Soul Weekly Update
Published on April 14, 2008 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul News Release
COMEBACK KEEPS SOUL PERFECT
The Philadelphia Soul ventured out to California on Saturday night and returned home still undefeated with a 58-57 come-from-behind victory over the defending champion San Jose SaberCats at the HP Pavilion to clutch their seventh consecutive victory and third road win of the season. The triumph also extends the Soul's largest winning streak in franchise history to seven and marks the first time the team has ever beaten the three-time Arena Bowl winning SaberCats.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
The Soul sealed the deal when LB/FB Clifton Smith scored on a two-point conversion with only 10 seconds left after a 5-yard touchdown run by QB Matt D'Orazio. SaberCats placekicker A.J. Haglund barely missed a 48-yard field goal attempt as time expired to ensure a Soul victory. Earlier, the Soul overcame a 26-point deficit to tie it up at 50-50 with one minute left when D'Orazio hit WR Chris Jackson for a 41-yard catch and run TD followed by a D'Orazio to WR Larry Brackins two-point conversion. Overall, the comeback was astounding considering the SaberCats started the game off 20-0 behind QB Mark Grieb and led the Soul 33-7 before going into halftime ahead 33-14.
CHRIS "MONEY" JACKSON STILL LOOKING FOR MORE RECORDS
Throughout the season, WR Chris "Money" Jackson has been an essential offensive player for the Soul. He recorded 11 receptions for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns on Saturday's game against the SaberCats. Two weeks ago against the Utah Blaze, Jackson recorded a season-high and single-game franchise-record 13 receptions and hit a major career milestone by becoming only the fifth player in AFL history to record 900 receptions. The AFL's player of the month for March now has an incredible 916 total career receptions. Two weeks ago versus the Tampa Bay Storm, he became the fourth wide receiver in AFL history to break 12,000 receiving yards. Jackson is also close to hitting a number of other milestones:
- 5 TD catches to becoming the third player all-time with 300 career receiving TDs.
- 9 TD catches away from passing Eddie Brown (303) for second on the all-time list.
- 3 TD catches away from becoming the Soul's single-season franchise leader (Steve Smith 28, 2005)
- 5 TDs to become the Soul's single-season franchise leader (Steve Smith 31, 2005).
QB MATT D'ORAZIO CONTINUES TO STEP UP
The game was supposed to mark the return of QB Tony Graziani who was forced to sit out for the past three games after suffering a sprained MCL in his left knee during the 3rd quarter of Week 3 against the New York Dragons. "Graz" was deemed unable to play at game time so D'Orazio stepped up again for the fourth time and led to the Soul to another victory. Although he got off to a shaky start, D'Orazio completed 27-of-46 passes for 327 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions and earned Offensive Player of the Week honors. For the four games he started this season, he has completed 114-of-170 attempts (67.1 percent) for 1,329 yards with 26 touchdowns and two interceptions.
SOUL ON THE ROAD
The undefeated Soul play three of their next four games on the road with the next three games are all against division rivals. The Soul will visit Columbus on Monday, April 21 at 8 p.m. to take on the Destroyers before returning home for their lone home game over this span against the Dallas Desperados on Monday, April 28 at 8 p.m. Both games can be seen live on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD, can be heard live on 950 ESPN Philadelphia and heard live on the web at www.950ESPN.com. The Soul then hit the road once more to face the Cleveland Gladiators on Friday May 2 at 7 p.m. and wrap up the stretch at the Georgia Force on Monday, May 12 at 8 p.m. For the season, the Soul are 3-0 as the guest, having won in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Jose.
UNDEFEATED RIVALS
Besides the Soul, the only other undefeated team in the league is the Dallas Desperados, who are on a bye in Week 8. If the Soul can remain undefeated, Week 9's meeting between the two clubs at the Wachovia Complex will mark the latest in a season that two unbeaten teams have met in AFL history.
WIDE RECEIVERS CONTINUE TO BE KEY
Wide receivers Darius Watts and Larry Brackins both contributed to the Soul's win. Brackins recorded 8 receptions for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns and Watts recorded 7 receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown.
WHAT THE WIN MEANT FOR THE SOUL
This gives the Soul a 7-0 season record
The win gives the Soul a 3-0 away record for the season
This extends the Soul's best start to a season in team history to 7-0
This is the Soul's longest winning streak in franchise history
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
