In a crucial must win game between the Philadelphia Soul and the Atlantic City Blackjacks the Soul dominated the game from start to finish and won 54-29. Both teams entered the game 3-4 but with the Soul’s win over the Blackjacks they now have complete control of the fourth seed.

 

Philadelphia has been searching for a complete performance on all three phases of the ball and Sunday it clicked with the offense posting their season high in points, the defense allowing a season low in points scored, and the special teams unit creating turnovers and converting kicks.

 

Atlantic City is at a low point losing back to back games for the first time this season and losing their quarterback Randy Hippeard to a leg injury in the second quarter. The Blackjacks currently sit in the fifth seed which would not qualify them for playoff contention.

 

 

The Soul got back to their ways offensively and utilized a lot more of their three-step quick game offense. It’s a methodical march down the field instead of one big play, and for years this has created opportunities in the red zone for any Fullback in Soul blue. Adrian Ferns is the fullback with those opportunities now and Sunday he converted on three rushing touchdowns before halftime.

 

“My lineman blocked their butt off man,” Ferns said after the game. “Without them I wouldn’t have three touchdowns. They made those holes huge and I basically walked in,” Ferns said.

 

“Ferns did well, it just so happens we were at the one-yard line a bunch tonight and we’re going to call his number, it’s tough to throw when you get that close,” Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said. “We did a good job with the bigs up front as far as getting some scoops and getting some edges and Ferns made it look easy a few times,” Dolezel said.

 

While Ferns is a runner who gets praise for red zone bulldozing, he’s also a huge part of the Soul’s offensive line in pass protection. Along with Keith Newell, Neal Tivis and Phillip-Keith Manley the O-Line allowed zero sacks against the Blackjacks, making this the seventh game this season where Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh hasn’t been sacked.

 

Speaking of sacks, the Soul had a season high on Sunday, hitting the Blackjacks quarterbacks three times. Tommy Dover had two sacks, the first from the defensive end and the second from nose guard. He’s got the size and athleticism to play either spot and with two sacks he doubled his career sack total with his performance Sunday.

 

“We put Dover at nose because it was a good matchup with their center,” Dolezel said. “He’s a little bit of a bigger guy so we made him move his feet, we definitely got some pressure there. When the secondary covers like they do and we can get some pressure that’s usually what we look like,” Dolezel said.

 

Aside from Dover’s two sacks and another from Sean Daniels, the entire group of pass rushers had their best game as a unit creating pressure all night long. The pass rush has been a continued work in progress with different personnel groups coming out each week, but it was a very positive sign to see Dover and Daniels get home for three sacks.

 

Randy Hippeard left the game in the second quarter with a lower leg injury that his head coach Ron James was not pleased about. “If they’re going to let them tackle below the waist all game long that’s what’s going to happen to quarterbacks,” James said.

 

Hippeard and the offense hadn’t had a great start but on his final play of the game, when he was injured, he threw a deep forty-five-yard touchdown to Kendrick Ings. There hasn’t been any update on the severity of Hippeard’s injury but everyone’s hoping for a full and speedy recovery no matter the extent.

 

In relief of Hippeard was New Jersey native Warren Smith who completed half of his passes for one hundred fifty yards and two touchdowns, and an additional late rushing touchdown. It was a tough spot to come in at with the Blackjacks trailing 27-7 before he ever took a snap, but the completion percentage will have to go up if Smith is QB1 next week against Albany.

 

“Warren’s a good quarterback, we didn’t want to get him work the way we did but it’s part of the game,” James said.

 

Smith’s had a long Arena Football career dating back to 2012 in the indoor football circuit. I wrote a feature article about Smith’s career after he signed with Atlantic City this spring that you can check out here on ArenaFan: http://www.arenafan.com/news/?page=origcol&article=4161

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:“I think we got back on the same page a little bit, I was talking to the guys all week about let’s do things where we’re in control of the pace of the game, we’re dictating what’s happening and you do that by staying out of third and fourth and longs. It’s about being on the same page and being confident, we looked confident and we felt confident, I could feel it every drive and we scored every time we had it and that’s crucial. It’s about playing off each other, defense got some big stops early in the game, boom punch it in, and we won the special teams battle this week for sure. It’s about getting better every week and being able to put good ones back to back. Got a challenge coming up but we’re looking forward to it,” - Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh.    

 

The Soul signed a fullback a few weeks ago named Brandon Cottom who caught my eye because of his credentials, a former Purdue starting fullback who spent parts of three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks practice squad and training camps.

 

What I didn’t know was that Cottom had Ironman versatility, seeing time at mac linebacker and defensive end in addition to reps at fullback. Having the ability to play both sides of the ball is a huge plus for Cottom and the Soul, despite the league no longer requiring Ironman players.

 

“Cottom can play a bunch of different positions he played mac, he played end, we put him in motion one time with the ball in his hands and we played him at fullback so he’s definitely a utility guy,” Clint Dolezel said. “In the old school days, you’d want a bunch of guys like Cottom when you play both ways. Definitely pleased with him,” Dolezel said.   

 

Philadelphia will head to Columbus Ohio for the first time since 2008 to take on the Columbus Destroyers. The Soul and Destroyers met this year in week six at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia when the Soul won 47-35. There are four games remaining on the Soul’s schedule and three will be away from the home crowd in Philly.

 

“You have the veterans to be able to takeover that locker room and be smart and take care of each other and we will,” Dolezel said. “But we want to use that momentum too, we’re not going to take it easy in practice we’re going to work hard like we always do. We don’t have to ask them that they all know we’re going to. We’ll see who's ready to go come Thursday and if we have to make some changes, we’ll make some changes. We’ve been doing it all year long,” Dolezel said.

 

Atlantic City will head to Albany to face the first team in the AFL to clinch a playoff berth the 7-1 Albany Empire. With Hippeard’s status up in the air it could be Warren Smith’s first start with the Blackjacks, but whoever is under center will need an efficient performance to defeat the Empire.

 

Harrison Brown is a college student who has been covering Arena Football since he was 12 years old and has been with ArenaFan since 2014. Harrison was a captain of the varsity football team during his senior year of high school and went on to play one season of Division III football in Massachusetts. Harrison has worked for two indoor football teams, in 2018 he was the Director of Player Personnel for the Jersey Flight and in 2016 he was the Color Commentator for the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets. You can follow Harrison on twitter @HarryBrownRusso.