Soul quiet Kats, 63-30
March 9, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul News Release
NASHVILLE, TN - After starting the season with a bye during the first week of the AFL season, the Philadelphia Soul shook off the rust from the nine-month layoff and defeated the Nashville Kats 63-20 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in front of an announced crowd of 7,885.
The Soul defense led the way as they forced Nashville to turn the ball over on downs twice, fumble the ball twice and picked off one pass. They held the Kats scoreless in the third quarter and put constant pressure on Nashville's quarterbacks.
The defense was lead by Defensive Player of the Game Eddie Moten after he picked off Nashville quarterback Clint Stoerner midway through the second quarter for a 43-yard touchdown.
Nashville kept the game close until halftime as they were down by only five points; 21-16.
Offensive Player of the Game Tony Graziani started the game completing consecutive touchdown passes to four-year veteran receiver Charles Pauley.
The Kats started the second half with the ball, but were held to a field goal attempt by kicker Jason Witczak from 54-yards out that was missed. Philadelphia took advantage and scored 28 unanswered points to lead 49-16 with 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
As Stoerner struggled for the Kats, head coach Pat Sperduto put backup quarterback Jeff Smoker in and he was able to get Nashville on the board, yet it was too little to late as the Soul increased the lead to 63-23 with 3:17 remaining in the game.
Philadelphia's offense tallied 270 yards and averaged 7.7 yards per play compared to Nashville's 4.8.
Graziani finished the game completing 14-of-21 passes for 215 yards with five touchdowns despite one interception. He connected with the Ironman of the Game Sean Scott seven times for 75 yards with one touchdown to go along with two tackles on defense.
The big sparkplug for the Blue and Grey was Pauley who finished his first game playing for the Soul with three touchdowns off four receptions for 75 yards.
Fun! Family! Football! The Soul travel to take on the Grand Rapids Rampage on Thursday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Van Andel Arena. Season tickets for the Soul's 2007 season are on sale now with tickets starting as low as $96. For more information call (888) PHIL-AFL or log on to www.philadelphiasoul.com. The Soul are entering their fourth season in the AFL and in their three seasons they have sold out 93% of the venue while drawing a League best 387,491 fans combined.
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