Philadelphia showed dominance over Predators
Friday May 8, 2015
Philadelphia Beat the Predators 62-48 in Close Win at Home
PHILADELPHIA, PA (May 8, 2015) – The Philadelphia Soul (7-0) extended their winning steak to seven games, defeating the Orlando Predators (3-4) 62-48 in front of 8,633 fans on the Rothman Field at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.
“Even without their starting quarterback, this is the best team we have played thus far,” said
Head Coach Clint Dolezel. “The first game of the season came down to the wire and this game came close as well. They are a great team with a lot of quality players and they’re going to play hard, but thankfully we can play hard also.”
J. Lewis Small Playermaker of the Game Marco Thomas led the Soul (7-0) receivers with 10 catches for 159 yards and three touchdowns. Shaun Kauleinamoku added six catches for 111-yards and three touchdowns. Ryan McDaniel had five receptions for 44-yards and one touchdown, while Adam Smith chipped in with a reception for a 9-yard touchdown catch. Tommy Taggart added 25 rushing yards for the Soul offense.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game, Dan Raudabuagh finished the night by completing 22-of-35 passes for 323-yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Orlando’s Bernard Morris completed 21-of-40 passes for 213-yards, three touchdowns,
and three interceptions.
Brandon Thompkins led the Predator (3-4) receivers with eight receptions for 69-yards and one touchdown, while Larry Brackins added four catches for 42-yards and two touchdowns.
Joe Goosby led the team with 7.0 total tackles and LaRico Stevenson had 6.0 total tackles. James Romain added 5.0 total tackles and Padric Scott and Bryan Robinson both had sacks for the night.
Orlando won the toss and chose to kick off to Philadelphia to start the game. Former Soul WR Larry Brackins scored the first touchdown of the game for Orlando with a 6-yard pass from Bernard Morris, but the kick was no good. Morris took the reins of the offense from Orlando’s recently injured quarterback Randy Hippeard. Philadelphia answered back a little over a minute later with Dan Raudabaugh’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Shaun Kauleinamoku. With 4:41 remaining in the first, Orlando WR Brandon Thompkins caught a 23-yard touchdown pass to put the Predators on top 13-7. The Soul finished the quarter strong with another 30-yard touchdown pass from Raudabaugh, but this time to Marco Thomas.
Kauleinamoku one-handed 24-yard touchdown catch in the endzone gave the Soul momentum for the rest of the half and a 21-13 lead. Morris threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brackins to give him his second touchdown against his old team. Kauleinamoku stepped up making his third touchdown catch of the game and extending the Soul’s lead to 28-20. Raduabaugh threw a game high 42-yard touchdown pass to Thomas for back-to-back Soul touchdowns with 3:44 left in the second quarter. Morris went in for a 25-yard touchdown rush brining the score to 35-27. With only 37 seconds left in the half, Soul kicker Tommy Frevert kicked a 23-yard field goal extending their lead to 11 points. James Romain stopped the Predators on fourth down with a big time pass break-up, not allowing them to score before the half ended. Frevert ended the half on a positive note with a 25-yard field goal, making the half time score 41-27.
Morris started the fourth quarter strong with a 23-yard run with 13:52 to play in the game. McDaniel was quick to respond with a 16-yard touchdown catch from Raudabaugh and made the score 55-41. The Predator offense did not give up and B. Thompkins had a 3-yard touchdown run cutting the score to 55-48 with 7:42 remaining in the game. Thomas sealed the game for the Soul with a 24-yard touchdown catch to make the final score 62-48
Next week, the Soul travel to Florida to face the Jacksonville Sharks at 7p.m. at the Jacksonville Veteran Memorial Stadium. The game can be streamed on ESPN3.
Russell Athletic Offensive Player: Philadelphia’s Dan Raudabaugh
Riddell Defensive Player: Philadelphia’s James Romain
J Lewis Small AFL Playmaker: Philadelphia’s Marco Thomas
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Philadelphia’s Shaun Kauleinamoku One Handed 24-yard 3rdQuarter Touchdown
Spalding Highlight of the Game: LaRico Stevenson’s Interception on the 4th Down in the 3rdQuarter
ABOUT PHILADELPHIA SOUL
The Philadelphia Soul are entering their 10th Anniversary Season. Season and Group tickets for the Soul’s upcoming 2015 season are on sale now. For 2015 season tickets, contact the Soul sales department at (215) 253-4900 ext. 3, or request contact from a 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.