Strong defense leads Soul to victory 56-51

Saturday July 16, 2016

 Darius Reynolds Reaches 100th Career Touchdown

TAMPA BAY— The Philadelphia Soul (12-3) defeated the Tampa Bay Storm (1-13), with the score 56-51 in front of 8,406 fans at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL on Saturday night.

“Tonight was not one of our strongest nights,” said Soul head coach Clint Dolezel. “We made many mistakes offensively that we will need to fix heading in to our second bye week. Playoffs are around the corner and our focus needs to shift in order to prepare for a strong postseason run.”

Soul WR Chris Duvalt led the receivers with six receptions for 88 yards and one touchdowns. WR Shaun Kauleinamoku added six receptions for 68 yards and two touchdowns and Under Armour Offensive Player of the Game WR Darius Reynolds tallied five receptions for 50 yards and three touchdowns. Tampa Bay WR T.T Toliver led the Storm receivers with 12 receptions for 152 yards and three touchdowns.

Philadelphia QB Dan Raudabaugh completed 21-of-34 passes for 238 yards and six touchdowns. Tampa Bay QB Jason Boltus completed 7-of-11 passes for 92 yards and one touchdown. QB Adam Kennedy completed 17-of-26 for 241 yards and five touchdowns.

The Soul won the coin toss and elected to kick off to the Storm. Incomplete passes left the Storm unable to complete a first down and with 11:20 remaining in the first quarter, the Soul gained possession. Raudabaugh found SK for a 30-yard touchdown to put the Soul on the board 7-0. The Storm responded with an 8-yard touchdown from Boltus to Prechae Rodriguez. The kick was good and with 8:18 remaining in the quarter, the score was tied 7-7. McDaniel fumbled on the next Soul drive and the ball was recovered by Cortez Stubbs. The Storm were unable to capitalize on this and the first quarter ended with a score of 7-7.

The Storm started off the second quarter with another turnover on downs. Raudabaugh quickly connected with Reynolds for a 9-yard touchdown, marking his 100th career receiving touchdown. Kick was good and with 10:24 to play in the first half, the Soul were up 14-7. A successful on-side kick attempt by Frevert gave the Soul another chance to score. SK caught his second touchdown of the night for eight yards and the Soul widened their lead, 21-7 with 6:12 left in the first half. With a new quarterback at the helm, Kennedy connected with Ings for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Kick was no good and the Soul remained in the lead 21-13. Less than a minute after, Raudabaugh passed to Chris Duvalt for a 21-yard touchdown, his first of the night. Kick was good and with 4:08 left in the half, the Soul led 28-13. Rodriguez caught his second touchdown of the night on a huge 45-yard pass, but with an unsuccessful PAT the Soul kept their lead 28-19. An intercepted pass by Raudabaugh and not enough time on the clock for the Storm, left the end of the first half with the Soul in the lead 28-19.

A turnover on downs for the Soul started off the second half. The Storm used this and Kennedy found Toliver for an easy 6-yard touchdown. The Soul blocked the extra point and with 7:40 in the third quarter, the Soul led 28-25. Reynolds caught his second touchdown of the night on a 6-yard pass from Raudabaugh. The Soul widened their lead once again, 35-25. Ings returned the kick-off for a touchdown, bringing the Storm back into a four-point deficit with 4:34 left in the quarter. Another Soul turnover on downs gave the Storm the chance to take the lead and they did just that when Kennedy found Ings again for a 4-yard touchdown run and the third quarter ended with the Soul trailing 37-35.

The Storm lead did not last long as Raudabaugh passed to Reynolds for an 11-yard touchdown to start off the final quarter of play. Kick was good and with 13:33 remaining, the Soul were ahead, 42-37. Kennedy’s pass was intercepted by Dwayne Hollis for a touchdown and the Soul widened the lead again 49-37. With 3:27 to play in the game, Kennedy found Toliver for a 4-yard touchdown and the Storm closed the margin to 49-44. The Storm attempted an on-side kick which was recovered by Reynolds for another Soul touchdown. With 2:38 to play, the Soul were winning 56-44. One final attempt by the Storm end the game with a win came when Toliver caught a 24-yard touchdown pass with 51 seconds remaining. The Soul were able to hold on to their lead and at the end of the game, the Soul won 56-51.

Next week, the Soul will have their second bye week of the 2016 season. Following the bye week, the team will travel to take on the Orlando Predators on Saturday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on TCN and 97.5 The Fanatic

Under Armour Offensive Player: Philadelphia WR Darius Reynolds
Riddell Defensive Player: Philadelphia DB Dwayne Hollis
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker: Tampa Bay WR Kendrick Ings
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Philadelphia WR Darius Reynold’s 9-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter
AFL Highlight of the Game: Tampa Bay WR Kendrick Ings kick-return for a touchdown in the 3rd 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.