Philadelphia Soul game notes

Published on March 29, 2006 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul News Release


SOUL VS. WRANGLERS: THE FACTS

Date: Friday, March 31, 2006
Kickoff: 7:00 PM ET
Site: Wachovia Center
Officials: Referee: Bill Athan, Umpire: Matt Jordan , Head Linesman: Tim Podraza , Line Judge: Tom Symonette , Back Judge: Greg Wilson

THE GAME CAN BE HEARD...

On SportsTalk950 in Philadelphia with Ari Wolfe handling play-by-play and former Soul WR/DB Keita Crespina adding color analysis.

THE SERIES - SOUL VS. WRANGLERS

This will be the third meeting between the Soul and Wranglers. Last season in the firs week of the season, the Soul traveled to Austin and defeated the Wranglers 66-35. Philadelphia was led by Steve Smith's nine receptions for 131 yards with five touchdowns while Tony Graziani started his first game as a member of the Soul. He connected on 24-of-37 for 352 yards with eight touchdowns.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

If the Soul win, it would
- Give the Soul a 2-1 record vs. Austin
- Give the Soul a 6-4 overall record
- Give the Soul a 4-1 home record

THE SOUL'S GAME vs. DALLAS
Offensive Player of the Game: Mike Brown (PHI)
ADT Defensive Player of the Game: Eddie Moten (PHI)
Ironman of the Game: Sean Scott (PHI)

DALLAS, TX -- Tony Graziani did what few quarterbacks have been able to do this season - outshine Clint Dolezel.
Graziani threw five touchdowns, including the game-winner to Sean Scott in the final seconds, as the Philadelphia Soul recorded a 55-51 triumph over the Dallas Desperados, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Completing 26-of-48 passes for 363 yards, Graziani helped Philadelphia (5-4) rebound from last week's humiliating 53-20 loss to Columbus in which the team set a franchise record for fewest points in a game.

Graziani's biggest pass in this one came with 21 seconds remaining, when he hooked up with Scott for an 18-yard touchdown. The play capped a furious final minute in which Philadelphia took a 48-45 lead on a 19-yard pass from Graziani to Scott only to watch Dallas respond 10 seconds later on a two-yard TD strike from Dolezel to Dialleo Burks.
The two-time reigning Offensive Player of the Week, Dolezel completed 20-of-29 passes for 296 yards and six touchdowns. He entered with only three interceptions on the season but threw two in this one.

Will Pettis caught eight passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns and Burks added five catches for 72 yards and two scores for Dallas.

Mike Brown had nine catches for 113 yards and a touchdown and Steve Smith added eight grabs for 98 yards and two TDs for Philadelphia.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Philadelphia 7 27 0 21 55
Dallas 14 24 7 6 51

THE COACHES


Bret Munsey (First Season)

Bret Munsey becomes the third head coach for the Philadelphia Soul, as the organization heads into its third season in 2006. With an extensive coaching background, this will be Munsey's first head coaching position in the League.

Munsey, 37, joins the Soul after serving on Orlando's staff for three seasons under Jay Gruden. After joining the Predators in 2003 and serving as the team's offensive coordinator and wide receivers/defensive backs coach, he was promoted to assistant head coach in August of 2003. This role also included his director of player personnel and defensive coordinator roles throughout the last two seasons.

In 2005 the Predators finished with a 10-6 regular season record and lost in the conference finals to the Georgia Force. The team ranked third in the League in scoring defense (47.2 ppg), fifth in total defense (269.2 ypg) and second in pass rating defense (98.9).

In his role as defensive coordinator, Munsey organized Orlando's defensive game plans and served as defensive backs coach. His 2004 defense ranked first in the league in scoring defense (43.1), total defense (236.8 ypg) and pass rating defense (95.7).

The Soul look to capitalize on Munsey's defensive knowledge. Philadelphia was the worst in the League against the run last season, allowing 576 yards. They also allowed the second most touchdowns in the League and made the least amount of tackles. Cutting down on stats like these are Munsey's top priority.

In his role as assistant head coach, Munsey handled several administrative duties for the Predators - including planning and conducting training camp, tryouts and player housing. He was also in charge of recruiting and handled contract compliance with the League.

In his first season with the Predators, Munsey served as offensive coordinator and coached the wide receivers and defensive backs.

Munsey came to the Predators from the Carolina Cobras, where he served as defensive coordinator. Under his guidance, the Cobras were ranked in the top five in the Arena Football League in many defensive categories and came within one play of earning a spot in the semifinals.

Prior to his stint in Carolina, Munsey served as head coach and director of football operations for the Tennessee Valley Vipers of the af2. During his first season as a head coach, Munsey led his team to a 14-2 regular season record (15-3 overall). His defense ranked in the top five in all major categories and three defensive players were named to the "All-af2" team.


Following that outstanding season, Munsey was named "af2 Coach of the Year" in a vote by his peers.

Skip Foster (Third Season)

Head coach Skip Foster is entering his third AFL season with the Austin Wranglers. Foster, deemed the second most winning coach in arenafootball2 history with a 44-10 record including an ArenaCup Championship, will again act as the Wranglers offensive coordinator in addition to carrying the head coaching duties. After finishing the team's 2004 debut season with a commendable 8-8 record, Foster has built a 2005 team that will take the Wranglers to an ArenaBowl championship.

