Soul lose heartbreaker to Kansas City, 54-47, on final play of game
Friday May 23, 2008
Philadelphia, PA (May 22) -- Philadelphia fullback Clifton Smith fumbled a direct snap on the final play of the game, scuttling a final scoring opportunity, as the Soul dropped a 54-47 decision to the Kansas City Brigade Thursday night before a crowd of 14,473 at the Wachovia Center.
The loss dropped Philadelphia to 10-3 going into the bye week with a playoff spot still unclinched. The Soul will try to capture their third consecutive post-season berth on June 7, when they travel to Dallas for a confrontation with the Eastern Division rival Desperados, who stand at 9-2 with road games Friday night against Orlando and May 31 versus Cleveland.
The Soul defeated Dallas, 57-28, when both were undefeated last month and the June 7 game could determine the division championship and playoff positioning. The Soul’s final home game is Saturday, June 14, at 7 p.m. at the Wachovia Spectrum. The regular season finale comes Sunday afternoon, June 22, against the New York Dragons at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.
The Brigade jumped out to a 14-0 lead with a pair of fumble recoveries for touchdowns in the first five minutes of the game. Jamarr Ward, a 375-pound offensive lineman, took a tackle-eligible swing pass and rumbled 23 yards before fumbling at the goal line and then recovering the ball in the end zone. On the Soul’s first play from scrimmage, Matt D’Orazio fumbled while being sacked at his own goal line and Kansas City’s Denario Smalls pounced on the loose ball for the touchdown.
The Soul battled back behind D’Orazio and wide receiver Chris Jackson, finally taking the lead midway through the third quarter, scoring on their first possession of the second half on a one-yard D’Orazio to Brent Holmes jump pass. Then, a defensive stop led to a D’Orazio to Jackson 12-yarder. Connor Hughes’ ensuing kick put the Soul on top, 34-33.
The lead went back and forth for the rest of the game with Kansas City putting up with winning points with an eight yard touchdown pass from quarterback D. Bryant to wide receiver Jerel Myers.
In the final minute, the Soul moved to the 1 yard line with just 6.2 seconds left when the final play miscue used up the final seconds, leading to the Kansas City victory celebration.
Jackson continued his assault on the record books with 11 catches for 130 yards. He closed within four touchdown receptions of Damian Harrell (312) for the all-time top spot in the Arena League. He now has 112 catches and moved past Steve Smith (107) as the team’s all-time single-season leader.
D’Orazio finished the game 24 of 34 for 268 yards and six touchdowns. Holmes had scoring catches of 27 yards and one yard for the Soul. Bryant ended up 19 of 32 for 198 yards and five TDs and he added 24 yards rushing for the Brigade.
