Soul beat Cleveland, will host American Conference Final
Harrison Brown
Saturday August 15, 2015
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Soul were firing on all cylinders tonight, defeating the Cleveland Gladiators 47-35. The Soul defense played their best game of the season, picking off Shane Austin four times, and the defensive backs contained the Gladiators wide receivers very well.
Austin’s four interceptions place him at 13 for his playoff career in just four games, and nine of which have come versus the Soul. Austin is now fifth all-time in playoff interceptions and was pulled with about nine minutes left in the game for Chris Dieker. Austin struggled all season with turnovers with 18 in the regular season. That ranked third in the AFL and is a key reason why the Gladiators struggled to find consistency and beat talented teams.
Dan Raudabaugh didn’t play his best game of his MVP caliber season tonight. Raudabaugh threw a goal line go route off the netting and was picked off by Cleveland defensive back Terrance Sanders in the third. Raudabaugh had problems with timing early in the game, and missed on multiple throws, but as the game progressed Raudabaugh cleaned it up and helped the Soul pull of the win.
Teddy Jennings got to Austin early on a broken play, but for the most part was contained by the Cleveland line. Austin’s mobility often takes him out of the pocket, which can be difficult for an offensive lineman because the defensive linemen have an easy look at him, maybe leading on that Philly was getting more pressure than it truly was. The Soul got to Dieker twice in the fourth quarter.
The Soul’s offensive line continued their dominance over the rest of the AFL. The Gladiators defensive line is headlined by Willie McGinnis, who had 12 sacks in the regular season from the nose guard spot. He was faced against former Gladiator, Shannon Breen who played a solid game against him.
The Soul’s defensive backs were the key to the win, with LaRico Stevenson pulling in two interceptions and Dwayne Hollis getting two, including a pick six. Joe Goosby made great plays from the jack linebacker position, disrupting multiple attempts to get the fullback and tight end involved in the passing game. Goosby ended with one tackle on the night, but was a key part of the coverage in the middle of the field. Austin was forced to throw the ball downfield more than most quarterbacks would want to, and that was a key component to his four interceptions.
The Soul started to collapse late in the fourth, allowing Dieker to throw two touchdowns to Dominick Goodman and giving the Soul some deja vu of the three buzzer beaters from last season. The Soul failed to recover the first onside from Cleveland, but after Dieker’s second touchdown to Goodman, they batted the ball out of bounds.
Philadelphia will host the winner of tonight’s Orlando/Jacksonville contest in the American Conference Championship Game. It’s a complete flip of last year, as Cleveland will enter the offseason with questions looming, and the Soul will host the American Conference Championship game.
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.