Soul dominate Rush to earn fifth consecutive victory, 58-26
An avalanche of points during the last three quarters lifted the Soul to a 58-26 win over the Chicago Rush in front of 10,878 fans at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday.
The Soul (10-5) led the Rush (8-7) 24-19 with 1:06 left in the second quarter. Rush quarterback Carson Coffman found wide receiver Taurus Johnson on 20-yard touchdown pass to pull the deficit to five points.
The Soul didn't allow the Rush to reach the end zone again until the 4:48 mark of the fourth quarter.
Before that touchdown, the Soul scored 34 unanswered points to cruise to their fifth straight victory.
With the win, the Soul pull into a tie for the top spot in the American Conference with the Jacksonville Sharks (10-5). The Sharks own the tiebreaker due to a victory over the Soul earlier in the season.
The Soul's loss to the Sharks earlier in the season was mainly due to the team's inconsistency. Through the last five weeks, however, the team seems to have steadied itself and is getting hot at the right time.
"Winning all three phases of the game has been the key to this run we've been on these past couple weeks," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said after the game."
Although the Soul won by more than 30 points, they actually trailed after the first quarter.
The Rush scored the game's first touchdown when Coffman hooked up with Johnson on a 25-yard touchdown to give them the early advantage.
The Soul answered on their first offensive possession when they capped off a three-play, 42-yard drive with a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dan Raudabaugh to Tiger Jones.
The Rush took the lead right back with a touchdown pass from Coffman to wide receiver Reggie Gray. Rush kicker Jose Martinez missed the extra point, which kept the score at 13-7 at the end of the first.
The Soul then scored 17 unanswered points to take a 24-13 lead with a one-yard touchdown from fullback Derrick Ross, a 23-yard field goal from kicker Carlos Martinez and another touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to Jones.
Raudabaugh closed the second half with another touchdown pass, this one to Larry Brackins to give the Soul a 31-19 halftime lead.
The second half is where the Soul defense took over.
The unit forced three consecutive turnovers to start the second half and forced four total.
Two of those takeaways came courtesy of defensive back Rayshaun Kizer. Kizer grabbed two interceptions and led the team in tackles with seven. Jack linebacker Joe Goosby caught the other interception for the Soul and took it back 48 yards for a touchdown during the fourth quarter.
By the time the barrage was over, the Soul led the Rush 58-19 before the Rush finally reached the end zone again.
The Soul scored on six straight possessions during the run and reached the end zone on seven of their nine possessions overall.
A field goal and the end of the game were the other results to the Soul's possessions.
"Our defense was outstanding tonight and our offense almost scored on every drive, Dolezel said. "You can't ask for much more than that from your team, especially when you play an opponent like Chicago."
Raudabaugh posted another productive outing as he completed 18 of 25 passes for 257 yards and five touchdowns.
After a down game last week, Jones came back in a big way Saturday with 10 receptions for 186 yards and three touchdowns. Brackins caught Raudabaugh's other two touchdown passes, which were his only two catches of the game.
Coffman was benched during the game in favor of Luke Drone. Neither signal caller posted productive nights.
The duo combined to complete 17 of 32 passes for 217 yards four touchdowns, but threw three interceptions.
The Soul have now won their last three home games after starting the season a porous 1-4 at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Soul will be at home again Friday, July 12 when they hose the Utah Blaze at 7:35 p.m.