The Philadelphia Soul (4-7) will be seeking revenge against the Eastern Division rival Milwaukee Mustangs (3-7) when the two teams clash at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday, June 3 at 7:05 p.m. (EST), with coverage of the game on NiftyTV. This will be the second meeting ever between the teams and second of the season with the first resulting in a 51-49 last second victory for the Mustangs in Week 4.
The Soul will be playing their second consecutive game at home after a convincing 70-49 victory against New Orleans in Week 12. The Mustangs suffered a 35-30 home loss to Orlando last week and will be playing in Philadelphia for the first time in franchise history. Soul head coach Mike Hohensee has a 1-2 all-time regular season record against the Mustangs, with the one victory coming on home turf.
“It’s at the point of the season where we need to build momentum and climb back into the Division race, which no team has ran away with yet,” said Hohensee. “We had a solid performance against the Mustangs in Milwaukee, but we let the game slip away and didn’t get the result we had hoped. This game, we are looking to build off of that and finish what we started.”
The Soul will be looking to light up the score board and overpower the Mustangs’ No. 17 ranked offense, which averages 42.5 points per game. The Soul have scored over 60 points in four of their last six games with quarterback Ryan Vena striking through the air and on the ground. This season, he has completed 143-of-227 passes for 2,066 yards and 43 touchdowns, along with 12 rushing touchdowns, tied for No. 4 in the League. The Mustangs will need to stop Soul receiver Donovan Morgan, who has caught 87 receptions for a League leading 1,387 yards, and 26 touchdowns, tied for No. 5.
The Mustangs offense is balanced between quarterback RJ Archer, receiver Damian Harrell, and fullback Mykel Benson, despite the lack of production. Archer’s 159 completions for 1,744 yards and 19 touchdowns are mostly aimed at Harrell, who has caught 69 of those passes for 755 yards and eight touchdowns. Benson has added 118 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
The strength of the Mustangs is their League leading defense, which allows just 259.3 yards per game. Two of the team’s thoroughbreds are defensive backs Andre Jones and Kelvin Rodgers. Jones leads the Mustangs with 49.5 total tackles, 14 pass break ups, and three fumble recoveries, while his eight interceptions ranks No. 3 in the League. Rodgers has added 44.5 total tackles and five interceptions, while his three interception returns is a League high.
The Soul defense has undergone changes, yet continues to improve, allowing 266.5 yards per game, ranked No. 3. Rookie Kent Richardson has emerged as a leader in the Soul secondary and has led the team in tackles two of the previous three weeks. Defensive lineman Darrell Campbell is proving to be a constant threat to opposing quarterbacks, ranking No. 3 in the League with seven sacks this season.
A key factor that both clubs would like to improve upon is kick returns. Soul return man Keith Stokes has the speed to break away from defenders, yet a total team effort is required to boost the Soul’s 14.9 average return yards, ranked No. 15. The Mustangs have struggled even more so, averaging just 11.3 yards per return. The teams will also be looking to sustain drives more effectively by converting on third downs, where the Mustangs rank No. 16 at 37.2% and the Soul rank No. 17 at 34.5%.
With the majority of the 2011 season already in the books, both the Soul and Mustangs are in need of a win to remain in the hunt for the Eastern Division title or a Wild Card spot.
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