Soul clinch second straight division title with 66-57 win over the Gladiators
The Soul clinched their second straight Eastern Division championship with a 66-57 win over the Cleveland Gladiators at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Saturday night.
The division title for the Soul (9-5) is the third in franchise history and marks its fifth postseason berth.
It also guarantees the Soul a home playoff game, although they are only 3-4 at the Wells Fargo Center this season.
"It's a division title and the entire team deserves to be proud of this victory," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said via a team press release.
Quarterback Dan Raudabaugh led the Soul with a stellar performance under center. Raudabaugh completed 25 of his 28 pass attempts for 285 yards and six touchdowns.
His 89.2 completion percentage would have been the third-best in a single game in league history if he had attempted 30 passes.
Ironically, the current record holder is Dolezel, who completed 89.7 percent of his passes during a game back on June 18, 1999.
"This was a collective effort from top to bottom," Dolezel said. "Dan had an outstanding game, but there were many guys that stepped up when we had injuries during the game."
Raudabaugh completed his first 18 passes before throwing his first incompletion with 21 seconds left in the first half.
Three of Raudabaugh's touchdowns went to wide receiver Andrae Thurman who came into the game with only seven touchdown receptions all season. Thurman finished the day with seven catches for 113 yards and returned a kickoff 55 yards for a score during the third quarter.
Tiger Jones had a rather pedestrian game by his standards as he caught nine passes for 99 yards, but only one went for a touchdown. Ryan McDaniel contributed seven receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns.
Fullback Derrick Ross carried the ball eight times for 37 yards and one rushing touchdown, which started the scoring Saturday.
Ross capped off a five-play, 45-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was Ross' 100th of his career. He is only 27 behind the all-time record holder Barry Wagner, who set the record over the course of his 15-year, Hall-of-Fame career. Ross is only in his third season.
The Gladiators answered Ross' touchdown with one of their own after quarterback Chris Dieker found wide receiver Carlese Franklin for a 42-yard score.
The Soul took the lead back three plays later when Raudabaugh hooked up with Thurman on a 25-yard score.
On the ensuing Cleveland possession, the Soul defense forced the Gladiator offense to attempt a 60-yard field goal from kicker Aaron Pettrey, which was missed.
The Soul capitalized on the stop five plays later after Raudabaugh hit McDaniel on a four-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-7.
The Gladiators then went on a 13-0 run to make the score 21-20 with 10:14 left in the second quarter.
The teams traded touchdowns until a big turnover forced by the Soul gave them a bit of breathing room.
Leading 35-27, Soul defensive back LaRico Stevenson picked off Dieker in the back of the end zone.
During the ensuing possession, Raudabaugh finally threw his incompletion. But on the next play, he started a new streak as hit McDaniel for the second time in the end zone, this time from 13 yards out to give the Soul a 42-27 advantage with 13 seconds remaining in the half.
Cleveland hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired to make the score 42-30 in favor of the Soul at halftime.
The Gladiators received first possession during the second half and used a long 11-play drive to cut the Soul lead to one possession at 42-37 thanks to a six-yard pass from Dieker to Franklin.
The one-possession deficit for Cleveland was short-lived as Thurman took the ensuing kickoff to the end zone to give the Soul a 49-37.
The Gladiators seemed to be poised to make it a one-possession game once again as they drove the ball all the way to the Soul's 5-yard line. Instead, what occurred was another big play from the Soul defense.
Dieker rolled to his left for a pass attempt when Soul defensive lineman Calvin Fance got to him and forced him to fumble. Soul linebacker Joe Goosby recovered the ball for the turnover.
The Soul were held to a 24-yard field goal by kicker Carlos Martinez to give them a commanding 52-37 lead.
The teams traded touchdowns the rest of the way, but the Soul managed to hold off the Gladiators.
The Soul are currently the No. 2 seed in the American Conference and trail the Jacksonville Sharks (10-5), who defeated the Orlando Predators Saturday night, by a half game in the win column.
The Soul can even up with the Sharks in the win column next week when they host the Chicago Rush at the Wells Fargo Center at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, July 6. The Sharks will be idle next week.
The Sharks currently hold the tiebreaker over the Soul by virtue of them earning a 55-53 win in Philadelphia back on April 27.
The Sharks will have a tough game following their bye week, however, as they host the Spokane Shock (10-4) July 13.