Soul lose grudge match to Sharks, 59-41

Monday April 11, 2016

 Philadelphia Unable to Overcome Costly Turnovers

PHILADELPHIA—The Philadelphia Soul (1-1) had a disappointing start to their season, losing their home opener 59-41 to the Jacksonville Sharks (1-1) in front of 8,550 fans at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Monday night.

“We were off, which wasn’t the way that we wanted to start our season,” Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said. “We did too much thinking, instead of just playing the game of football. We need to get back on the field as soon as possible and fix the errors we saw tonight.”

Jacksonville WR and Under Armour Offensive Player of the Game, Joe Hills led both teams with four touchdown receptions and 154 yards. J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker of the Game, Tiger Jones added seven catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Soul WR Darius Reynolds had 10 receptions for 129 yards and three touchdowns.

Jacksonville QB Tommy Grady completed 21-of-35 passes for 326 yards and seven touchdowns. Soul QB Dan Raudabaugh completed 24-of-36 passes for 306 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

After winning the toss, the Sharks elected to defer to the second half and kicked off to the Soul. Dan Raudabaugh’s pass was intercepted by Greg Reid. Grady connected with Roger Jackson for a 9-yard touchdown and Marco Capozzoli’s kick was good. The Sharks led the Soul 7-0 with 9:21 left in the quarter. The Soul quickly responded when Raudabaugh connected with Ryan McDaniel for a 35-yard catch. This set up a one-yard rushing touchdown by Darius Reynolds. Tommy Frevert’s kick was good, tying up the game 7-7 with 7:16 left to play. Tommy Grady found Joe Hills for a 33-yard touchdown pass and the kick was good. The Sharks went up 14-7 with 4:25 left in the quarter. Raudabaugh was able to connect with Shaun Kauleinamoku for a 10-yard touchdown pass tying up the game again with 30 seconds left. At the end of the quarter the Sharks and Soul were tied 14-14.

Tommy Grady opened up the second quarter with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tiger Jones. The kick was good, giving the Sharks a 21-14 lead with 13:02 left to play in the quarter. The Soul answered right back when Jeramie Richardson ran the ball into the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. The Soul tied up the game, 21-21 with 10:25 left in the quarter. The Soul defense had a 4th and goal stop when Joe Goosby defended a pass from Tommy Grady to Moqut Ruffins. The Sharks countered with a stop of their own. Raudabaugh connected with Reynolds, who was tackled a yard short of the first down by David Hyland. Tommy Grady completed a 29-yard pass to Tiger Jones to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Ross. With a successful kick the Sharks took a 28-21 lead with 12 seconds remaining. Raudabaugh responded with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kauleinamoku to end the quarter. Tommy Frevert’s kick was no good and at the end of the first half the Soul trailed the Sharks 28-27.

The Sharks started off the third quarter with a 28-yard pass from Grady to Jones for his second touchdown of the game. With 13:09 left in the quarter the kick was good to give the Sharks a 35-27 lead. Raudabaugh completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Reynolds. The Soul trailed 35-34 with 8:55 left to play. Hills scored his second touchdown of the game on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Grady and the Sharks led the Soul 42-34 with 4:07 left in the quarter. Raudabaugh threw his second interception to Reid with 1:32 to play. At the end of the third quarter the Sharks were leading the Soul 42-34.

The Sharks opened up the fourth quarter with a field goal by Capozzoli to increase their lead to 45-34 over the Soul. McDaniel fumbled and the Sharks took over with 13:31 left to play. Grady connected with Hills on a 4-yard pass for his third touchdown of the game. With 9:31 left in the game, the Sharks led the Soul 52-34. Raudabaugh threw his third interception of the game to LaRoche Jackson with 5:34 left to play. Grady capitalized with a 23-yard pass to Hills, resulting in his fourth touchdown of the night. Backup quarterback Luke Collis found Reynolds for his third touchdown of the game with a 33-yard pass. The kick was good, leaving the Soul trailing the Sharks at the end of the game, 59-41.

Next week, the Soul host the Portland Steel on Sunday, April 17 at the Wells Fargo Center. The game will kick off at 4 p.m.

Under Armour Offensive Player: Jacksonville WR Joe Hills
Riddell Defensive Player: Jacksonville DB Greg Reid
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker: Jacksonville WR Tiger Jones
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Jacksonville WR Joe Hills 33-yard touchdown in the first
Spalding Highlight of the Game: Jacksonville WR Tiger Jones 26-yard touchdown in the second quarter

ABOUT PHILADELPHIA SOUL
The 2015 Eastern Division Champion Philadelphia Soul are in their 11th Season of play. In the first ten seasons, the Soul have won four Division Championships, three Conference Championships and a World Championship. Since the inaugural season in 2004, the Soul are the winningest professional sports team in Philadelphia. Season memberships and Group tickets for the Soul’s upcoming 2016 season are on sale now. For tickets, contact the Soul sales department at (215) 253-4900 ext. 3, or request contact from a Soul 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.