Soul win first matchup with Portland, advance to 6-0

Harrison Brown
Monday May 4, 2015

PHILADELPHIA - In the first of two matchups versus one of the three expansion franchises the league has added in the past two seasons, the Philadelphia Soul beat the Portland Thunder 52-35. The Soul will take on the Las Vegas Outlaws on May 30th in Atlantic City for the Boardwalk Bowl, and will have to wait until 2016 to play the Los Angeles KISS.

“Well it was the first time playing Portland but it was Coach Ho (Mike Hohensee). Same guy I played against since I came in the league in 1994,” Clint Dolezel said. “We know each other, it’s more about that than it is the team.” 

Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh continued to spread the ball to all four of his wide receivers, with Saturday’s star being Shaun Kauleinamoku who caught seven passes for 122 yards and four touchdowns.

“It was my number this week,” Kauleinamoku said. “If they’re going to double some guys, like they did Ryan McDaniel today, it comes down to the other two receivers to make big plays.

“Dan takes what they give us. If they go down on our shallow routes, we’re gonna go behind them. It’s what we saw on film and game planned for and we executed it well. We knew they couldn’t stop bunch, and he’s our bunch package motion and that’s how it worked out.”

Early in the third quarter, the Soul lost Marco Thomas due to an ejection. Quincy Butler also was ejected and should be suspended for his actions after the play when he threw his helmet into the stands.

After Marco Thomas’s ejection, rookie receiver Xavier Boyce was put into action for more than his usual red zone appearances.

“He’s a great player. The sky's the limit for Xavier, he’s going to blow this league up and honestly I don’t expect him to be here long,” Dolezel said. 

Beau Bell was forced to sit out this week after suffering an ankle sprain last week against New Orleans.

“It’s week to week with him. We have to be smart because it is a long season. We’d love to have him out there but it’s all about him being healthy near the end,” said Dolezel.

In Bell’s absence, veteran Curtis Young stepped in at the mac linebacker spot, a position he’s been interested in playing. Dolezel knew Young would be able to handle the role of mac, considering he has played the spot before.

“When we brought him in, he talked about playing mac and end, he’s played that spot before," Dolezel said after the game. "It wasn’t anything totally new to him. Caleb Bostic is another guy who can play mac, it’s nice to have versatility back there on both sides of the ball.” 

Next week the Soul will take on the Orlando Predators next Friday for the second time this season. In week one, the Soul beat the Preds 70-63 in Orlando.