Soul downed by Sharks, 58-42

Coming off a big road win that broke their five-game losing streak, the Soul faced the hottest team in the Arena Football League on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Jacksonville Sharks lived up to that billing by taking the lead in the first quarter on their way to a 58-42 victory.

Soul quarterback Ryan Vena, who tossed eight touchdown passes last week in his team's 76-62 victory at Iowa, was picked off three times by the Sharks.

Justin Allgood, who began the season as the Soul's starting quarterback, came on in the second half to complete 8 of 15 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.

The loss dropped the Soul to 2-6. The Sharks, who won their seventh game in a row, are 7-1.

"We didn't help ourselves," Soul coach Mike Hohensee said. "We didn't play very well offensively, we didn't protect well, we didn't make good decisions with the football, and we didn't always catch the football."

By contrast, Jacksonville quarterback Aaron Garcia, who is the AFL's career leader in touchdown passes, went 21 for 51 with five touchdowns and no interceptions.

"He's a real seasoned vet, and when you're a defense, that's the worst thing to go up against," Soul defensive back Kent Richardson said. "He knows what's coming, and you really have to try to disguise and trick him, and throw him off so you can put yourself in position to make plays."

The Soul trailed by nine points at intermission. When Jacksonville's Terrance Smith returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown, the Sharks had a 37-21 advantage with 3 minutes, 16 seconds to go in the third period.

That was the only score of the quarter.

The Soul also were burned for a touchdown after the first-quarter interception Vena threw. That score gave the Sharks the lead for good.

Playing at home for only the second time this season, the Soul opened the scoring against Jacksonville with a stop-and-go pass play from Vena to wide receiver Keith Stokes that covered 28 yards with 7:47 left in the first quarter.

The Sharks answered about two minutes later when Garcia and Jeron Harvey teamed up on a 20-yard touchdown to knot the score. After Vena threw his first interception on the Soul's next possession, Garcia hit wide receiver Jomo Wilson for a 29-yard score.