenaBowl for the second straight season, where they will be hoping to avenge last season's loss. It's clearly going to be personal, and it's clearly going to be a game where the Soul hope that they can say that "they got this." Raudabaugh knows it, too.

"We're excited. We're going in with a mission this year to win it."