Shark Week renewed, Jacksonville beats Philly 74-67
Harrison Brown
Sunday July 19, 2015
Despite playing one of their strongest first halves of the season, the Philadelphia Soul allowed 28 fourth quarter points to the Jacksonville Sharks costing them the crucial game in regards to home field advantage for the ArenaBowl. The Soul allowed six touchdowns to former members of the team in the game, with Tiger Jones and Derrick Ross scoring three apiece.
The Soul had no answer for the Sharks on defense, allowing a season high 74 points. While the Soul have been able to spread the ball around to all their weapons on offense, the Sharks have stuck to Joe Hills, Tiger Jones and Derrick Ross. Tonight was no different, with each getting three touchdowns. London Crawford was the only other offensive player to touch the ball.
The Soul were without mac linebacker Beau Bell after just one week of being active. Bell was a highly touted addition to the defense for the Soul this year, but has been limited in his action due to injuries. Bell will have another week to recover, with the Soul being on a bye week this coming week.
The defensive backs for the Soul clearly didn’t have their best night of the season, with no interceptions on the night. While it may not seem like it should be a big deal, the secondary has become accustomed to James Romain or Kent Richardson grabbing an interception a game.
Jones was able to attack the Soul deep on multiple plays. Not many receivers are given the opportunity to run go (vertical downfield) routes like Jones did tonight. He pulled in a 45-yard touchdown and a 39-yard touchdown.
League MVP candidate Dan Raudabaugh played a very solid game, before throwing two interceptions to Greg Reid in the fourth quarter. Reid returned the first interception for a touchdown, and on the next drive caught another. Reid has been a very solid defensive back for the Sharks this season, and has turned into one of the better defensive backs in the Southern Division.
Neil Tivis and Adam Smith did a great job facing the best pass rusher off the edge in the AFL, forcing Joe Sykes to leave Sea Best Field with zero tackles or sacks. Sykes has 16 sacks on the season and is one away from breaking the season record in the AFL.
It is clear that Soul center Shannon Breen is on his way to an All-Arena season, but Tivis and Smith will have to battle with the likes of Colin Madison and Rich Ranglin in San Jose, Sherman Carter and other respected lineman throughout the AFL. Tonight clearly solidifies that both are deserving of being awarded their first All-Arena recognition. Smith caught two touchdowns in tonight’s game, and Tivis has surprised the entire league with his success this season. Tivis is highly regarded to because of his strong punch in pass protection.
The Soul will have a week to rest up and recover for the new life New Orleans VooDoo. The VooDoo and Las Vegas Outlaws were taken over by the league this week, and will also have a bye week after the league announced the game between the two would be a tie. The VooDoo had a great going away party, beating the Tampa Bay Storm 65-53.
Harrison Brown is a college student who has been covering Arena Football since he was 12 years old and has been with ArenaFan since 2014. Harrison was a captain of the varsity football team during his senior year of high school and went on to play one season of Division III football in Massachusetts. Harrison has worked for two indoor football teams, in 2018 he was the Director of Player Personnel for the Jersey Flight and in 2016 he was the Color Commentator for the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets. You can follow Harrison on twitter @HarryBrownRusso.