Soul look to cancel Shark Week
Friday July 17, 2015
Philadelphia Looks to Keep The Winning Streak Going in Week 17
PHILADELPHIA (July 17, 2015) – The Philadelphia Soul look to keep the winning spirit alive this week. The Soul (13-2) will travel to Jacksonville to face the Sharks (7-7) in Week 17 at the Jacksonville Veteran’s Memorial Arena on Saturday, July 18 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The Soul and Sharks have already faced each other twice this season. While the Soul came out on top in Week 3, they did fall prey to the Sharks in Week 8, having their first loss of the season. This past week the Soul came out triumphant against the Gladiators, with the final score 72-56. Harvey Binford finished with seven catches for 145 yards and four touchdowns and was awarded the J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the game. Marco Thomas added seven catches for 93 yards and one touchdown. Ryan McDaniel had five receptions for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Tommy Taggart added two rushing touchdowns on seven carries. Dan Raudabaugh finished the night by completing 20 of 27 passes for 306 yards, seven touchdowns, and only one interception. Defensively, James Romain led the team with 7.5 total tackles, Joe Goosby added 5.5 total tackles, and LaRico Stevenson had two total tackles and one interception. Padric Scott blocked an extra point in the second quarter, which was recovered by Romain for a touchdown and Teddy Jennings had a forced fumble and one sack.
The first match-up to look for in the game is Soul DB LaRico Stevenson up against Jacksonville WR Anthony “Tiger” Jones. So far this season, Stevenson has had 72 total tackles, four interceptions for 45 yards, and five pass break-ups. In Week 3, against the Sharks, he recorded seven total tackles and 2.5 total tackles in Week 8. This season, Jones has recorded 114 receptions for 1,622 yards and 30 touchdowns. In Week 3, he recorded 13 receptions for 239 yards and five touchdowns and in Week 8, he had three receptions for 16 yards and one touchdown.
The next match-up to look for is the Soul offensive line—Adam Smith, Shannon Breen, and Neal Tivis—up against the Sharks’ defensive line. So far this season, the line has worked well together to protect Raudabaugh by allowing only eight quarterback sacks, the second best in the league. The Sharks defense has a total of 25 sacks for 128 yards.
The final match-up to keep an eye out for is Soul WR Marco Thomas up against the Sharks’ DB Terrance Smith. So far this season Thomas has recorded 131 catches for 1,557 yards and 35 touchdowns. In Week 3 against the Sharks, Thomas recorded seven receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Then in Week 8 Thomas recorded 11 receptions for 113 yards and three touchdowns. The Sharks’ defensive back leads the team with a total of 61.0 total tackles, three interceptions for 66 yards, 18 pass break-ups and one fumble recovery.
The Soul will rest up next week as they have their second bye of the season.
ABOUT PHILADELPHIA SOUL
The 2015 Eastern Division Champion Philadelphia Soul are celebrating their 10th Anniversary Season. The Soul will host "Yalla Soul: Jewish Heritage and Fan Appreciation Night," when they host the New Orleans VooDoo on Sunday, August 2 on the Rothman Field at Wells Fargo Center. Playoff tickets, packages and groups are now available at www.philadelphiasoul.com/playoffs or call 888-789-SOUL, ext. 3 for more information. Follow the Soul on Facebook at facebook.com/soul and Twitter at twitter.com/soulfootball.
