NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Game Sixteen Preview: at Philadelphia Soul

August 1, 2015 - Arena Football League (AFL)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release


PREVIOUS MEETING IN 2015: APRIL 26 | JUNE 6

ALL-TIME SERIES:

Philadelphia leads 8-2.

IN PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia leaeds 6-1.

THE OPPONENT: PHILADELPHIA SOUL (13-3, 8-0 AT HOME)

Philadelphia enters this week's game against the VooDoo with the second best record in the AFL, ranked No. 2 in the official AFL Power Rankings, and have won 15 straight games at the Wells Fargo Center dating back to last season. Led by MVP candiate quarterbackDan Raudabaugh, Phildelaphia's top ranked scoring offense scores nearly 60 points per game, and will be a stern test for the talented VooDoo secondary. Raudabaugh ranks at or near the top of the league in passing yards (4,596, 1st), completion percentage (66.4, 3rd) and touchdowns (108, 1st) and has spread the wealth this season to several different receivers. The Soul have three different receivers with over 60 receptions including Marco Thomas (141 catches, 1,662 yards), Ryan McDaniel (107 catches, 1,199 yards) and Shaun Kauleinamoku (60 catches, 909 yards). Defensively the Soul are led by a pair of defensive backs in James Romain and five-year AFL veteran LaRico Stevenson. Romain is having an All-Arena type season with nine interceptions third in the league) a pair of forced fumbles, 27 passes broken up and 62 tackles. Stevenson leads the Soul with 77 tackles (fifth in the league) and has five interceptions and five passes broken up.

STEADY KENNEDY

Quarterback Adam Kennedy has been a steady hand since recovering from a shoulder injury sustained against the Spokane Shock on May 2 that caused him to miss four games. In his last five outings Kennedy has completed 109-of-184 passes for 1,321 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions, adding five rushing touchdowns on the ground as well. Despite missing four games with injury Kennedy ranks eight in the league in total offense with 2,660 total yards, averaging 241.8 per contest. To date this season Kennedy has completed 230-of-372 passes for 2,561 yards with 38 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and has rushed 31 times for a team-leading 99 yards and eight touchdowns.

SPIDERMAN STICKING AROUND THE TOP

Returning to action last time out after being inactive against San Jose Roger Jackson enters this week's contest at Philadelphia closing in on a pair of franchise rookie records. With 66 catches for 807 yards and 15 touchdowns, Jackson is now within striking distance of Kenny Henderson's rookie records for receiving yardage (895) and touchdowns (18) set in 2007. Among AFL rookies this season Jackson ranks third in receptions behind Spokane's Anthony Amos (101), and Tampa Bay's Julius Gregory (79) as well as fourth in receiving yards behind Amos (1,109), Tampa Bay's Kendrick Ings (884) and Gregory (880). Among AFL rookie receivers Jackson is tied for second in touchdowns with Amos, behind Gregory's 23.

A NEW CENTURIAN

With 100 catches this season Chris Duvalt is the first VooDoo wide receiver to haul in 100 balls since Josh Bush and L.J. Castille each caught over 100 passes each in 2012, and became just the seventh receiver in team history with 100+ catches in a single season.  Two weeks ago against the top defense in the league (San Jose), Duvalt had a career night, setting new career-highs in receptions (15), yards (165), and matching a career high in touchdowns with three. To date this season Duvalt has tallied career-bests with 100 catches for 1,183 yards and 21 total touchdowns (20 receiving).

RECORD TACKLED

On second and goal with just over four minutes left to play in the first half defensive back Cameron McGlenn stopped Storm quarterback Jason Boltus at the line of scrimmage for his 206th career tackle in New Orleans, breaking the career record for tackles set by DeMarcus Robinson between 2012 and 2013. McGlenn and Robinson remain the only two players in franchise history with over 200 tackles. Finishing two weeks ago with five tackles, and a tackle for loss McGlenn has been credited with sixty five tackles this season, good for 17th best in the AFL, and enters this week's game against the Philadelphia Soul with 462 career tackles in almost five complete seasons of Arena Football.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS?

Last Saturday's game with the Las Vegas Outlaws at the Thomas & Mack Center will go down officially as a 2-2 tie despite becoming the first game in league history to be cancelled. Nine days before the teams were set the play the Arena Football League, who is now running both New Orleans and Las Vegas, announced that the game would not be played. In the 28 prior seasons of Arena Football the only other game to not be played was between Cleveland and Pittsburgh in 2012 when a labour dispute led to most Gladiators players refusing to play.

LAST TIME: SOUL PULL AWAY IN THIRD QUARTER

With the game tied 27-27 at halftime, the Soul used pair of third quarter touchdown tosses from All-Arena candidate Dan Raudabaugh to pull away before defeating the VooDoo 63-41 at the Wells Fargo Center on June 6. Rookie wide receiver Charles McClain made his Arena Football debut and finished with seven catches for 73 yards with a pair of receiving touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, while starting quarterback Adam Kennedy returned to action after missing four weeks and completed 27-of-42 passes for 270 yards four touchdowns and three interceptions. The Soul were led by Raudabaugh who finished 20-of-26 for 323 yards and nine touchdowns, as well as wide receiver Ryan McDaniel who finished with nine catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

• Discuss this story on the Arena Football League message board...

Arena Football League Stories from August 1, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent New Orleans VooDoo Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central