Soul dispatch Gladiators, 83-62
ALLENTOWN - Blue-and-black boa around his neck and plastic pigskin hat covering his eyes, Mike Hollenbach leaned over the 5-yard line.
ALLENTOWN - Blue-and-black boa around his neck and plastic pigskin hat covering his eyes, Mike Hollenbach leaned over the 5-yard line.
"Let's hit these guys hard today," Hollenbach bellowed as Soul players warmed up in front of him. "We're going to play hard today."
Walking the sideline, Ron Jaworski laughed as he shook Hollenbach's hand.
"Keep the noise down, my brother," joked Jaworski, the former Eagles quarterback and Soul owner.
Hollenbach knows the Soul's owners, players, and coaches. He is undoubtedly the most decked-out member of a loyal group of Soul fans, who create the lively atmosphere at the high-scoring arena football games.
On Saturday night, Hollenbach watched the Soul (11-3) cruise past the Cleveland Gladiators (7-7) with an 83-62 victory at Allentown's PPL Center.
Quarterback Dan Raudabaugh threw eight touchdowns and punctuated the evening with his 600th career scoring pass, a 30-yarder with 30 seconds left in the game. He finished with 335 yards and only one incompletion. He connected three times with Darius Reynolds and twice with Shaun Kauleinamoku.
The win brought the squad closer to clinching a No. 1 seed in the Arena Football League playoffs. The Soul were moved from the Wells Fargo Center this summer due to the Democratic National Convention.
"Allentown, Atlantic City, Trenton, we've been able to kind of move it around, and it still feels like a home," Raudabaugh said. "We are going to come back here, so hopefully this lights a fire under everybody. . . . They were loud tonight."
Hollenbach was often shown on the Jumbotron firing up the crowd of 5,593.
By day, he works for the Liquor Control Board, but his hobby is following the Soul. He goes wherever they go in the area. Allentown, Trenton, even the Nassau Coliseum in New York once.
The 42-year-old Bensalem native said he has owned season tickets since the Soul's founding in 2004.
Before the 2008 season, Hollenbach won a bet because no one actually thought he would get a tattoo of the Soul logo. Saturday night, he pointed to his right forearm, where the blue logo is etched. The tattoo got him free season tickets that year.
He said kids often ask him for autographs, thinking he is the team's mascot.
"My wife doesn't like to come," Hollenbach said. "She is like, 'You're embarrassing.' "
The Soul will return to the PPL Center on Aug. 7 for a playoff game.
"We're excited," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said. "If we put in another one or two thousand, this place would be a tough place to get a win for other teams."
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