Saturday, June 11, 2011

Soul shut down in Spokane

SPOKANE, WA (June 10, 2011) – The Philadelphia Soul (5-8) had three turnovers and allowed two sacks that stalled their second-half comeback as they lost to the Spokane Shock (5-7) in front of 8,972 fans at Spokane Arena on Friday night in a battle between the last two ArenaBowl champions.

“We turned the ball over in untimely situations and you can’t do that against good teams,” said Soul head coach Mike Hohensee.  “I liked how we hung in there after being down early, but we need to be consistent through all four quarters and that is something that we didn’t get tonight.”

Philadelphia QB Ryan Vena finished by connecting on 23-of-41 passes for 300 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions.  Leading the receiving corps for the Soul was Donovan Morgan with eight receptions for 117 yards and three touchdowns, while Syvelle Newton had 10 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown, Keith Stokes added four catches for 37 yards and a 56-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, while Larry Brackins added one catch for 15 yards and a touchdown.

Spokane opened the scoring when they took the opening drive 45 yards and QB Erik Meyer found Markee White on a 1-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.  The Shock recovered back-to-back onside kicks and pushed the lead to 20-0 when Meyer found Greg Orton and White on 39-yard and 15-yard touchdowns, respectively.

Philadelphia got on the board when Vena found Morgan on a 45-yard scoring strike, but still trailed 20-7.  Spokane’s Meyer connected with Adron Tennell from 26 yards out to end the first quarter scoring and give the Shock a 27-7 lead.

The Soul’s Morgan added a 13-yard touchdown to open the second quarter scoring.  But, a 56-yard kickoff touchdown return by Keith Stokes and a Chris Martin fumble return that set up a 5-yard touchdown catch by Morgan narrowed the score to 34-28 at the half.  The Soul outscored the Shock 21-7 in the second quarter.

Third quarter opened with Brackins hauling in a 15-yard touchdown from Vena to tie the score at 34-34.  On the next possession, Spokane, with the help of a fourth-down penalty, took a 41-34 lead when Antwan Marsh scored on a 3-yard touchdown run.

The turning point of the game and the Soul’s fortunes turned when Vena tried to connected with Brackins to even the score, but was intercepted by Terran Sanders in the endzone and lateralled to Beau Bell would complete the 50-yard return and walked in for the touchdown and a 48-34 lead to end the third.

Vena’s first pass of the fourth quarter was intercepted by Ruschard Dodd-Masters and returned for a 14-yard touchdown to make the score 55-34.  The Soul answered with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Vena to Newton with 12:24 remaining in the game.

Meyer to White from nine yards out made it 61-40, but Vena scored on a 2-yard run to narrow it to 61-47 with 9:06 remaining in the game.  The Shock went out to outscore the Soul, 27-20, in the final quarter to seal the victory.

The Soul return home to host the Tulsa Talons on June 17 at 7:05 p.m. in Wells Fargo Center and will play two of their next three games at home.

National Guard MVP:  Spokane’s Erik Meyer
Russell Offensive Player: Spokane’s Erik Meyer
Riddell Defensive Player: Spokane’s Terrance Sanders
JLS Ironman: Spokane’s Antwan Marsh
NiftyTV Playmaker: Spokane’s Terrance Sanders
Cutter’s Catch of the Game: Spokane’s Markee White’s one-handed catch in the first quarter.
Spalding Highlight of the Game: Spokane’s Terrance Sanders interception then lateral to Beau Bell for a touchdown in the third quarter.

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