Rivalry Rekindled: Dragons Battle Soul in Divisional Round
July 2, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons News Release
(July 2, 2008) - As if this season hasn't already had its fair share of storylines and historic moments, one of the league's fiercest rivalries will take center stage when the New York Dragons take on the Philadelphia Soul this Saturday, July 5th at 7pm in the Divisional Round of the 2008 playoffs.
"You're talking about two proud franchises," said head coach Weylan Harding. "It's New York and Philadelphia. It's a competitive rivalry no matter what the sport is, and I think with us it's just carrying out that tradition. It's a healthy rivalry between us and anytime we meet up it's going to be a good one."
The Dragons are 5-5 against the Soul all-time. This season, Philadelphia won both regular season games; Week 3 and Week 17.
But as head coach Weylan Harding said, the Dragons have put those games behind them. "The playoffs are a different animal. As far as I'm concerned the regular season was last year and it means nothing. This game is all that matters now."
The Dragons and Soul took different routes to get to this Divisional Round game. New York finished the regular season 8-8 after starting out 1-4 and snuck into the playoffs as the sixth seed. In the Wild Card round against Dallas, the Dragons put together arguably the best all around performance of the season as they handily defeated the Desperados 77-63. The Dragons will need another solid four quarters to come up with the same result this week against Philadelphia.
"The win in Dallas was a huge one for us going down there on the road facing one of the top tier teams in this league and in our division," said Harding. "It's kind of got us prepped for a similar situation going to Philadelphia where you're playing the number one team in this league."
The Soul finished the regular season at 13-3 and are the number one seed in the National Conference.
QB Aaron Garcia turned out one of the best performances in his postseason career against Dallas, which was the Dragons first playoff win since 2003. He completed 28-of-39 passes for 330 yards and nine touchdowns, earning Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The Dragons also got solid play from former Philadelphia FB/LB Idris Price. Price played almost every snap on both offense and defense last week against Dallas, recording three tackles and one QBH on defense and adding two rushing touchdowns on offense.
Perhaps the biggest performance of the Wild Card game at Dallas was the play of rookie WR Terry Moss filling in for WR Jason Willis, who had his season end early after suffering a dislocated ankle in the regular season finale against Philadelphia. Moss recorded 11 receptions for 145 yards and three touchdowns, filling in nicely for Willis who averaged 8.4 receptions, 96.5 yards and 1.9 touchdowns per game in the regular season.
The Dragons defense will have to tackle a potent Philadelphia offense led by First Team All-Arena selections, QB Matt D'Orazio and WR Chris Jackson. The Dragons defense boasts two First Teamers as well in DL Henry Taylor and DB Billy Parker as one of the league's best defenses battles one of the best offenses in this Divisional Round match-up.
To the winner go the spoils this Saturday night in Philadelphia. The winner will move on to the National Conference Championship game against either Cleveland or Georgia, and move one game closer to ArenaBowl XXII.
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from July 2, 2008
- Defensive End Earns Award For Second Time In Five-Year Career - Dallas Desperados
- ESPN Classic to Air Wild Card Matchup Between Cleveland and Orlando - AFL I
- Soul Playoff Daily - Philadelphia Soul
- Gladiators Fans Score Record Viewership for AFL Games on ESPN - Cleveland Gladiators
- Arena Football League Divisional Playoffs Begin Saturday - AFL I
- San Jose's Grieb Goes for 90 on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Saturday - AFL I
- Rivalry Rekindled: Dragons Battle Soul in Divisional Round - New York Dragons
- Sabercats Begin Arenabowl Title Defense - AFL I
- Soul To Take On Dragons In Divisional Round Playoff Game - Philadelphia Soul
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