Soul declaw Kats
by Fran Stuchbury
February 14, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul
The Philadelphia Soul played the Nashville Kats this past Sunday. I was looking forward to attending the game after watching several AFL games on television and listening to games on the radio.
I got to the game early to experience some tailgating. It was nice to once again see Soul fans that I spent a lot of time with the inaugural season, and the food was good, too. People were grilling up burgers, hot dogs, sausage and the like. Soul fans that were very excited about the home opener. Some were still down after the Eagles lost SuperBowl XXXIX, but a win Sunday when would make fans happy.
The Soul went on the defeat the Kats 59-48. Here are
my observations.
The Nashville Kats played like an expansion team. They made several key mistakes.
WR/LB Gabe Amey dropped a pass by QB Leon Murray that should have been a touchdown reception in the first quarter.
On the final play of the first half after the Nashville Kats scored a TD, kicker Gary Kral opted to do a line drive kick that was picked up by WR/DB Keita Crespina who tossed the ball back to OS Steve Smith. He found a seam and ran it back 49 yards for the score that gave the Soul a 35-21 halftime lead. That played destroyed any momentum the Kats had going into the break.
The play reminded me of the "Music City Miracle" the Tennessee Titans had when they defeated the Buffalo Bills in the AFC playoffs on January 8, 2000.
Rookie WR/LB Rob Milanese continued to make a good impression, catching three catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Milanese has now scored at least one touchdown in all three Soul games.
"Whenever I get in there, my goal is to make a play," said Milanese. "I have been able to do that so far. I think the coaches are starting to trust me now."
Milanese, a local player who played his college ball at
Penn, was very happy to play in front of the home
crowd. "It's great, I love the Philly fans, as a player
playing on a Philly team I don't know how you can't
love them. Not only that I had a lot of friends and
family watching me at the game."
Soul President Ron Jaworski made these comments on Milanese's performance: "When you consider this is only the third game of the season and Rob has adapted like he has, it's a real big plus for us. Teams are going go after Sean Scott and Steve Smith. Now we have another weapon to come after them with, and Rob Milanese has been coming up big."
QB Tony Graziani is very high on him. "He's going be a special player once he gets more familiar playing Arena Football. He's going be really good."
Speaking of Graziani, he finished the game with 270 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. He also completed his 1,000th career pass during the third quarter.
Graziani made a phenomenal play in the third quarter. After tripping over his center, he went to his knees and was still able to throw the ball to the ball to OS Steve Smith for a 45-yard touchdown. The fans in the Wachovia Center exploded with applause.
Soul President Ron Jaworski was happy with Graziani's
throw and performance. "It was a great throw," he said. "Tony
made the plays when they presented themselves and that
is the key to this game: to have a guy that is steady
like Tony Graziani at quarterback.
I also spoke to a couple of fans, and Joel Webb had these comments on the Souls performance: " I'm optimistic about the season and look forward to them improving more as the season goes on. Graziani seems to be getting more comfortable with his receivers."
Paula (Moxie from the Blue Brigade) said, "The throw by Graziani on the knees was unbelievable, Steve Smith continues to impress, and Rob Milanese again proved that he belongs on this team. He is a completely unproven player and he is really stepping it up. His second and third efforts after being hit to get into the end zone show heart, and that's something this town can really get behind."
Lastly I spoke with Soul Radio play-by- play announcer Ari Wolfe who does the games on 990 AM. "The team needs to improve a lot if it inspires to be a playoff team," he said. "You can't have that many mistakes, and they basically got lucky at the end. If Nashville doesn't fumble away that football they could have scored with very little time left to go in the game. Great to get the win, but this team still has a long way to go if it wants to be a playoff team."
The Kats fumbling the ball late in the game was the last of many mistakes they made. The Soul almost blew a seventeen point fourth quarter lead. The last minute of the game got scary for Soul fans.
If the Soul has any chance to beat the VooDoo this Sunday they need to have a mistake free game. New Orleans is coming off a huge 62-61 win over the defending champs San Jose. The Soul defense will have their hands full trying to shut down New Orleans' high power offense.
The good news for the Soul, according to coach Trigg, is that FB/LB Chris "Soul Train" Ryan who has a fractured finger, may be able to play, depending on how well he performs in practice. He's more of a power back they can use on goal line situations compared to Marlion Jackson who's more of a finesse back.
If you have any questions or comments about this article feel free to drop me an email at arenazone@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to get back to you.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
