New York takes the Soul
April 29, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons News Release
With the regular season soon drawing to a close, the Dragons continued to play strong and turn up victorious in front of the sold out Nassau Coliseum. Tonight's 65-58 victory over the Philadelphia Soul improved their record to 9-5 and kept them in the driver's seat for the National Conference's top wild card seed and a home playoff game in the first round. They have won five of their last six with only two games remaining. The Soul saw their record drop to 7-7.
While the 12,063 in attendance received a statue of Aaron Garcia before the game, the fans saw another terrific performance from quarterback Nick Browder, who led his team to a come-from-behind victory for the third week in a row. Against a formidable Philadelphia defense, Browder again saw his team put up over 60 points, as the veteran passer threw for seven touchdowns and 178 yards.
Like most Dragons games this season it was close to the end, but the Dragons once again found the late game magic. Down by one point, Browder found OS Kevin Swayne for the last of his five touchdown catches of the game with 3:11 remaining. Browder then connected with WR/LB Mike Horacek on a hard pass for the two point conversion and the final margin of victory.
A strong collective effort by the Dragons defense on Philadelphia's subsequent offensive drive secured the win. With the Soul on the Dragons' two yard line with no timeouts and just seconds remaining, Andrew Tippins made the biggest tackle of the game, hauling down Connell Maynor just before he could reach the goal line. Time expired before another play could be run.
"That was one of my biggest plays in arena football," said Tippins. "This brings us one step closer to the playoffs."
Swayne led all receivers with eight catches, finishing with 66 yards. His effort was complimented by another strong effort by Horacek, who added two touchdown catches of his own. He also reached a milestone in the first half, becoming only the sixth player in league history to record 200 career touchdown catches.
"It's a great accomplishment," said Horacek. "This is a tribute to the great guys I've played with."
It was a total team effort, as the Dragons scored a touchdown on a kickoff return and a fumble recovery to lead by 19 at halftime. WR/LB Maurice Brown was a force in the kick return game, running back nine kicks for 227 yards and a touchdown.
"The game was too exciting for my taste," said head coach Weylan Harding, who went sprinting down the sideline to celebrate with his team after the game was over. "Every win is special for us. I'm going to get excited about my team."
Despite the possibility of having a home playoff game, the team insisted they are keeping their concentration on finishing the season strong and not looking ahead.
"Our focus is on Georgia next week at 7:00," said Tippins.
Dragons' fans can catch the team in their final regular season home game next Saturday when they take on the Georgia Force at 7:00 pm. Fans can catch all the action by calling 1-886-AFL-TIXX for tickets.
THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS:
The defensive line continued to dominate the line of scrimmage, recovering another fumble on the Soul's first drive of the second half. Richard McCleskey recovered the ball deep in Philadelphia territory, setting up Swayne's fourth touchdown of the game shortly afterwards.
FB/LB Chad Dukes then started to get his team back in the game, recovering a fumble in the end zone after Browder lost control. The quarterback immediately got retribution, finding a wide-open Horacek with a 32 yard strike that got the crowd back into the game.
FIRST HALF RECAP:
Brown started things off fast, taking the opening kickoff 58 yards for a touchdown 15 seconds in. The defense followed suit with a big play, as Delbert Cowsette recovered a fumble on the Soul's first play from scrimmage. Horacek added his 200th career touchdown reception one play later to give the Dragons the early momentum.
Swayne started off the second quarter with a bang, catching a touchdown pass on the first play to make it 20-10. After the Soul added a field goal to chip away at the lead, Eddie Moten gave his team their first lead of the game by jumping a route and intercepting Browder's pass. The speedy defensive specialist then raced up field 28 yards for the touchdown.
Browder atoned for his mistake after another good kick return by Brown gave his good field position. He connected with Swayne on a perfect fade pass in the left corner of the end zone for a three yard score to retake the lead.
On the next possession, the Dragons brought fierce defensive pressure, forcing a safety on a running play by Sauk. That play set up Swayne's third touchdown catch of the half at the one minute warning.
Three seconds later they found the end zone again, as OL/DL Jovon Bush scored a rare touchdown of a fluke play. Kicker Jesse Obert's kick was not fielded cleanly, bouncing all the way to the 8 yard line before Bush scooped it up and ran it in for the 43-24 edge, which would be the score heading into halftime after Horacek recovered a fumble with seven seconds remaining.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 29, 2006
- New York takes the Soul - New York Dragons
- Rampage Bags Kats 61-54 - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Wranglers lose heartbreaker, 40-33 - Austin Wranglers
- Storm Keep Playoff Hopes Alive With Rout of Kansas City - Tampa Bay Storm
- Destroyers pick off Wranglers, 40-33 - Columbus Destroyers
- Kansas City Brigade falls short in 58-42 loss at Tampa Bay - Kansas City Brigade
- One-step closer, Georgia 55 Chicago 20 - Georgia Force
- The Force is with Georgia as Rush falls, 55-20 - Chicago Rush
- Double Dip: Division, Home-Field Clinched - Dallas Desperados
- Rush signs Frantz, activates Cook - Chicago Rush
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