Philadelphia, PA (The Phanatic Magazine) - The Philadelphia Soul celebrated the opening of their fifth anniversary season by scoring the first 11 times they touched the football on the way to a 77-56 drubbing of the Orlando Predators in front of raucous crowd of 17,869 at the Wachovia Center.
The 77 points was one off the team record set last season against the New Orleans VooDoo.
Tony Graziani completed 15-of-22 passes for 257 yards and matched a career-high with nine touchdowns for the Soul. Meanwhile, All-Arena wide receiver Chris Jackson had six receptions for 78 yards and four touchdowns, and was named the Offensive Player of the Game in his Philadelphia debut.
"We just wanted the "W" and we talked about...as an offense...scoring every time," Graziani said. "Tonight, we got our goal and now we have to turn the page."
Larry Brackins added six receptions for 133 yards and three TDs for the Soul, while Mike Brown returned a kickoff for a TD and added three tackles on defense to take the Ironman award.
"The fact that we were so efficient on offense is exciting," Jackson said. "Larry (Brackins) played a heck of a game and our offensive line did a great job. When Tony (Graziani) gets time, it makes things really easy."
Shane Stafford connected on 31-of-45 passes for 323 yards and eight TDs for the Predators (0-1). Chas Gessner had 12 receptions for 110 yards and four scores.
The Soul defense forced a four-and-out to open the season, giving the offense a very short field on their first opportunity of the season. Graziani and Company started at the Orlando 10 but struggled against a tight pass defense. Two defensive penalties by the Predators extended things, however, and Graziani finally took advantage with a flip pass to the 300-pound Wes Ours. The West Virginia product did the rest, rumbling into the end zone for an early 7-0 Soul edge.
The Philadelphia defense held again and the Predators settled for a 28-yard field goal from John Vaughn on their next possession.
The Soul answered with their first big play of the year. Graziani hooked up with Brackins on a 30-yard TD to make it a 14-3 game with 2:31 remaining in the opening quarter.
Orlando finally found the end zone on its third possession but things were still not running smoothly for Jay Gruden's team. Vaughn missed the ensuing PAT and Philadelphia led 14-9 heading to the second quarter.
The Soul offense continued clicking on all cylinders and went 3-for-3 when Graziani hooked-up with his new high-priced toy, Jackson. The quarterback faked left and came back to Jackson on a slant and the free agent acquisition snapped the ball out of the air for a 21-9 Soul lead.
"I'm excited and pumped to be back with Graziani," Jackson said. "We've worked well together in the past."
The respective offenses continued to hit their stride from there. After Stafford hooked up with Gessner on a 13-yard score, Vaughn missed another extra point and Graziani went right back to Jackson, finding the former Washington State star for a 29-yard TD and the Soul led 28-15.
"I am really happy to be back with Chris, we had three great years in Los Angeles together," Graziani said. "I know what he is doing before he's going to do it and that helps us with our timing."
The Predators kept the pressure on when Stafford found Gessner on a wheel route for a seven-yard score but the high-powered Philadelphia offense kept rolling. Graziani found another new receiver, Kenny Henderson, for a 23-yard TD with just 9.3 seconds left in the half. Henderson, a second-year player, from Tuskegee made a brilliant finger-tip catch on a go route to extend the Soul's lead to 35-22 at intermission.
The break did nothing to slow down the Philadelphia offense. Graziani opened the second half by finding Brackins on a bomb down the right sideline that put the Soul inside the Predators 10. The QB then went right back to Brackins on a slant for a TD and Philadelphia had a commanding 42-22 advantage with just over 13 minutes left in the third.
The rout was really on when Gabe Nyenhuis came off the edge and wiped the football out of Stafford's hands. Rookie Tom Johnson recovered the fumble and the Soul offense went back to work. After two defensive penalties set then up inside the five, the Soul went to the ground and Clifton Smith went off the right side for a three-yard TD run and a 49-22 Philadelphia lead.
The Predators finally got back on the board when Gessner found paydirt for the third time but any momentum was quickly stemmed when Mike Brown took the ensuing kickoff up the left sideline for a 56-yard TD and a 56-29 Soul lead.
With the large lead, the Philadelphia defense went into a bit of a zone shell and Stafford took advantage by hitting T.T. Toliver on a drag pattern.
Brown nearly took back his second straight kickoff when he took the ball off the screen, went right and cut all the way across the field to the Predators six. Three plays later, Graziani found a wide open Jackson over the middle for his third TD of the game and an insurmountable 63-36 Soul lead with 13:44 left in the game.
Garbage time took over from there. Toliver scored on a 18-yard pass play for Orlando but the Predators botched their third extra point of the game.
Jackson then found the end zone for a fourth time to put the Soul on top 70-42.
Toliver then hauled in another 18-yard TD toss for the Predators but Brackins matched him by taking a slip screen 38 yards to the end zone with 5:40 left.
Gessner fifth TD of the game accounted for the final margin.
"We played well in every phase," coach Bret Munsey said. "The tempo was unbelievable. The defense got the stops we needed in the first half and on offense they didn't stop us. It was a nice effort."
Soul Food: Henderson broke his collarbone on his second quarter TD reception and could be out for a significant amount of time...The Soul also disposed of Orlando 63-49 in the opening round of last year's playoffs...Johnson was named the Defensive Player of the Game...Three Soul players missed the game because of injury. WR Darius Watts, who used to play for the Denver Broncos, was out with a balky ankle, while FB John Peaus was sidelined with a bad back and DL George Gause was also out with a bad ankle. All three players are on IR and will miss at least the first two games...The Soul are now 3-1 all-time against Orlando in the regular season. The team is now 4-1 in season openers and home openers...The Predators are one of the AFL's premiere teams and currently have a streak of 16 straight playoff appearances. That's tied with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings for the most in major sports history.
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