Soul win ArenaBowl XXIX 56-42

Joe Kauffman
Friday August 26, 2016

END OF GAME - The Philadelphia Soul are the champions of the world. After failing against Arizona twice in the ArenaBowl before, the Soul overcame nearly coughing up a 21-point lead to win their second championship in franchise history. The Soul used a strong fourth quarter to put together their 56-42 victory. Continuing coverage of ArenaBowl XXIX is right here at ArenaFan.com.

0:48.5 4Q - Nick Davila threw his second interception of the game, his third turnover and the fifth by the Arizona Rattlers. The Philadelphia Soul now have the opportunity to put the game out of reach.

1:00 4Q - WOOM The Arizona Rattlers have the ball 1st and 10 at their own 21 yard line down 14 with one minute to play in the game.

3:03 4Q - Shaun Kauleinamoku scored his third touchdown of the night on a 30 yard reception from Dan Raudabaugh. The score came after a Rattlers turnover. The Philadelphia Soul stopped the Arizona Rattlers when Jake Metz sacked Nick Davila forcing a fumble and then recovering it himself at the Soul 20 yard line. Ryan McDaniels scored on the two point conversion as the Sould extend their lead to 56-42.

9:41 4Q - Dan Raudabaugh completed an 11 yard pass to Shaun Kauleinamoku for a touchdown to retake the lead. The Tommy Frevert PAT was blocked. The Soul lead 48-42. That was the second TD of the night for Kauleinamoku.

14:09 4Q - Maurice Purify caught a 6 yard pass for a touchdown from Nick Davila to open the third quarter. After a Pertuit PAT, the Rattlers have completed the comeback and the game is tied at 42 apiece. The score was Purify's second of the game and 11th in an ArenaBowl, setting a new receiving touchdown record.

END OF 3Q - The Arizona Rattlers are threating to tie the game after forcing a Ryan McDaniels fumble to end the previous Philadelphia Soul drive. Arizona has the ball first ad goal from the 6 yard line.

2:12 3Q - Following an onside kick attempt by the Philadelphia Soul, the Arizona Rattlers needed just two plays to put more points on the board. The 12 yard drive ended with Rod Windsor's second touchdown of the night for two yards. The Soul lead is down to 42-35.

3:59 3Q - Shaun Kauleinamoku caught a 4th down touchdown pass from Dan Raudabaugh to score a touchdown for the Philadelphia Soul. The Soul faced a pair of 4th down conversions on the drive but were able to converty both. The Soul extend their third quarter lead over the Rattlers to 42-28. During the drive Raudaboaugh's passes were on the money, but his receivers kept dropping the balls.

11:40 3Q - Rod Windsor scored his first touchdown of the night as the Arizona Rattlers marched downfield to score following the opening kickoff of the second half. The Rattlers have pulled within one score as the Philadelphia Soul lead has been narrowed to 35-28.

HALFTIME - A fascinating first half of ArenaBowl XXIX is in the books, and the Rattlers have cut a three-stop deficit to just one at the intermission. The Rattlers, who played one of their worst halves of football of the season, managed to salvage the first half just a bit by getting a stop on downs just inside of the one minute warning and parlaying that into Mykel Benson's second rushing touchdown of the game.

Nick Davila went 12-of-21 for 164 yards and one TD in the first half. He was also intercepted once. Maurice Purify led the Ratts with six catches, 87 yards and a TD, his AFL record-tying 10th in his career in the title game.

Dan Raudabaugh went 8-of-16 for 131 yards and three TDs. Darius Reynolds caught two of the three touchdowns, but what he might be most remembered for in that first half was dropping the pass in the corner of the end zone which would have ultimately given the Soul a 42-14 lead.

0:02.3 2Q - Mykel Benson scored from one yard out as the Arizona Rattlers take advantage of the Soul turnover on downs. The Benson score is his second of the game, and he becomes the 12th player to have multiple rushing touchdowns in an ArenaBowl. The Soul lead is now down to 35-21.

0:50.4 2Q - The Arizona Rattlers got their first stop of the game, holding the Philadelphia Soul on 4th down forcing an incomplete pass by Darius Reynolds. The Rattlers now have a chance to shrink the lead before the end of the half.

WOOM! - With one minute remaing in the first half, the Philadelphia Soul are martching down the field tryting to extend their 35-14 lead before the end of the half. The Soul have the ball 3rd and 10 at the Rattlers 19 yard line.

4:01 2Q - The Arizona Rattlers turn the ball over as Nick Davila throws an interception in the end zone. The pick is the third Rattlers turnover of the first half. The Philadelphia Soul hold their 35-14 lead.

10:25 2Q - Dan Raudabaugh hit Darius Reynolds for his second touchdown of the night. The 35 yard touchdown pass was the second play of the drive. The Soul extend their lead to 35-14.

13:16 2Q - Mykel Benson rumbled in from  one yard out to score a touchdown for the Arizona Rattlers. The score pulls the Rattlers back  within 14. The Philadelphia Soul lead is trimmed to 28-14.

END 1Q - After one quarter, the Philadelphia Soul hold a 28-7 lead. The difference thus far are two Rattlers mistakes, a fumble returned by the Soul for a tocuhdown and a misplayed kickoff return resulting in a net recovery touchdown for the Philadelphia Soul.

0:52.8 1Q -  Dan Raudabaugh completed a 22 yard pass to Ryan McDaniel for a Soul touchdown. The 28 points scored so far by the Soul thus far have set a first quarter single team record for points scored in the first quarter of any playoff game. The Soul lead 28-7.

4:42 1Q - Nick Davila completed a pass to Maurice Purify, who dodged two defenders to get into the end zone. The Rattlers got on the scoreboard to pull within 14, trailing 21-7. It was his 10th career ArenaBowl touchdown receiption.

7:55 1Q - The Rattlers failed to cleanly field the kickoff and the Philadelphia Soul DE Jake Metz recovered the net ball to give the road team a 21-0 lead. The Soul have now scored on offense, defense and special teams to open the game.

9:00 1Q - Dwayne Hollis returned a Mykel Benson fumble 49 yards for a touchdown to give the Philadelphia Soul a 14-0 lead. The fumble occured on the Rattlers 4th attempt to score inside the 5 yard line following a 27 yard pass by Nick Davila. The Rattlers benefitted from multiple Soul penalties to get additional shots at the end zone, but failed to score before the fumble. It was the longest defensive touchdown in ArenaBowl history.

12:18 1Q - Dan Raudabaugh completes a 16 yard pass to Darisu Reynolds to open the scoring. The Philadelphia Soul lead 7-0. The drive took just 4 plays to go 45 yards following a touchback on the opening kickoff.

7:05PM ET -The Arizona Rattlers have won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Philadelphia Soul will receive the opening kickoff. The game will soon be underway.

6:55PM ET - ArenaBowl XXIX Set to Kick Off in 15 minutes as the Arizona Rattlers are introduced in Gila River Arena. The Philadelphia Soul have already taken the field.

6:50PM ET - The Philadelphia Soul take the field, in white jerseys and pants, and Soul Blue helmet.

6:30PM ET - The Philadelphia Sould have completed their pregame warm-ups. The Arizona Rattlers remain on the field to finish their warm-up period. There are just over 35 minutes remaining on the pregame clock.

5:00 PM ET - Two hours till the start of ArenaBowl XXIX. The Gila River Arena is quiet as final preparations are underway to get everything ready for the game. The cheerleaders have just left the field, making way for the players to begintheir warmups.

Stay tuned for our annual gameday log.