FB Derrick Ross leads the way tonight against the Sharks. Photo by contrastphotography.com

PHILADELPHIA EXTINGUISHES BLAZE, 69-39

Soul Extend Winning Streak to Six Games With Home Victory. The 2013 East Division Champion Philadelphia Soul (11-5) extended their winning streak streak to six games after defeating the Utah Blaze, 69-39, in front of 9,163 fans at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.

“Once again we played well in all three phases of the game,” explained Soul head coach Clint Dolezel after the win.  “There are still things that we can improve on as a team, one thing this team has is great team chemistry on and off the field and I think that’s helping us and a reason we’re on this little win streak here.”

Center Brennan Carvalho said the team was not going to get ahead of itself. “Our last two games are against solid opponents,” said Carvalho, referring to road games in San Jose and San Antonio before returning to the Wells Fargo Center for a first round playoff game August 3. “We are just going to keep playing hard. We’ve had some games on the road this year and we’ve played pretty good. We just have to keep doing that against a good opponent and be ready. We have some old heads on our team…we know what it takes.”

Russell Athletic Player of the Game Andrae Thurman led all Philadelphia receivers with nine receptions for 97 yards and three touchdowns.

Larry Brackins had two catches for 31yards and two touchdowns, while Tiger Jones added three catches for 26 yards. J. Lewis Playmaker of the Game Soul QB Dan Raudabaugh was efficient leading the offense on 16-of-23 passes for 174 yards and five touchdowns. His fourth touchdown pass – a 13-yard pass to Andrae Thurman – was his 300th of his career. On the ground, FB Derrick Ross rushed for 34 yards and three touchdowns.

Riddell Defensive Player of the Game DB Carlos Campbell led the defense with and 10.0 total tackles and three pass breakups, while DL Bryan Robinson had 8.0 total tackles and a sack on the night.

Utah’s QB Tom Grady connected on 23-of-40 passes for 232 yards along with four touchdowns.  WR Chase Deadder led the Blaze (5-11) receivers with 10 catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.  WR Mario Urrutia added six receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

The Soul outscored the Blaze in the first quarter, scoring on the ground with a 2-yard touchdown run by Thurman.  The Soul defense causes a fourth down turnover leading to FB Derrick Ross 3-yard touchdown run.

The Blaze scored on 1-yard run by Chase Deadder to close out the first quarter, 14-6. The Blaze forced a fumble to start the second quarter but a great defensive stand by the Soul caused a turnover on downs. The Soul respond with an 8-yard touchdown by Thurman for his second of the night.

The Blaze score their only touchdown of the quarter on a 1-yard run by FB Ben Stallings.  Philadelphia continued to add to their lead, scoring on a 2-yard rush by Ross for his second of the night, and an 18-yard catch by Brackins, keeping the Soul in the lead, 35-13 at the half.

Both teams scored two touchdowns in the third quarter.  The Soul opened up the third quarter with an 12-yard touchdown catch by Brackins for his second of the night and a 6-yard run by Ross.

The Blaze scored on an 6-yard catch by Deadder for his second of the night,  an 4-yard catch by TE Shannon Tevaga and with a successful two-point conversion to end the third quarter, the Soul lead 49-27.  The Soul scored on their opening drive in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard catch by Thurman.

Philadelphia quickly scored again on a 5-yard catch by TE Jason Jones.  The Blaze answered back with a 19-yard strike by WR Mario Urrutia followed by Thurman’s third touchdown catch of the night.

The Blaze ended the quarter with an 8-yard catch by Deadder.  Soul ran out the clock with the final score, 69-39.