PITTSBURGH – Philadelphia Soul’s Mike Brown’s 15-yard interception return for a touchdown ended overtime and gave the Soul a 58-52 victory over the expansion Pittsburgh Power in front of 13,904 fans at the Consol Energy Center on Friday night.
“We made many mistakes and it wasn’t our best football, but our team showed what heart we have,” said Soul head coach Mike Hohensee. “This was a tremendous victory for us, our entire organization and our fans.”
Philadelphia’s Donovan Morgan, who earned Offensive Player of the Game honors, tied two team records with 14 receptions and six total touchdowns (five receiving and one rushing). The third-year veteran added 189 receiving yards in the winning effort. Philadelphia QB Justin Allgood finished 25-of-36 passing for 300 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Philadelphia (1-0) also looked to Syvelle Newton, who chipped in with six receptions for 62 yards, and Larry Brackins added five catches for 49 yards in the winning effort.
Pittsburgh (0-1) opened the scoring when QB Bernard Morris found WR Jason Willis for 37 yards to make the score 7-0. The Soul answered with a three-play drive that was capped with QB Justin Allgood hitting WR Donovan Morgan for 46-yard touchdown.
The Power added two consecutive scores to take a 21-7 lead with 2:45 remaining to end the first quarter scoring. To open the second quarter, Allgood hit Morgan again for a 5-yard scoring strike to cap a 10-play drive and narrow the score to 21-14 after a James Paul extra point.
Pittsburgh FB Joshua Rue, who earned JLS Ironman of the Game, bowled in from two yards out, but missed the extra point to give the Power a 27-14 lead with 8:46 remaining in the first half.
Morgan added his third touchdown of the night with a two-yard rushing score at the 4:08 mark in the first half. A Tanner Varner interception in the endzone stalled a Pittsburgh drive and led to a James Paul 18-yard field goal to close out the first half with Philadelphia trailing 27-24. Varner, who earned Riddell Defensive Player of the Game honors, finished with two interceptions and six total tackles.
The Soul outscored the Power 13-7 in the third quarter and nearly closed out Pittsburgh in the fourth quarter before Paul Edinger’s 35-yard field goal sent the game to overtime.
Philadelphia won the toss and elected to start on defense, when Morris dropped back to pass on third-and-8 when Brown stepped in front of the pass and returned it for the touchdown to end the game.
The Soul will travel to Allstate Arena next week to face the Chicago Rush at 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network
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