Washington Makes It Memorable
Jon Stark
Monday May 29, 2017
WASHINGTON, DC - The Washington Valor (1-5) held the Philadelphia Soul (7-0) in check but ultimately lost 48-47 in front of 9,873 fans on Saturday afternoon inside of Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. This week was tied for the closest scores in AFL history, Cleveland lost to Baltimore 63-60, a four point total differential between both teams, the record was originally set in 1987.
In his first start since August 2015, and first start for Washington, quarterback Sean Brackett was voted Offensive Player of the Game, not too shabby. Brackett completed 26-of-44 passes for 231 yards and five touchdowns, he also tacked on 12 rushing yards, finishing with a QB rating of over 101. Wide receiver Greg Carr reaped the benefits, 131 receiving yards on 12 catches and four touchdowns, too bad there's no Co-Offensive Player of the Game. WR Charles McClain added a rushing touchdown and new comer Josh Reese had a net recovery for a touchdown and scored in the second half as well.
"The injuries that we’ve been having, we lost two quarterbacks in one week, lost two centers, lost two receivers, so that was pretty much almost a new offense playing tonight for the first time together so it was a pretty good effort” Valor Head Coach Dean Cokinos said after the game.
Unless Philly QB Dan Raudabaugh was looking to set new career lows, the Valor defense continues to show why they're a force to be reckoned with. The Soul were just one-for-four on 4th down conversions and three-for-seven on 3rd down. Raudabaugh only completed 10-of-22 passes for 148 yards but still managed five touchdowns and received MVP of the Game honors. Soul WR Ryan McDaniel hauled in two of those and also joined the 100 career TD club on his first score early in the game. Sean "SK" Kauleinamoku finished with only 45 receiving yards and one touchdown but also reached a new benchmark, 6,000 career receiving yards. Philadelphia is now the 15th team in AFL history to start a season 7-0.
Valor Head Coach on QB Sean Brackett: “It was really a good effort for him the first game, it’s really hard to do when you haven’t played, and against a good team like this to battle like that… tremendous job.”
Washington continues their home stand next weekend against the Cleveland Gladiators, both teams are desperate for their second win, Cleveland’s only win came against the Valor inside of Quicken Loans Arena on April 28th. You can tune in June 3rd at 7:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
