The Philadelphia Soul begin their quest for their second consecutive Arena Bowl appearance as they take on Head Coach Doug Plank and the Orlando Predators, Saturday, August 3rd at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Doug Plank led the Soul to Arena Bowl XXV last season. The Soul are the Eastern Division Champs, come into the game with a record of 12-6 winning their last seven of eight games, while the Predators come in at 7-11 after starting the season 0-5.
Soul Head Coach Clint Dolezel believes that having home field has an advantage for Saturday’s game as he says in an interview “I tell everyone and I’ve said it all my career playing 13 years and coaching for four of it, there’s no other sport where fans can make a difference (like arena football),” Dolezel says. “If they get loud and the opposing team has the ball, they’re trying to listen in the huddle for snap counts, communication fails a lot of times. They (fans) can change the game. That’s why it’s so important to have home field advantage in arena football.” Philadelphia fans are without a doubt some of the loudest fans in all of sports.
Saturday marks the third time this season that the two teams will match up. The Soul destroyed the Predators on the road back in April, 61-33, and then came back to Philadelphia in May to defeat the Predators, 61-51. The Soul are being led by wideout Anthony Jones, quarterback Dan Raudabaugh and running Back Derrick “The Boss” Ross. Jones, became the first player in AFL history to record three straight seasons of 2,000 plus yards receiving and set new single-season Soul records in receiving yards (2,121) and receptions (150) in 2013. Derrick Ross also had a record breaking season by setting a new single-season Soul record for rushing touchdowns (35) and becoming the AFL’s all-time leading rusher with 1,773 yards. Let’s not forget about team leader quarterback Dan Raudabaugh who added yet another tremendous season to his belt, throwing for 4,699 yards and 96 touchdown passes compared to just 14 interceptions, with a 68.1 completion percentage. The Soul had players in the top five of each offensive statistical category.
The Soul season has come down to three games, in a win or go home format. The Soul are also the only professional team in Philadelphia to see playoff action this year.
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