Game Analysis
Before the kickoff, the Albany Empire won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Philadelphia Soul began the game on offense and even drove into scoring range. Al Phillips would force the fumble on BJ Bunn after he caught a six-yard pass from Dan Raudabaugh. The fumble was covered by the Empire and the Soul’s misfortune seemed to get off to an early start. The Albany offense would take over and in two plays, Tommy Grady connected with Demetres Stephens on a forty-yard touchdown pass, taking the lead 7-0. Looking for a quick answer, Raudabaugh would provide an opportunity for Bunn to redeem himself. That’s exactly what happened as Bunn caught a thirty-four-yard touchdown from Raudabaugh to tie the game, 7-7. With just over four minutes left on the game clock in the first quarter, Grady led a methodical drive with his Empire offense. As time ran out in the first quarter, Grady threw a three-yard touchdown to Quentin Sims to take the lead, 14-7.
Dan Raudabaugh and the Philadelphia Soul offense began the second quarter on the field. Just like the beginning of the first quarter, the Soul would fumble the ball away again after Rodney Fritz strip-sacked Raudabaugh. The ball would be recovered by Keith Newell, but he would be marked down in the Philadelphia endzone. The Albany Empire safety would extend the lead to 16-7. After the safety, Kenny Spencer kicked the ball back off to the Empire. Two plays later, Tommy Grady and Demetres Stephens would connect on their second touchdown of the game, this time for twenty-four yards, to lead 23-7. The Soul is back out on offense and Raudabaugh would run a five-play drive, finishing with a twenty-three-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Williams. Spencer misses the extra point, leaving Albany to lead 23-13. The Empire began their next drive with a rush to Mykel Benson but would finish with a thirty-five-yard touchdown pass from Grady to Malachi Jones. Albany now leads, 30-13, and attempts an onside kick. The onside kick was recovered by Philadelphia and one play later, Raudabaugh throws a thirteen-yard touchdown to Darius Prince, cutting the Empire lead to 30-20.
To begin the second half, the Albany Empire received the kickoff. Tommy Grady was benched for Mason Espinosa. In the first drive of the second half, Philadelphia Soul defensive back Rodney Hall went down with an injury. With the ball on the goal line, Espinosa was able to rush for a touchdown to extend the Empire’s lead, 37-20. Dan Raudabaugh was benched for Patrick O’Brien who just didn’t look in sync with his receivers, throwing an interception to Cheatham Norrils. On the ensuing drive, Albany kept feeding the ball to Mykel Benson who would get a rushing touchdown from the goal line, stretching the Empire’s lead to 44-20. O’Brien came back on the field to redeem his bad start but would complete one pass to Lonnie Outlaw before throwing his second interception to Norrils. One play later, Espinosa would complete a seven-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Sims, making the score in favor of Albany at the end of the third quarter, 51-20.
Attempting to get something positive going for the Philadelphia Soul offense in the fourth quarter, Patrick O’Brien planned to not turn the ball over. While he did not throw an interception, the Albany Empire did force a turnover on downs which is just as effective. On the first offensive play in the fourth quarter for the Empire, AJ Coney converted a rushing touchdown from the goal line, increasing Albany’s lead to 58-20. O’Brien wanted to avoid turning the ball over in every possible way, but on this drive, Terence Moore would force a strip-sack and DaVonte Lambert would recover for the Empire. The Soul challenged the call that a fumble happened and lost the challenge. Mason Espinosa proceeded to throw a twenty-yard touchdown to AJ Coney, now making the Albany lead 65-20. Just when the Philadelphia fans in attendance thought the day couldn’t get worse for O’Brien, it did. He threw his third interception to Cheatham Norrils, which set up the Empire in scoring range. Mykel Benson would rush for a four-yard touchdown, helping Albany break the seventy point barrier, now leading 72-20. The Soul got the ball back and in an attempt to do something right, O’Brien had one more chance to get his team into the endzone. With twenty-seven seconds left in the game, O’Brien threw a four-yard touchdown to Jordan Williams to give this game the final score of 72-27, in favor of the Empire.
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Notes
As lopsided of a game as this was, there were a lot of factors that went into the final score. For one, this was not a game where starters played the entire game. By the time Dan Raudabaugh was relieved for Patrick O’Brien, the Philadelphia Soul were only down by ten points. The complete runaway victory came to fruition when O’Brien found every way imaginable to turn the ball back over into the hands of the Albany Empire. The Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Game were both on the Empire; Cheatham Norrils and Rodney Fritz.
On offense, the Philadelphia Soul had a tough time getting off to a smooth start in every quarter this game. In the first quarter, BJ Bunn fumbled the ball after a hit from Al Phillips. In the second quarter, Rodney Fritz strip-sacked Dan Raudabaugh to cause a safety for the Albany Empire. In the third quarter, Patrick O’Brien threw his first interception to Cheatham Norrils. In the fourth quarter, the Empire forced the Soul into a turnover on downs. In every way imaginable, Albany smothered Philadelphia with their defense and the Soul couldn’t provide much of an answer.
Heading into the playoffs, the Philadelphia Soul will play the Washington Valor in two games. At the end of these two games, the team with the highest total of points will move on to the ArenaBowl on August 11th. The Albany Empire will face the Baltimore Brigade in their playoff matchup. The Soul is going to have to get the salt out of their wounds quickly and move on from this loss against the Empire because they have yet to defeat the Valor once this season. Albany and the Brigade only have one previous matchup this season, which Baltimore won. They will look to play underdog against the top seed.
This first game for the Philadelphia Soul versus Washington Valor playoff series will take place on Sunday, July 28th at 3:30pm from the Capital One Arena. It is available to be seen on NBCSP+ and ESPN3. The audio of the game can be heard on 97.5FM The Fanatic.
