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Late mistakes drop Soul to Dragons

by Fran Stuchbury
March 7, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul


As I do before every Soul game I get to the arena early to do some tailgating. I ran into some of my friends from New York who design the Killerbees fan site. Carlos and Mark are very nice guys and loyal listeners to my "ArenaZone" radio show.

We made them feel accommodated just as they did for us when we came up to New York last year. One thing I really enjoy about covering the AFL is the fan relationships I have. Almost all the AFL fans I deal with are very friendly and down to earth. I can go to any AFL city and have a good time.

Inside the arena, the Dragons defeated the Soul 61-54, dropping Philadelphia's record to 2-4. Here are my observations.

The coaching move was a good one, the team played much more motivated this game under new coach James Fuller than they did under coach Mike Trigg.

Soul QB Tony Graziani agreed, saying, " I thought we had a lot more energy today, I think we really respect coach Fuller and what he brings to the table. We're not far away. He's going to turn this thing around for us."

Graziani finished the day 27-44 for 282 yards and seven touchdowns plus one rushing touchdown, but his critical fourth quarter fumble may have cost the Soul the game.

" You can't do that," Graziani said of the fumble. "The most basic thing in football is the center snap exchange. I have to do a better job of getting the ball, and he has to do a better job of getting it up."

The biggest recipient of Graziani's play was WR/LB Sean Scott who caught five touchdown passes. Scott continues to be a big contributor on the Soul offense.

The Soul's special teams play hurt them a great deal. In the third and fourth quarter they gave up back-to-back kick returns for a touchdown, a 55-yard return by Corey Johnson and a 49-yard run by William Holder.

Lets not forget Soul kicker Derek Schorejs who missed an extra point late in the fourth quarter, which could have gavin the Soul a one-point lead. To make matters worse, he kicked the ball out of bounds the following kickoff that put the Dragons on the 20-yard line.

If he didn't kick the ball out of bounds, the Dragons may have had to rely on a Rob Bironas field goal try instead of having enough time to score a nine-yard touchdown strike from Aaron Garcia to William Holder that gave them a seven point lead.

For the day, Garcia finished 21-29 for 251 yards and six touchdown passes. Garcia is one of the top QB's in the league and was able to put up good numbers despite losing OS Kevin Swayne in the first quarter with a dislocated shoulder.

After the game I was talking to AFL Commissioner David Baker and he old me some of people involved with the Salt Lake City onwership group attended the game.

Good move by the AFL to expose them to a first class organization that has a great arena and strong fan base.

If Salt Lake City plays next season hopefully they will be able to have similar success to what the Soul have had.

Philadelphia has a tough task ahead of them this week traveling to San Jose to take on the defending ArenaBowl champs the San Jose SaberCats, who blew out Orlando 57-38 this past Sunday.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 7, 2005


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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