Bouncing Back
Jason Moyer
Sunday May 18, 2008
The Soul played without six of their starters and could have continued a downward spiral. Instead they got contributions from newcomers and players activated from the practice squad to defeat the Destroyers 51-43.
“We had four defensive starters out tonight and I told them, let’s go out and play hard,” stated Soul Head Coach Bret Munsey. “Tonight we had a couple of guys step up, Justin Cleveland, Kevin Carberry, Rob Keefe, Dee Webb, for young guys that haven’t played a lot they contributed and it’s big for us.”
Justin Cleveland recorded a sack, while Rob Keefe earned Ironman of the Game by recording nine tackles, two pass breakups, and 141 return yards on seven kickoff returns.
Offensively, the Soul continue to play without starting quarterback Tony Graziani. But if you’ve been following the Arena Football League this season, you know that Matt D’Orazio is not your average backup quarterback. D’Orazio leads the league in passer rating this season and has an ArenaBowl championship under his belt when he was with the Chicago Rush in 2006.
Wide receivers Chris Jackson and Larry Brackins have been healthy all season and have helped lead Philadelphia to the top scoring offense in the league.
The Soul’s third wide receiver spot however has been a revolving door and might possibly have a curse placed upon the position. Kenny Henderson, Cliff Dell, Darius Watts have all played the position this season with Henderson having been placed on the injured reserve list twice and Watts currently nursing an injury of his own.
Brent Holmes apparently was not aware of the precarious position he placed himself in when he signed with the Soul earlier this week. Things turned out just fine (at least for one game) as he contributed five catches for 56 yards and one touchdown in his debut with the team.
“Brent Holmes had one practice,” commented Coach Munsey. “He knew the terminology that’s why we went out and got him and he did what we needed him to do. He caught a few balls, a big touchdown catch there on the corner route, and we can’t ask for anymore than what he gave us tonight.”
Another factor in the signing of Holmes was his relationship with Jackson.
“Chris is friends with Brent he had played with him before,” mentioned quarterback D’Orazio. “He really took him under his wing and made sure he was in the right spot.”
The Soul were able to overcome their injuries and also took to heart the lessons learned from last week’s debacle against the Georgia Force.
“After last week, we learned a great lesson,” declared D’Orazio. “Thank goodness that wasn’t in the playoffs. We learned it and did the right things. We kept the ball and didn’t let them get back in it.”
Philadelphia failed to run out the clock last week in Georgia, but did not have the same problem against Columbus as they held the ball for the last 4:37 of the game.
“We got the ball back and did what we had to do,” said Munsey. “Columbus used a time out early in the game and used their others before the one minute warning. So we had to get positive yardage and that offensive line has done a great job all year and that was a big series for us.”
As I already stated this was not a “must win” game, but in the words of Chris Jackson, “Any win is big in this league. Any team can win on a given night, so for us just to get to 10 wins and get back on the winning track is good for us and our coaching staff.”
Inside the numbers
Matt D’Orazio (PHI) completed 19 of 23 passes for 284 yards and seven touchdowns.
Larry Brackins (PHI) caught eight passes for 127 yards and two scores.
Anthony Dunn & Gabe Nyenhius (PHI) each recorded 1.5 sacks.
Matt Nagy (CLM) finished 23 for 35 with 308 yards and three touchdowns.
Milestone Reached
Chris Jackson moved into second place all-time on the AFL receiving touchdown list. Jackson passed AFL Hall of Famer Eddie Brown’s mark of 303 touchdowns. Jackson also moved past Brown on the AFL receptions and receiving yards charts.
“I think I know my role on this team and all the personal accolades that come as long as I keep doing my part. The main thing I focus on is just being able to help my teammates the most. If that means five touchdown games or one touchdown games it doesn’t matter, as long as we’re doing well offensively.”
Franchise Record
With his 1.5 sacks, Gabe Nyenhuis became the single season sack leader for the Philadelphia Soul. Dwayne Missouri held the mark with seven sacks in 2007.
Next Week
Next week is actually this week as the Soul return to the Wachovia Center on Thursday night to take on the Kansas City Brigade. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30.
Jason Moyer is an elementary school teacher in the western New Jersey area. He is an avid follower of the Arena Football League and has been covering the Philadelphia Soul with ArenaFan.com since 2005. Jason resides in Whitehall, PA with his wife and daughter.
