Game Preview: Philadelphia Looks to Crush Cleveland
March 30, 2016 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Philadelphia Soul News Release
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Soul kick off their eleventh season this Friday. The Soul (0-0) will travel to Cleveland to face the Gladiators (0-0) at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and a delayed broadcast of the game will air on The Comcast Network at 10pm.
The Soul are coming off a strong 2015 season with a 15-3 record and an East Division Championship. Despite a strong regular season and a league MVP performance by Soul QB Dan Raudabaugh, the team fell to the Jacksonville Sharks in the American Conference Championship with a final score of 61-56.
Philadelphia defeated the Gladiators in all three meetings last year and hope to continue this trend into the 2016 season.
The Soul will look to show off new WR Darius Reynolds who will go head to head with talented Gladiators DB Ray Little. Reynolds is fresh off an ArenaBowl Championship season in San Jose and in 2014, he recorded 126 receptions for 1,885 yards and 39 touchdowns for the Iowa Barnstormers - a career best. Little joins the Gladiators secondary for the first time this season after playing for the Las Vegas Outlaws in 2015. He totaled 32.5 total tackles, three pass break-ups and one interception last season.
Another match-up to look for is Soul DB LaRico Stevenson against Gladiators WR Dominick Goodman. Goodman was ranked second on the Gladiators offense last season with 135 receptions for 1,262 yards and 27 touchdowns. Stevenson led the Soul defense with 82.0 total tackles while he also tallied five interceptions for 45 yards, five pass breakups and one fumble recovery during the 2015 season.
The final match-up to watch is between Soul QB Dan Raudabaugh and Gladiators QB Chris Dieker. Raudabaugh was ranked among the top quarterbacks during the 2015 season, completing 411-of-620 passes for 4,992 yards and 119 touchdowns. The Soul veteran quarterback was also awarded Russel Athletic Offensive Player of the Year, AFL MVP as well as First Team All-Arena last season. This will be Dieker's first season starting for the Gladiators. The former back-up quarterback played in 10 games with Cleveland, completing 9-of-13 passes for 68 yards and one touchdown.
In Week 2, the Soul will host their home opener versus the Jacksonville Sharks on Monday, April 11 at 7 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center. This will be a rematch of the American Conference Championship.
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Arena Football League Stories from March 30, 2016
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- Game Preview: Philadelphia Looks to Crush Cleveland - Philadelphia Soul
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