In the Wranglers second season, the offense, led by quarterback John Fitzgerald, scored 109 touchdowns, with 18 different players recording points on the year. Fitzgerald posted 300 or more yards in five games and surpasses all his career bests as he threw for 354 completions for 3,960 yards and 72 touchdowns. Five of his receivers combined for 11 games in which they had 100 or more receiving yards. Rookie Kevin Nickerson was honored with a spot on the AFL All-Rookie Team after leading the team in receiving yards with 1,028. Receiver Darrin Chiaverini led the team and posted a career-high in receptions with 114. He also posted career-highs in receiving yards (951), touchdowns (18), tackles (25.5) and interceptions (3).

In the team's inaugural season performance, Foster's offense scored 104 touchdowns, an average of 47.8 points per game, led the AFL in total offense for five weeks and remained one of the League's top three total offenses for a total of fifteen weeks in 2004. The Wranglers offensive unit gained more than 300 yards in five different performances and had two 200+ receiving-yard games for AFL All-Rookie Tacoma Fontaine. Quarterback John Kaleo posted career-highs in attempts with 565 and completions with 352. Kaleo passed for more than 4,000 yards for his second consecutive season bringing his career total to 26,077 passing yards. Fontaine and veteran WR/DB Charlie Davidson led the Wranglers receivers combining for 1,959 of the teams 4,045 yards receiving and 37 of the team's 82 receiving touchdowns.

Prior to joining the Wranglers, Foster served as the head coach for the 2003 af2-Champion Tulsa Talons. Foster led the team to a 13-3 regular season record while accumulating 3,995 yards in total offense, 3,679 yards passing and 316 yards rushing. This offensive effort also concluded with Tulsa outscoring their opponents 823-690 in regular season play. The Talons totaled 745 yards in offense and outscored their postseason opponents 179-130 on their way to winning the 2003 ArenaCup. Foster made history in Tulsa as he became the only af2 coach to go undefeated at home over three consecutive regular seasons.

Foster compiled a record of 82-39-2 at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas before moving to arena football. Foster coached the Red Ravens to six conference championships during his 12 seasons as the head coach. In 1990, Foster led Coffeyville to a national championship and an undefeated season. He was selected as Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Coach of the Year in both 1990 and 1991.

SOUL'S NOTES AND TRENDS

THREE HUNDO
Soul quarterback Tony Graziani threw for 363 yards last week against the Desperados. It is the first time this season Philadelphia has won when he has surpassed the 300 yards mark. The first time he did it was against the Las Vegas Gladiators in Week 6 when he threw for 346 yards.

I WANNA BE LIKE MIKE
WR/DB Mike Brown surpassed 100 yards receiving for the second consecutive games and went for 113 yards. He has eclipsed the 100 plateau three times this season.

S DOT
Sean Scott caught seven passes for 131 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown. It was his fifth touchdown of the season and first on the ground since Week 4.

IN A RUSH
The Blue and Grey ruled the ground game last week against Dallas totaling three rushing touchdowns on 10 carries. Chad Dukes, Wes Ours and Scott carried the Soul's rushing points.

ONE MORE FOR MOTEN
DS Eddie Moten picked off another pass last week to give him five on the season. He has intercepted a pass each of the last three games (2 @ KC, 1 @ CMB and 1 @ DAL). Last season, he intercepted four passes during his rookie season. He is also leading the team with 56 total tackles. Last season, he tallied 71.5 tackles.

HOLD THE CHAINS
The Soul defense has held opponents to a League low in first downs allowing an average of 17.6 per game.

NOT COMMON
Last week's game against the Desperados was the first Soul game of the season that was determined by an outcome of less than 10 points with a final score of 55-51.

KICK THIS!
Going into the 10th game of the season, Soul kicker Todd France is second in the League with 20 touchbacks. He is three touchbacks away from bumping AFL veteran Jay Taylor (22 touchbacks) out of his number one seat.

WELCOME BACK
Steve Smith caught eight passes last week against Dallas in his first game back with the Soul he caught eight passes for 98 yards with two scores. Smith played OS for the Soul in 2005 and was recently re-acquired from the Kansas City Brigade.

THIRD QUARTER DOUGHNUT
For the first time this season, the Soul were shut out in the third quarter last week against the Desperados. Despite the lack of points in the beginning of the second half, the Soul walked away with a win, scoring a crucial touchdown with less than 23 seconds left to go in the game.

COMEBACK KID
Austin Wranglers' OL/DL Donovan Arp was a former Soul player who joined the team in Week 3 of the 2004 season. He played in 11 games for the Soul in 2005 recording eight tackles including four tackles for loss, one interception for a four-yard loss, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery on season.

COACH'S CONNECTIONS
The Soul have been paying an extra eye on the Orlando Predators' games the last few weeks. Soul head coach and former Predators assistant coach Bret Munsey can check out how his former players have handled the upcoming task at hand for the Soul. The connection began in Week 8 when Orlando faced the Desperados before the Soul traveled to Dallas in Week 9. Also in Week 9, the Preds went head-to-head with this week's Soul opponent, the Austin Wranglers. Next week when Philadelphia takes on the Chicago Rush, they will be facing Orlando's Week 10 opponent.

A PHILLY PHIRST
Since both teams inception into the League, this is the first time the Wranglers and the Soul play against each other in the City of Brotherly Love. Since coming into the AFL in 2004, the Soul have compiled a 16-25 overall mark and the Wranglers have established a record of 20-21.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 29, 2006


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.

OurSports Central