Soul win franchise-record third straight game
April 3, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul News Release
COLUMBUS (OH) â The Philadelphia Soul earned a franchise-record third straight victory on Sunday afternoon, downing the Columbus Destroyers 62-45 in front of 15,136 fans at Nationwide Arena. The victory also gets the Soul (5-5) back to the .500 mark on the season.
Philadelphia tied a team-record with four sacks and added five forced turnovers and six tackles for a loss to beat the Destroyers (1-8) for the third time in the teams' history. Soul quarterback Tony Graziani added to his League-high touchdown mark (63) with seven more and finished 20-for-29 for 261 yards and no interceptions. Graziani has now thrown 23 touchdowns with no interceptions during Philadelphia's winning streak.
Rookie wide receiver/linebacker Marcus Knight caught a game-high three scores on 4 catches for 81 yards while fellow wide receiver/linebacker Sean Scott earned US Army Ironman of the Game honors with 4 receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown. Scott also added 8.5 tackles including two for a loss and a forced fumble on defense.
The Soul saw a lead that had been fairly comfortable for most of the game slip to just six in the fourth quarter. Columbus then recovered a kickoff that bounced off the crossbar and the Destroyers found themselves inside the five yard line down just one touchdown. However, the Philadelphia defense kept Columbus out of the end zone and held the Destroyers to just a field goal.
The Soul used two first half turnovers by the Destroyers to jump out to a 34-21 lead. OL/DL Dwayne Missouri blindsided Destroyers QB Mat D'Orazio with a hit in the first quarter and Soul defensive specialist Calvin Coleman picked up the loose ball. Philadelphia capitalized with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Graziani to Soul wide receiver/defensive back Tyronne Jones.
The Philadelphia defense forced another Columbus mistake in the second quarter after wide receiver/defensive back Keita Crespina snagged his first interception of the year. On the ensuing possession, Graziani found Knight on a 19-yard scoring strike to put the Soul up 27-14.
The Soul return to the road next weekend, when they travel to Colorado to take on John Elway's Crush in Rock vs. Jock III. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET) and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports (WCAU-10 Philadelphia). The game can also be heard on Philadelphia's NewsTalk 990 AM and www.philadelphiasoul.com.
Notes: Graziani surpassed 15,000 career passing yards on a fourth quarter completion to Knight... Dwayne Missouri had two sacks and a forced fumble... Due to inclement weather, the Soul's equipment did not arrive at the arena until 10 a.m.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 3, 2005
- Pred upend Avengers in OT - Orlando Predators
- Harrell Sets Record as Crush Rolls - Colorado Crush
- Avengers Lose by a Foot, 55-54 - OSC Original by Tim Peterson
- Dragons can't finish against Rush - OSC Original by David Holusha
- Crush place Hunter on IR, activate Anderson, Pickens - Colorado Crush
- Rampage caged in second half, lose 40-27 - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Destroyers' comeback bid falls short - Columbus Destroyers
- Soul win franchise-record third straight game - Philadelphia Soul
- Kats scratch out victory in second half - Nashville Kats
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