Soul stop Storm to reach conference final
The Soul, who entered the playoffs as the top seeds in the American Conference, rolled to a 63-41 victory over the fourth-seeded Tampa Bay Storm in the first round of the Arena Football League playoffs Sunday night at the PPL Center in Allentown.
The Soul, who entered the playoffs as the top seeds in the American Conference, rolled to a 63-41 victory over the fourth-seeded Tampa Bay Storm in the first round of the Arena Football League playoffs Sunday night at the PPL Center in Allentown.
The Soul (14-3) will host the Jacksonville Sharks in the conference final next Sunday at 6 p.m. in Allentown.
Quarterback Dan Raudabaugh completed 22 of 33 passes for 224 yards and eight touchdowns for the winners.
The last time the two teams met, the Soul eked out a 56-51 win on July 16 in Tampa. Soul coach Clint Dolezel said his team did not make many adjustments since last time and played only slightly better.
The Soul came out on top in all three meetings with the Storm this year, even though it wasn't their sharpest offensive output each time.
The Soul opened the scoring with touchdowns from Jeramie Richardson and Darius Reynolds. The Storm, who went just 2-14 in the regular season, scored with six seconds on the clock to end the first quarter on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Antoine "T.T." Toliver.
The Storm's Cortez Stubbs opened the second quarter with a 15-yard interception return to tie the score at 14. Lonnie Outlaw and Reynolds scored the next two touchdowns, powering the Soul to a 28-14 halftime lead.
In the second half, Reynolds scored on a 30-yard pass from Raudabaugh, but the Storm's Kendrick Ings scored to close the third quarter, pulling his team within 42-28.
Shaun Kauleinamoku scored three touchdowns after halftime on passes from Raudabaugh. Outlaw added another TD on a Raudabaugh pass with 46 seconds left to seal the win.
"It wasn't real pretty at times," Dolezel said. "But any time you get a three-score lead in this game, it's tough to beat - especially in the playoffs. We'll take it. We're moving on."
Ron Jaworski, the former Eagles quarterback and Soul owner, last saw the team win the ArenaBowl championship title in 2008.
Raudabaugh, who has been in the league since 2010, said this year's postseason is an interesting setup with all eight teams making the playoffs.
"We're proud we were able to get the win, but we've got to clean it up and come ready to go," Raudabaugh said. "Everyone's 0-0 this week, too."