Soul win three in a row with win 54-30 win over Barnstormers
The three-game winning streak for the Soul (8-5) is the longest of the season so far.
Much like last week's game against the Pittsburgh Power, the game against the Barnstormers (6-8) was never really in doubt.
The Soul got out to a 14-0 lead with the help of two consecutive defensive stops.
The first came after Soul wide receiver Larry Brackins used his catching prowess on defense to grab his first career interception off of Iowa quarterback J.J. Raterink.
The Soul needed only one play to cash in on the opportunity as quarterback Dan Raudabaugh found wide receiver Tiger Jones for a 23-yard touchdown to make the score 7-0.
After a stop on downs from the defense, the Soul used two plays to give them the two-touchdown advantage.
Fullback Derrick Ross showed why he is the Arena Football League's all-time leading rusher on the first play of the possession as he took a carry 32 yards down to the Iowa 7-yard line. That set up Raudabaugh to find Jones once again in the end zone for a touchdown pass.
The Barnstormers finally got on the board on the ensuing possession after Raterink found former All-Arena wide receiver Jesse Schmidt for a 13-yard touchdown to make the score 14-6 with 11:35 left in the second quarter.
The Soul went back up by double digits on the next possession when wide receiver Ryan McDaniel took a carry into the end from three yards out to make the score 20-6.
On the ensuing Iowa possession, Brackins intercepted Raterink again for his second career pick.
The Soul cashed in on another Iowa mistake with a five-play drive that culminated in a three-yard touchdown run from Ross to make the score 27-6 with 17 seconds to go in the half.
The Barnstormers tried to get more points on the board before the end of the half, but defensive back Rayshaun Kizer stepped in front what turned out to be Raterink's final pass of the night for an interception.
Raterink was bench in favor of Brian Reader in the second half.
The Soul advantage swelled to 41-14 with 4:06 left in the third quarter after a six-yard touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to McDaniel, but the Barnstormers did not go quietly into the night.
The Barnstormers ran off 16 unanswered points to pull their deficit to 41-30 with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter — plenty of time to make up 11 points by AFL standards.
The Soul, however, managed to hold off the Barnstormers with another touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to McDaniel and a fumble recovery by Calvin Fance that was returned 18 yards for the final score of the game.
"We're taking it one game at a time," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel after the game. "We're playing well in all three phases of the game, which is a big part of our consistency over the past couple weeks. When you perform well in the three phases, you get big wins, which is what happened last week and tonight. We're getting into a groove as a team and our performance is starting to show that."
The win improved the Soul to 3-4 this season at the Wells Fargo Center and marked the first time this season they won back-to-back home games.
Raudabaugh didn't have to do too much for the Soul under center as he only threw the ball 15 times, but completed 12 of his attempts. He also threw four touchdowns.
Ross had one of his best rushing efforts of the season with nine carries for 54 yards and two touchdowns.
Jones and McDaniel didn't post big numbers individually, but combined to catch nine passes for 104 yards and four touchdowns.
The Soul defense forced four turnovers overall Saturday and have forced 11 over the last two games.
The Soul hit the road again next week as they try to avenge an earlier loss to the Cleveland Gladiators at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 29. at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
--
Larry Brackins was moved to Jack linebacker becuase of an injury to defensive back James Romain. Romain sat out Saturday's game due to a dislocated finger. The Soul decided to move usual Jack linebacker Joe Goosby to Romain's spot in the secondary with Brackins taking his place at linebacker.