AFL Cleveland Gladiators

Gladiators Fall on Opening Night to Philadelphia

Published on April 1, 2016 under Arena Football League (AFL)
Cleveland Gladiators News Release


CLEVELAND, OH - In the first of four meetings between the two teams, the Philadelphia Soul cruised to a 69-41 opening night victory over the Cleveland Gladiators in front of 12,944 fans at Quicken Loans Arena. Philadelphia quarterback Dan Raudabaugh threw for 233 yards and seven touchdowns with wide receivers Darius Reynolds and Shaun Kauleinamoku hauling in three touchdowns apiece. Gladiators defensive back Joe Powell returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the loss.

Philadelphia opened up the scoring as Raudabaugh found wide receivers Ryan McDaniel and Reynolds for two scores to put the Soul up 14-0 early in the first quarter. The Soul would then capitalize on a Gladiators turnover as Raudabaugh found Kauleinamoku for his first touchdown of the night, a five-yarder, as the visitors quickly built a 21-0 lead.

The Gladiator offense would respond as Dieker would find wide receiver Dominick Goodman for a six-yard score to close the gap to 21-7 at the close of the first quarter.

The Soul offense would strike back early in the second when Raudabaugh would again find Reynolds in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. Kicker Tommy Frevert's extra point would extend the Soul lead to 28-7. Philadelphia would hit pay dirt on the ensuing two Cleveland drives when jack linebacker Joe Goosby and defensive back Dwayne Hollis would pick off Dieker passes and return them for Soul touchdowns, increasing their lead to 42-7 with 7:25 remaining in the first half.

The Gladiators would build some momentum with a couple scores late in the second quarter as wide receiver Collin Taylor hauled in his first touchdown of the season, a 18-yarder from Dieker. That, followed by the first interception return for a touchdown by Powell, a 13-yarder, trimmed the Philadelphia lead to 42-21. The Soul would, however, close out the first half with two scores, a 32-yard strike from Raudabaugh to Kauleinamoku, and a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Tracy Belton to go into the half on top, 55-21.

The Cleveland offense got off to a fast start in the second half, as the Gladiators capped off a three-play, 22-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run on a sweep by wide receiver Larry Beavers. That was followed by Powell's 45-yard interception return for a touchdown, his second of the night, which shrank the deficit to 55-34 after kicker Adrian Trevino's extra point.

After Philly responded with Reynolds' third touchdown catch of the night, the Gladiators put together another touchdown drive that was capped off by a one-yard quarterback sneak from Dieker to keep pace with the Philadelphia offense, 62-41.

The Soul would counter again as Kauleinamoku would catch his third touchdown of the game, a nine-yarder from Raudabaugh, to cap off the scoring for the night and put the game out of reach for good, 69-41.

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