Soul Shut Down Gladiators, 59-49
Sunday June 11, 2017
Philadelphia Continues the Road to Repeat with Undefeated, 8-0 Season
PHILADELPHIA— The Philadelphia Soul (8-0) defeated the Cleveland Gladiators (2-7), with the final score 59-49 in front of 10,103 fans at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.
“This was a little slower start off a bye week than I had expected, but I’ll take the win,” said Soul head coach Clint Dolezel. “I am impressed with how we stepped up in the second half and we are ready to take on the second half of the season.”
Soul WR Darius Reynolds led the receivers with nine receptions for 144 yards and four touchdowns. WR Ryan McDaniel added six receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown and WR Shaun Kauleinamoku tallied five receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Cleveland WR Michael Preston led the receivers with 12 receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
Philadelphia QB Dan Raudabaugh completed 20-of-27 passes for 303 yards and seven touchdowns. Cleveland QB Arvell Nelson completed 25-of-36 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns.
The Philadelphia Soul won the toss and elected to kick off to the Cleveland Gladiators. On the first drive of the game, Nelson ran the ball in for a three-yard touchdown run. Solomon’s kick was good, and with 11:55 left in the first quarter, the Soul trailed 7-0. With 10:17 left in the first, Raudabaugh threw to Kauleinamoku for a 34-yard touchdown pass. With the successful extra point the score was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
In the beginning of the second quarter, Nelson quickly found Quentin Sims in the end-zone. The PAT was fumbled by the Gladiators and recovered Soul LB Beau Bell for a two-point defensive touchdown. With 13:26 left in the half, the Gladiators led the Soul 13-9. On the next drive of the game, Sims found his second touchdown of the game. The kick was good, and with 6:11 left in the second quarter, the Soul trailed 20-9. The Soul retaliated with a touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to SK for six points. The Soul attempted an unsuccessful onside kick that was recovered by Gladiator’s WR Larry Brackins for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was good, and with 1:26 left in the half, the Gladiators led 28-16. As the first half came to a close, Raudabaugh found Reynolds for a Soul touchdown. Trevino’s kick was good, and the Soul trailed the Gladiators 28-23 at the end of the half.
At the start of the second half, Raudabaugh quickly found McDaniel for a 10-yard touchdown pass. The kick was good, and the Soul took the lead for the first time in the night, 30-28. Nelson aired the ball for a 9-yard touchdown to Michael Preston shortly after, taking back their lead 35-30. Raudabaugh fired back with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Reynolds on the next drive of the game. The kick was good, and the Soul took back the lead, 37-35 at the end of the third quarter.
To begin the final quarter, the Gladiators turned the ball over on downs. The Soul capitalized with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to Reynolds for the second time in the evening. The kick was good, and the Soul tacked onto their lead, 44-35. The Gladiators wasted little time in scoring on their next drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Sims. The PAT was recovered by Soul DB James Romain and ran in for a two-point defensive touchdown. With 8:51 left in the game, the Soul led 46-41. Not long after, Reynolds was found in the end-zone once again. The kick was good, and the Soul led with 7:15 left in the game with a score of 52-41. The next time that the Gladiators saw the ball, it was fumbled by Nelson and LB John Sheehy made the recovery. The Soul took advantage with a rushed touchdown by Mykel Benson. The kick was good, and with 2:24 left in the game, the Soul led 59-41. The Gladiators, determined to come back, scored with less than a minute left in the game. Their two-point conversion was good, however, the Gladiators still trailed by 10 when the time expired. The final score of the game was 59-49.
Offensive Player of the Game: Philadelphia Soul WR Darius Reynolds
Defensive Player of the Game: Philadelphia Soul LB Beau Bell
MVP of the Game: Philadelphia Soul QB Dan Raudabaugh
ABOUT PHILADELPHIA SOUL
The 2016 World Champion Philadelphia Soul are in their 12th season in the Arena Football League. In the first 11 seasons, the Soul have won four Division Championships, four Conference Championships and two World Championships. 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 2017 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.