Soul feels at home in Atlantic City
The Soul, in an effort to appeal to more fans, took to the road and came away with a win on Saturday.
ATLANTIC CITY - The Soul's first foray into Atlantic City wasn't a royal flush, but it wasn't snake eyes either.
The local arena team hauled its 50-yard field and its own padded walls down the AC Expressway for its first-ever regular-season home game away from the South Philly sports complex. After a sluggish first half, the Soul dispatched Las Vegas, 51-43.
But the Boardwalk experiment was more than a football game for the AFL, which is forever trying to nudge its way up to the feeding dish occupied by the more mainstream sports in Philadelphia.
Soul majority owner Ron Jaworski was the driving force behind bringing the game to Boardwalk Hall, which was half-filled for Saturday's game. Attendance was announced at 6,514.
"[We appreciate] the way Atlantic City embraced us all week long," Jaworski said. "It helps us expand our brand."
Constant delays marred the first half, particularly late in the second quarter when officials struggled to untangle an unsuccessful touchdown by Soul wide receiver Ryan McDaniel. Did he cross the goal line? Did he have possession? Was he touched by an opponent? Yawn. The rhythm of the game was disrupted several times. There were 19 penalties accepted. Twelve went against Las Vegas (3-6).
"It was my first arena football game I've seen, and I really enjoyed the action and the plays along the sidelines and boards," said Andrew Duran, of Linwood, N.J. "One thing that could be improved on was all of the stoppages and how long many of them were."
The Soul (9-1) trailed at halftime for just the second time all year. But during the intermission coach Clint Dolezel "fussed at some people" and Philadelphia responded by outscoring Las Vegas 20-0 in the third quarter. Quarterback Dan Raudabaugh went 9-for-9 in the quarter with three touchdowns.
Marco Thomas continued his terrific season with eight catches for 125 yards, and tied a career-high with five TDs. The Soul holds a four-game lead over Cleveland in the East Division and host New Orleans (2-8) on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Jaworski intends to make a visit to Atlantic City - or some other town in the region - an annual event. There was a pep rally on the Boardwalk on Saturday afternoon, which disrupted players' game-day routines. But, as Raudabaugh said, "Hey. It's a pep rally. It ought to fire you up."
"This is for the right cause," said Dolezel, who has been involved in arena football for 20 years. "We need to get fans out there. This is a good venue to come back to."