Soul drop first home game of season to defending ArenaBowl champs
February 26, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul News Release
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Soul (3-2) lost their first home game of the season today, falling to the defending ArenaBowl champion Colorado Crush (4-1) 48-38 in front of 16,617 fans at the Wachovia Center.
The Soul's defense came out of the gate strong forcing the Crush to turn the ball over on downs on two of their first three possessions. The Soul capitalized on both stops and led 21-7 early in the second quarter. Soul Quarterback Tony Graziani was responsible for two of the scores, hitting both offensive specialist Marcus Knight and wide receiver/linebacker J.J. McKelvey for touchdowns. Fullback/linebacker Chad Dukes also rushed in from five yards out.
The Crush would tie the score at 21-21, when quarterback John Dutton found wide receiver/linebacker Willis Marshall from three yards out. The Soul took a 28-21 lead into halftime when wide receiver/defensive back Mike Brown ran it in from 13 yards out with 30 seconds left in the half. Colorado attempted to tie the score in the final seconds before defensive specialist Kevin Gaines intercepted Dutton's pass in the endzone. The pick moved him into fifth place on the all-time League interception list with 38.
The second half would prove to be the difference as the Crush outscored the Soul 27 to 10 including 14-3 in the final quarter. Crush offensive specialist Damian Harrell scored three of his four touchdowns in the half and Colorado's defense limited the Soul to only 98 yards of total offense. The Crush's offense was efficient on third and fourth downs going 3-of-4 while the Soul were 4-of-9 on those downs in the half.
The Crush entered Sunday's contest with the No.1 offense in the League, averaging 62 points per game. They beat the Soul by scoring most of their points through the air as Dutton was able to find Offensive Player of the Game Harrell for a game-high 11 receptions for 122 yards and four touchdowns. Dutton led the passing attack by completing 27-of-44 passes for 261 yards and six touchdowns despite one interception.
The Soul (3-2) were led by Graziani who completed 20-of-35 passing for 198 yards and three touchdowns despite two interceptions. He connected with Knight nine times for 75 yards and one touchdown. McKelvey also registered four receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns.
The Soul hit the road for the next four weeks before returning to the Wachovia Center on Friday, March 31 when they host the Austin Wranglers. Next week the Soul travel to Las Vegas to face the Gladiators on Sunday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on OLN and can also be heard on the New Sports Talk 950 AM.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 26, 2006
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