Soul pound Predators for first victory of season, 61-33

Saturday April 6, 2013

 Philadelphia Scores 34 Unanswered Points; Defense Forces Six Turnovers

ORLANDO (April 6, 2013) – The Philadelphia Soul (1-1) fell into a 14-0 hole, but went on to score 34 unanswered points on their way to a 61-33 victory over the Orlando Predators (0-3) in front of 12,248 fans at the Amway Center on Saturday night.

“We overcame some adversity early with those two quick turnovers,” said Soul head coach Clint Dolezel. “We are pleased with how our veterans responded and our rookies that stepped up and played extremely well. This is definitely some positive momentum that we can build off from.”

Soul QB Dan Raudabaugh guided the Philadelphia offense and finished by connecting on 23-of-33 passes for 250 yards, seven touchdowns.

Rookie Ryan McDaniel led Philadelphia receivers with seven receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown. Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game Tiger Jones had five catches for 64 yards receiving and two touchdowns, while Larry Brackins added four receptions for 33 yards and three touchdowns and Andrae Thurman had six receptions for 37 yards and one touchdown.

Derrick Ross finished with 53 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, including the Spalding Highlight of the Game with his 44-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Defensively, Riddell Defensive Player of the Game, Dustin Barno, who had a sack, helped lead the pressure up front – with Bryan Robinson, Brandon Perkins, Morkeith Brown –and forced six turnovers (three on downs). Rayshaun Kizer had 5.0 total tackles and a fumble recovery, LaRico Stevenson had 3.0 total tackles and an interception and rookie James Romain had 3.5 total tackles, three pass breakups and an interception.

Orlando’s Kyle Rowley connected 9-of-20 passes for 63 yards and one interception before being relieved by Chris Dixon, who went 9-of-13 for 120 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. WR Prechae Rodriguez led the Orlando receivers with seven receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Turnovers ruled the first quarter as Orlando got two defensive touchdowns on a fumble and interception return from J. Lewis Small AFL Playmaker of the Game, Marcus Everett. Philadelphia got a fourth-down scoring strike from Raudabaugh to McDaniel and the first quarter ended with the Predators leading 14-7.

The Soul then went on to outscore the Predators 34-0 as the Philadelphia defense stepped up and got three turnovers in the second quarter – an interception from LaRico Stevenson and two turnovers on downs. The Soul offense outscored the Predators 21-0 with touchdowns by Brackins, Ross and Thurman gave the Soul a 28-14 halftime lead.

The third quarter began with the Soul defense stepping up and forcing their third turnover on downs which led to Ross breaking out for a 44-yard touchdown run on the following possession to give Philadelphia a 34-14. Tiger Jones added an 11-yard touchdown to cap the third quarter scoring and gave the Soul a 40-20 lead.

In the final quarter, Philadelphia outscored Orlando 21-13 with two touchdowns by Brackins and one to Jones for a final score of 61-33.

The Soul travel to play the Iowa Barnstormers in Week 2 on Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m. ET at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA. The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.

Russell Athletic Offensive Player: Philadelphia’s Tiger Jones
Riddell Defensive Player: Philadelphia’s Dustin Barno
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker: Orlando’s Marcus Everett
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Philadelphia’s Ryan McDaniel diving catch in the third quarter.
Spalding Highlight of the Game: Philadelphia’s Derrick Ross’ 44-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

ABOUT PHILADELPHIA SOUL

The Philadelphia Soul are presented by Parx Casino. They capped their seventh Arena Football League season by capturing the 2012 American Conference championship. The Soul will play their next game on Saturday, April 13 against former Soul coach Mike Hohensee and the Iowa Barnstormers. For 2013 season tickets, contact the Soul sales department at (215) 253-4900 ext. 3, or request contact from a representative by filling out the form on www.philadelphiasoul.com. Follow the Soul on Facebook at facebook.com/soul and Twitter at twitter.com/soulfootball.