Super Soul Win ArenaBowl XXII 59-56
Adam Markowitz
Sunday July 27, 2008
In the first 15 minutes of action, the Soul held serve, matching the SaberCats two touchdowns with two of their own. Quarterback Matt D’Orazio was a perfect four for four in the first quarter for 84 yards and two scores. Philadelphia only faced one third down in the quarter, and on that play, D’Orazio hooked up with Offensive Player of the Year, Chris Jackson for a 34-yard touchdown strike.
After both teams scored and missed extra points to make the score 20-20, the Philadelphia defense took over. SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb was pressured by the defensive line on the drive. On 4th down, Gabe Nyenhuis pressured Grieb and tipped the pass to give the Soul the first stop of the game.
D’Orazio said that the defense was the key to the game. “It’s an old cliché. Defense wins championships… Coming out and playing the way they did today and getting those stops on the defending champs… I certainly give them tons of credit.”
On the first play of the next drive, D’Orazio threw his third touchdown pass of the night, hooking up with Larry Brackins from 20 yards out to give the Soul their first lead at 27-20.
Once again, it was the defense that stood strong. Eddie Moten intercepted a flustered Grieb to give the Soul their second straight stop. D’Orazio took matters into his own hands and ran in his third career ArenaBowl touchdown. The score moved him into a tie for third place in ArenaBowl history with four others in rushing touchdowns.
After Jason Geathers scored for San Jose, Philadelphia had a chance to notch the final score of the half. Phil Bogle caught a pass in the middle of the field and fumbled. The ruling on the field was that the Soul recovered. San Jose challenged the ruling, saying that they had recovered the fumble. The first challenge in ArenaBowl history was upheld. All-Rookie Team kicker Connor Hughes tacked on a 20-yard field goal as the half expired to give the Soul a 37-27 lead at intermission.
The Soul began to feel the pressure of clinching up the city’s first championship right out of the blocks in the 2nd half. After working down the field to the San Jose 13-yard line, D’Orazio threw three straight incompletions to turn the ball back over to the SaberCats.
But once again, it was the defense that came up with their third stop of the game. Nyenhuis sacked Grieb and forced the second turnover of the game. For the second time, San Jose challenged the ruling on the field, saying that the Grieb’s arm was going forward. The very controversial call went in favor of the Soul, giving the ball back to D’Orazio and the offense.
Jackson caught a 32-yard touchdown pass on the next play that put the Soul ahead 44-27.
Mack linebacker Raheem Orr was the next to put his stamp on ArenaBowl XXII, as he sacked Grieb for a safety to push the lead to 19. The two sacks that the Soul recorded were the first two against Grieb in his three ArenaBowls.
But the SaberCats wouldn’t die. Ron Jones sacked D’Orazio from behind, jarring the ball loose. Geathers recovered the fumble, and San Jose had renewed life. Geathers scored on the final play of the third quarter for the SaberCats. Still, the Soul had a comfortable 46-34 advantage going into the final stanza.
That safe feeling started to disappear when the offense sputtered yet again, settling for a Hughes field goal attempt. Backup quarterback and holder Tony Graziani couldn’t get the snap down properly, and attempted to throw the ball. His first ArenaBowl pass was intercepted by Rodney Wright. Clifton Smith was Johnny on the spot though, as he forced Wright to fumble on the return, which Bogle recovered.
For the third time in the game, the red challenge flag was on the field, but this time it was Soul Head Coach Bret Munsey that was doing the throwing. Replay apparently showed that Wright had fumbled before hitting the ground, which gave Philadelphia the ball back. Brackins notched his second TD of the night putting the Soul up 52-34.
The teams traded scores to make it 59-42 with 0:39 left. Owner Jon Bon Jovi and various other members of the Soul were seen on ESPN putting on their championship hats and shirts.
However, it ended up being 39 seconds that Coach Munsey referred to as “an hour.” He added, “All I could think about was the Philadelphia Curse and the Georgia game.” That Georgia game saw the Soul blow a three possession lead with under 4:00 to play.
Wright atoned for his sins with a good kick return and a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to put the SaberCats back within 11. Trestin George recovered AJ Haglund’s onside kick for San Jose, and once again it only took Grieb and the SaberCats one play to strike. Geathers scored his fifth touchdown and then scored on the 2-point conversion play.
All of a sudden, it was just a 3-point lead, the closest the game had been since the middle of the 2nd quarter. Order was restored when the Soul recovered the onside kick.
Three D’Orazio tosses into the stands later, and the Curse of William Penn was lifted. The city of Philadelphia finally had their championship.
Jackson won Offensive Player of the Game honors for his 146 receiving yards and three touchdowns. His place as one of the greatest wide receivers in League history was cemented in this game. He is now 5th in AFL playoff history with 1,554 receiving yards, 2nd with 39 touchdowns, tied for third with Eddie Brown with 40 total touchdowns, and passed Stevie Thomas for 5th all-time in all-purpose yards in the game.
Nyenhuis won Defensive Player of the Game, while Mike Brown won Ironman of the Game. Brown had 77 all-purpose yards, six tackles, and a forced fumble.
D’Orazio joined Grieb as the second player in AFL history to be named MVP of the ArenaBowl. He finished the day going 26 for 43 for 302 yards and seven touchdowns. His 13 career ArenaBowl passing touchdowns moves him into 4th place all-time, only trailing the legendary names of Mark Grieb, Jay Gruden, and Shredrick Bonner.
Soul team president Ron Jaworski had tears in his eyes at the post-game press conference. He said that he felt vindicated to bring a championship back to Philadelphia after being the losing quarterback in Super Bowl XV in New Orleans. He summed up what it meant to bring a title back to the City of Brotherly Love with the passion that only the Arena Football League could offer.
“I can’t say thank you enough to our fans. If I had 1,000 tongues I couldn’t say thank you enough.”
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
