Soul trounced in Dallas

DALLAS (July 2, 2011) – The Philadelphia Soul (5-11) gave up three interceptions and were sacked three times as they lost to the likely playoff-bound Dallas Vigilantes (10-5) in front of 8,957 fans at American Airlines Center on Saturday night.

“Execution is the key to winning football games.  We weren’t getting that early and Dallas was able to ‘cash in’ on our mistakes,” said Soul head coach Mike Hohensee.  “Unfortunately, when you put yourself in a hole early, it’s hard to climb out of against a team like Dallas.”

Philadelphia QB Ryan Vena finished by connecting on 22-of-38 passes for 354 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions.  Leading the receiving corps for the Soul was Donovan Morgan with eight receptions for 135 yards and three touchdowns, while Keith Stokes had eight receptions for 146 yards.   Syvelle Newton added four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown, while Larry Brackins added two catches for 17 yards and a touchdown and Ty Nsekhe added a 16-yard touchdown reception.

With his first reception of the game – a 19-yard catch – Morgan set a Soul single-season receiving yard record and now stands at 1,847.  He surpassed the record of 1,719 yards set by former Soul standout Chris Jackson in 2008.

Dallas recovered the opening onside kick 16 yards when Derrick Ross plowed in from two yards out to give the Vigilantes a 7-0 lead.  Things were looking up early when Vena connected with Stokes on a 46-yard pass play that ended with a fumble and turnover.  Dallas took advantage and scored when Russell Offensive Player of the Game, QB Dan Raudabaugh hooked up on a 31-yard pass play to DeAndrew Rubin and led 13-0.

Philadelphia got on the board when Vena found Newton on a 12-yard scoring strike and trailed 13-7.  The Vigilantes went on to outscore the Soul 20-14 in the first quarter.

Dallas’ Defensive Player of the Game, Jason Harmon opened the second quarter scoring with a 26-yard interception return for a score and pushed the lead to 27-14 and took a 34-20 halftime lead.

All three of Morgan’s touchdown catches – 6, 27 and 29 yards respectively – came in the second half, but the Soul were outscored 24-21 in the second half.

Leading the Soul defensively were All-Arena candidate Darrell Campbell with two sacks and a forced fumble.  Rookie Chris Frank led the team with 8.5 total tackles and a fumble recovery, while Mike Brown added an interception.

The Soul return home to host the Cleveland Gladiators on July 8 at 8 p.m. in Wells Fargo Center.  The game will be shown on NFL Network.