Soul fans live up a win over Dallas
by Fran Stuchbury
Published on April 5, 2004 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul
Despite the pouring rain, both fan clubs the "Dose of Soul" and the "A-SOULS" did some tailgating before the Philadelphia Soul-Dallas Desperados game Sunday and put out a delicious breakfast buffet that included eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and the like.
The fans were having a nice time eating some food and socializing together. Once again I was able to get a ride and was very happy I did because I didn't want to travel in this rain.
The Soul went on to defeat the Dallas Desperados, 47-31. The Philly defense played outstanding, holding Dallas to only 12 points in the second half. Thirteen-year AFL veteran WR/LB Gary Compton returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown to help put the game out of reach. Compton who was out several weeks with a torn ligament in his left knee but is still able to make a solid contribution to the team.
One guy who played extremely well on both sides of the ball was FB/LB Chris "Soul Train" Ryan. Ryan rushed for two touchdowns, had two sacks, three tackles, and blocked a kick.
Soul coach Michael Trigg was very happy with Ryan's performance: "He certainly helps us a lot. He gives us versatility. He's great on special teams. He carries the ball in those situations where we don't have to stop the clock, and in the red zone he's hard to keep out of the end zone."
Trigg is also optimistic the Soul have a chance to win the East.
"We certainly have some good talent. It's nice to at least be 4-5 with a shot to be 5-5 after a bye week at Carolina and jump back in this race."
QB Todd Hammel did a nice job filling in for the injured Nick Browder, passing for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Todd has played 13 years in the AFL.
Team president Ron Jaworski said it was important to have a veteran QB with a lot of experience as a backup for the Soul. "That's the reason Todd's on this team because he's such an outstanding quarterback. He can start in this league and showed today he can play in this league as a starter. The reason he is here is because he can step in at any time, and we wouldn't miss a beat. Nick Browder was doing a fine job. Todd also did a fine job."
Dallas tied an AFL record with 21 penalties. Part of the reason was because backup Walter Church started in place of injured starter Glen Gauntt. There were several false start penalties that might have happened because the backup QB Church didn't have the timing down.
After the game the "Dose of Soul' and the "A-SOULS" did some more tailgating, cooking up some hamburgers and hot dogs.
I had the chance to talk to Robert Bradford who traveled 650 miles from Knoxville TN to see his first ever Arena Football game.
He said a friend of his (Mike) invited him to stay over and it sounded like great fun. He saw a couple of games on television, and it was fast and exciting so he wanted to see it live.
After seeing his first ever AFL game Robert made these comments: "It was a great game. The fans were great and it's a really fast paced game."
Robert plans to make another trip from Knoxville to see another Soul game in the near future.
The Soul have a bye this week then travel to Carolina hoping to improve their record to 5-5.
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.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 5, 2004
- Soul fans live up a win over Dallas - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
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