Sports stats

Philadelphia Soul game notes

April 11, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul News Release


SOUL @ KATS: THE FACTS

Date: Friday, April 14, 2006
Kickoff: 8:00 PM ET
Site: Gaylord Entertainment Center
Officials: Referee: Tom McCabe, Umpire: Paul Frerking, Head Linesman: Brent Durbin, Line Judge: Bob McElwee, Back Judge: Keith Washington

THE GAME CAN BE HEARD...

On SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia with Ari Wolfe handling the call. Also, online at www.philadelphiasoul.com.

THE GAME CAN BE SEEN...
This week's game will be televised on COMCAST Sportsnet tape delay (SATURDAY, 3:00 p.m. ET) with Eli Gold doing the play-by-play, Charles Davis providing the color commentary and Matt Stewart as the sideline reporter.

THE SERIES - SOUL @ KATS

This will be the second meeting between the Soul and Kats. Last season in the third week of the year, the Soul took on the Kats and defeated them 59-48 at the Wachovia Center. Soul quarterback Tony Graziani and OS Steve Smith each made their Philadelphia home debut. Smith caught eight passes for 131 yards with two touchdowns in the victory.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

If the Soul win, it would
- Give the Soul a 2-0 record vs. Nashville
- Give the Soul a 7-5 overall record
- Give the Soul a 3-3 road record

THE COACHES


Bret Munsey (First Season)

Bret Munsey became the third head coach for the Philadelphia Soul and had posted a 6-5 record through the first 11 games. With an extensive coaching background, this is Munsey's first head coaching position in the League.

Munsey, 37, joined 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.

Pat Sperduto (Sixth Season)

Pat Sperduto is now in his fifth season as head coach of the Nashville Kats, already putting together one of arena football's best coaching careers.

Sperduto was at the helm of the original Kats team from 1999-2001, and joined the staff of the NFL's Tennessee Titans after the Kats franchise was sold and moved to Atlanta in 2001. He was hired to oversee the startup process of a new AFL team to be placed in Nashville, and last season he returned to the sidelines as head coach of the new Nashville Kats.

Sperduto, who assisted the Titans' coaching and scouting staffs during his three-season absence from the AFL, has compiled a 38-27-1 record in his first four years as head coach of the Kats, and he led his team to back-to-back appearances in the ArenaBowl in 2000 and 2001.

Sperduto replaced Eddie Khayat as head coach in 1999 and posted the best record of seven AFL coaches who took over new teams in 2000. Sperduto spent his first two years as defensive coordinator for the Kats and was elevated to assistant head coach in 1998.
He is a three-time ArenaBowl World Champion, winning twice as a player for the Tampa Bay Storm (1991 and '93) and once as an assistant coach with the Storm (1994). Sperduto began his professional career as a player with the Canadian Football League's British Columbia Lions before joining the Tampa Bay Storm in the AFL from 1991-93.

He began his coaching career as an assistant with Murray State (Ky.) during the offseason in 1991, prior to taking over football operations for the American Sports Foundation of Macelata in Tolentino, Italy in 1992. He was an assistant with the Storm in 1994 and defensive coordinator and director of player personnel with Connecticut in 1995 before joining the Nashville Kats staff in 1997 as the defensive coordinator and player personnel director.

SOUL'S NOTES AND TRENDS

GRAZIANI'S STATUS
Starting quarterback Tony Graziani went down in last week's game against the Chicago Rush with a torn hamstring in the fourth quarter. His status for this week is still unknown and is listed day-to-day.

FLIP FLOP
The Soul have alternated wins and losses for the last six weeks beginning with the loss in Las Vegas, followed by a win in Kansas City, a loss in Columbus, a win in Dallas, a loss against Austin, and most recently, a win against Chicago. The Soul will end this rollercoaster if they defeat the Kats in Nashville, this Friday, April 4, at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

HARD SIX
With the Blue and Grey securing a victory last week against the Chicago Rush, they have now equaled their franchise record for wins in a season with six. Last season, they finished the year with a 6-10 record and the previous year was completed with a 5-11 mark.

THREE IS NOT A CHARM
In the 2006 season, the Soul have yet to score more than seven points in the third quarter since Week 4 against the New York Dragons when the Soul tallied 24 points in the beginning of the second half.

FIVE BELOW
The Soul's last three games have been close calls. They have all been decided by five points or less. Prior to the last three, Philadelphia's closest game was 10 points when the Soul were defeated by the Colorado Crush in Week 5.

WHITE IN THE HOUSE
WR/LB Cornelius White, originally of the Chicago Rush, was recently added to the Soul roster and played his first game for them this past weekend. Ironically, it was against his former team, the Rush. While playing in his first Soul game, it was his 101st game of his career.

