SaberCats Fall 61-55 to the Soul in Philadelphia
April 14, 2012 - Arena Football League (AFL)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
PHILADELPHIA - The San Jose SaberCats (3-2) fell to the Philadelphia Soul (4-1) 61-55, in front of 9,303 fans at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night, as San Jose's late comeback fell just short. Quarterback Mark Grieb finished his night completing 25-47 passes for 333 yards and five touchdowns. Wide receiver Samora Goodson led the way, catching six for 118 yards and two fourth quarter touchdowns. Soul wide receiver Tiger Jones led the way with four touchdown receptions and fullback Derrick Ross added three scores in the victory.
The first three possessions of the game came without points, as the SaberCats held Philadelphia scoreless on their first two drives. San Jose opened the scoring as Grieb hit wide receiver James Roe for one of his two touchdowns on the night, this a seven-yard scoring strike to put the SaberCats on top 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
On a fourth down from the SaberCats eight yard-line, Jones made a catch over the wall, which knotted things at seven. On the ensuing kickoff, Ruschard Dodd-Masters brought it back to the house on a 57-yard return to give San Jose the lead right back. After forcing a Grieb fumble, the Soul capitalized with a four-yard touchdown run by Ross, and after a missed extra point, San Jose's lead was 14-13.
San Jose scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, as fullback Tommy Taggart and offensive lineman Mark Lewis each found the end zone from a yard away. Those two scores were sandwiched around a two-yard scoring reception by Philadelphia's Emery Sammons. On the last play from scrimmage in the half, Ross scored on a 39-yard screen pass from Raudabaugh, which cut the San Jose lead to 28-26 at the half.
To open the third quarter, Grieb found wide receiver Huey Whittaker for a 16-yard strike, and San Jose extended their lead to 34-26. Ross found paydirt for the third time on the night with 4:42 remaining in the third, as he scored on a three-yard run, cutting the SaberCats lead to 34-33.
Philadelphia continued their 28-0 scoring run, as Raudabaugh found Tiger Jones (twice) and Emery Sammons on successive drives, following a trio of interceptions by defensive back Kent Richardson, and the lead grew to 54-34. Grieb hit Roe from 12-yards out to pull San Jose back within 13 points with 2:31 remaining. Raudabaugh hit Jones once more, and Grieb found Goodson from 34-yards out to cut Phialdelphia's lead to 61-48. After a successful onside recovery by defensive back Vince Hill, Grieb found Goodson again, this time from 37-yards out, and the Soul lead was trimmed to 61-55 with 14 seconds left. San Jose recovered another onside kick, but Grieb was ruled to have fumbled the ball with one second remaining and the comeback fell just short.
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