Soul slip by the New Orleans VooDoo, 65-56
The Soul trailed for 59:55 seconds, but still managed to pull out a 65-56 victory over the New Orleans VooDoo Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Trailing 56-55 in the fourth quarter, the Soul defense stopped the VooDoo offense for the second time after recovering a New Orleans fumble with 4:31 remaining.
The Soul used up as much time as possible before handing the ball off to fullback Derrick Ross to score his fourth rushing touchdown of the game from one yard out and give them their first lead of the game with five seconds remaining.
The Soul converted on a two-point conversion try to make the score 63-56.
The VooDoo tried to recreate the Stanford Band play, but took the ball back into the end zone after brining it out and was caught for a safety, adding to the Soul's win.
The victory for the Soul (6-5) was only their second at home in six tries this season.
The VooDoo (2-9) have now lost nine out of their last 10 games on the season.
Saturday's game was essentially a microcosm of the Soul's season so far. Gone are the days of last season when the Soul would beat teams into submission. Gone are the days of winning games by obscene amounts.
The Soul this season have to earn every single victory, and hope for few bounces to go their way. Either way, they have found ways to win games in 2013.
"New Orleans played a great football game," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said. "They pretty much out-played us for the most part except for the last few minutes of the game, but that's why it's 60 minutes."
"That's how Arena Football goes," quarterback Dan Raudabaugh said. "[Games] are supposed to come down to the wire. I don't know, maybe we spoiled everybody last year scoring so much."
Things were not easy for the Soul from the outset. For the second week in a row, the Soul did not score on their opening possession. After driving the ball to the VooDoo 6-yard line, they were stopped short of the goal on consecutive plays.
The VooDoo took advantage of the opportunity on offense and went up 7-0 after a 39-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kurt Rocco to wide receiver, and former member of the Soul Donovan Morgan.
The Soul scored on the ensuing possession to tie the game up, 7-7, after a one-yard touchdown run from Ross on fourth and goal.
The teams traded touchdowns until the Soul trailed 28-21 in the second quarter. The Soul had possession of the ball with a chance to tie when wide receiver Ryan McDaniel fumbled after a catch and run.
The ball was recovered by New Orleans who cashed in on the Soul mistake on the very next play when Rocco found Morgan again, this time from 22 yards out to push the score to 35-21.
McDaniel made up for the mishap on the next possession, catching a four-yard touchdown from Raudabaugh to make the score 35-28 with 48 seconds left in the half.
The VooDoo pushed their lead back to 14 after wide receiver Courtney Smith caught a Rocco pass on a fade route in the corner of the end zone to make the score 42-28 with 27 seconds remaining.
The Soul pulled the deficit back to one possession as McDaniel caught another four-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the first half to make the score 42-35.
The second half began with the teams still trading touchdowns. The VooDoo had the ball with a 49-42 lead when the Soul defense finally forced them into their first big mistake.
The VooDoo drove down to the Soul 9-yard line where they were faced with a fourth and goal. The VooDoo rolled the dice and went for it, but were thwarted after Soul defensive lineman Bryan Robinson sacked Rocco. Rocco fumbled the ball on the play and it was scooped up by linebacker Brandon Perkins, who took it 35 yards for the score.
The Soul failed to convert on the extra point, however, and left the score at 49-48. The score remained at the end of the third quarter.
The VooDoo scored what turned out to be their final touchdown on the next possession to make the score 56-48.
The Soul used a lengthy nine-play drive to pull back to within one possession of the VooDoo at 56-55 after a nine-yard touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to offensive lineman/tight end Jason Jones. The drive took six minutes and seven seconds, which is long by Arena Football standards.
On the ensuing VooDoo possession, they made another crucial mistake. The VooDoo attempted to set up a screen to fullback Bryce Tennison, but when he turned to take the ball up field he fumbled it away to the Soul, setting up the game-winning score.
The Soul will look to keep the momentum going into next week when they face the Pittsburgh Power (3-7). Despite their record, the Power defeated the Soul at the Wells Fargo Center earlier this season.
Keeping the momentum going into next week will be paramount for the Soul.
"We have to," wide receiver Tiger Jones said. "We don't have a choice."
---
- Ross' fourth rushing score put him at 98 for his career and moved him into second place in league history for career rushing scores. AFL Hall-of-Famer Barry Wagner tops the list with 127.
- Ross gained 37 yards on the ground Saturday and is now only eight yards shy of breaking the league's career rushing record of 1,517 currently held by Bo Kelly.
"He's a incredible football player," Raudabaugh said of Ross. "It's not just his running ability that makes him so dangerous. He's one of the best if not the best blocking fullbacks as well and then he catches the ball like a wide receiver, too."
- Raudabaugh had a good day himself, completing 30-of-42 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns.
- Only one of his Raudbaugh's touchdowns went to Jones, but he still managed to have another big night, catching 12 passes for 175 yards.
- Robinson recorded his 19th sack in a Soul uniform, making him the franchise's all-time leader.