TRIPLE THREAT
White is facing the Kats for the third time this season. As a member of the Chicago Rush, he faced them twice and had three catches for 40 yards offensively and three tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on defense in the first game against them. The second time around, he caught seven passes for 71 yards with one score while recording 3.5 tackles and one pass breakup on defense.

CLEAN SAUK'S
QB Matt Sauk saw his first snap since Week 3 last week during the fourth quarter against Chicago. He finished the game completing 8-of-11 passes for 81 yards with two touchdowns despite one interception. He entered the game after starting quarterback Tony Graziani went down with a hamstring injury.

BEAM ME UP SCOTT
WR/LB Sean Scott recorded over 100 receiving yards for the second time this season. His valiant effort was rewarded with his being named the Offensive Player of the Game. In the Soul's six wins, Scott has been named Ironman of the game four times and Offensive player of the game once.

HOMETOWN DUDES
The Nashville Kats have a few men on their team from around the area. OL/DL Joe Minucci attended Delaware and is a Philadelphia native. Also, Kats OL/DL Charlie Morris played at Temple University. Kats' OL/DL coach Darrin Kenney was the Soul's color analyst during their inaugural season and hails from Philly.

REMEMBER ME?
Kats WR/LB Corey Fleming has played with a number of the Soul players, while he was with the Orlando Predators. Fleming is also familiar with Soul head coach Bret Munsey. Coach Munsey was one of Fleming's coaches from 2002-05 while he was with the now defunct Carolina Cobras (2002) and Predators (2003-05).

SOUL SAVIOR
Last week, Eddie Moten picked off his sixth interception of the season. Also, during the overtime session, he sealed the victory for the Soul after the Rush attempted to go for a two-point conversion and were denied when Moten picked off Chicago quarterback Matt D'Orazio.

SACK UP
Philadelphia quarterbacks were sacked twice in the contest against the Rush last week. The two sacks doubled the number of sacks allowed this season. With a total of four allowed sacks, the Soul are ranked third in the League with the least amount of sacks allowed. On the other hand, Nashville's defense is ranked number one in the League with 20 sacks converted.

GROUND EFFECT
This past weekend, the Blue and Grey were able to charge by the Rush to run into the endzone for four rushing touchdowns. Philadelphia has recorded 22 touchdowns on the ground this season. Last season, they recorded 23 for the entire year.

TWO OF THE BEST
Kats' OL/DL James Barron and Soul OL/DL Ernest Allen have each paid their dues in the AFL. They are both recognized as two of the best nose guards to step foot on the turf and this week will not be any different. Barron, in his 10th season, has been named Lineman of the Year by the League twice and has received recognition All-Arena honors six times. On the other hand, Allen has been named to the second-team All-Arena four times during his 10-year career.

NOT SO SPECIAL
Against the Rush, the Soul allowed their first special team touchdowns. The two touchdowns were allowed were on a kick return by Carlos Wright and a failed field goal returned by C.J. Johnson.

TOP OF THE HEEP
The Soul currently have four players in the Top 20 for rushing yards (11th, Sean Scott-85; 15th, Chad Dukes-78; 18th Wes Ours-75; 19th, Mike Brown-72).

GIVE AND TAKE
Nashville's offense has thrown a League leading 18 interceptions and Philadelphia's defense has picked off 17 passes, which is tied for the second most in the League.

IN A RUSH
Both the Soul and Kats have the same amount of rushing yards for the season, with a total of 318 yards for an average of 28.9 yards per game. They are each tied for third in the League.

EXTRA TIME
Last week's contest against the Rush was the first time in Soul history they went into overtime. It took them 42 games to go past the regulation time limit.

DOWNEY IN THE SOUTH
Offensive/defensive lines coach Pat Downey is very familiar with the Nashville Kats considering he played for the Kats during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He helped lead them to two consecutive ArenaBowl appearances. Also, he was introduced to his wife, Andrea, by current Kats head coach Pat Sperduto.

THE OLD'EN TIMES
Soul OS Tyronne Jones starred for the Nashville Kats' previous franchise from 1998-2001. He accumulated 277 catches for 3,644 yards and 65 TDs during his tenure there. Jones led the Soul in scoring in 2004 and is currently on Philadelphia's practice squad.

E-A-G-L-E-S
Kats secondary coach Bernard Wilson played for the Philadelphia Eagles. After college, the Eagles signed Wilson as a free agent in 1978. Although he was released during the preseason, Philly re-signed him the next year, and he earned a starting job at the free safety position. He played eight years for the Eagles and played in 70 consecutive games, missing only three. He was also a teammate of Soul Team President Ron Joworski.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 11, 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.

Other Recent Philadelphia Soul Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central