Soul Look To Conquer Dragons
June 20, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul News Release
The Philadelphia Soul (12-3) are heading to New York to take on the Dragons (8-7) on Sunday at Nassau Coliseum. Kickoff is set for 3 pm (et). The game can be heard on 950 ESPN Radio. The game audio will also be streamed live on-line at www.950ESPN.com. This will be the final regular season game for the Soul, who have already set a franchise record for wins in a season. They look to finish an already historic regular season with a win and carry that momentum into the playoffs.
After a nail-biting 62-61 win over the Cleveland Gladiators last week, the Soul are still fighting for their first-ever division title. With a win over New York, the Soul will clinch the Eastern Division and earn a first round bye in the playoffs.
The Soul are 4-5 all-time against New York and 1-0 this season. During their last match-up, starting QB Tony Graziani threw six touchdown passes before being knocked out of the game in the third quarter by Dragons DL John Nix on a late hit. The injury forced back-up QB Matt D'Orazio into the lineup for the first time all season. Nix was later ejected from the game for a separate altercation.
WR Chris Jackson continues to rack up the records. During Week 16 against Cleveland, Jackson became only the third player in AFL history to score 2,000 career points. He joins the ranks of AFL legends Barry Wagner and Eddie Brown. Jackson has scored 288 points this season and is second to only to Cleveland WR Otis Amey (290). This week Jackson could become the AFL's all-time career receiving yards leader. He currently trails Wagner by 231 receiving yards and needs a big time performance to break the record of 13,364 yards. Jackson will also make his way up the career all-purpose yards list this week. He only needs 27 all-purpose yards to pass Brown for 5th all-time.
Soul quarterback Matt D'Orazio was named the AFL's Offensive Player of the Week for his Week 16 performance against Cleveland. D'Orazio was 25-of-39 passing for 283 yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions. D'Orazio also led the Soul in rushing against the Gladiators, running the ball seven times for 14 yards and two touchdowns. Against Cleveland, D'Orazio threw his 250-career touchdown and passed teammate Clifton Smith into third-place on the Soul's all-time rushing touchdown list with his 11-rushing touchdown of the season. D'Orazio is currently leading the league in passer rating (131.5) and completion percentage (72.2).
WHO: Philadelphia Soul vs. New York Dragons
WHERE: Nassau Coliseum
WHEN: Sunday June 22 at 3 pm (et)
RADIO: Highlight clips can be attained from 950 ESPN (WPEN).
TELEVISION: NONE
PHOTOS: Photos for all Soul games can be found through Getty Images after the game is over.
INTERNET
FOOTAGE: Can be attained through Phoenix Communications at no cost.
FTP SITE - ftp://phoenix@66.9.143.221
user: phoenix password: phoenix1. (don't forget the period)
FOLDER-Arena Football 2008 Season
Click---Weekly Highlights Folder
Click---Week 17
CONTACT: Greg Wiley, Director of Communications, 215-636-0421 x. 176
gwiley@philadelphiasoul.com
The Soul are celebrating their fifth anniversary this season. Following last season, the Soul were recognized with the Commissioner's Award as the Organization of the Year and were an honorable mention for the PRISM Award in the category of fan appreciation. The Soul have drawn a total of 131,817 fans this season, their largest number since their inaugural season of 2004. The Soul sold out four games in the 2008 season and averaged a crowd of 16,477 fans per game. Since their inception, the Soul have drawn a total of 646,043 fans, the most in the AFL over that time frame. Soul 2008 playoff tickets are now on sale. For more playoff ticket information call (888) PHIL-AFL or log on to www.philadelphiasoul.com.
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