In a game where the Soul couldn't afford to resort back to their old bad habits, they did so and this time paid the price against a good Cleveland Gladiators squad. The Gladiators defeated the Soul 68-62 after so much hype was fed to the hometown fans leading them to believe that the Soul were going to walk all over the competition all season long. Tonight they got a first hand look at why this will not be the case.
The Gladiators came as advertised using their top ranked defense to stop the Soul from ever having a chance to win back a game that was close all the way through.
After QB Dan Raudabaugh threw a 1-yard TD pass to WR Larry Brackins to bring the Soul within six at 68-62, recently signed emergency K Connor Hughes attempted an onside kick. The Gladiators recovered it and an off-side penalty on the Soul put the ball on their own 5-yard line with 1 minute to play.
The Gladiators ran 7 plays to run out the clock and to stop the Soul's quick-strike offense from ever getting another chance to score. The Gladiators rushed 3 times, committed a delay-of-game penalty, and QB John Dutton threw 2 incomplete passes and the Soul committed back-to-back unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to extend the Gladiators drive.
The Soul were never able to stop the Gladiators from executing what they do well. The Gladiators easily won the time of possession battle by holding onto the football for 34:59 compared to the Soul's 25:01 possession time.
The Soul also still could not overcome their turnover woes by committing 3 turnovers (1 INT and 2 FL) and only forcing 1 Gladiators turnover. DB Kent Richardson notched his second INT of the season, a 47-yard INT return for the TD, but that was the defense's only real highlight.
The defense still hasn't played to their potential as Dutton threw all over the Soul's secondary. Dutton went 29 of 39 for 305 yards and 9 TD's and spread the ball around quite well as WR Dominic Goodman and WR Robert Redd both collected 11 receptions for 121 and 102 yards respectively.
The usually inept Gladiators offense had a field day against a defensive unit whose supposed strength was at in the secondary.
The Soul's offense performed well as usual with QB Dan Raudabaugh connecting on 21 of 29 passes for 265 yards and 6 TD's. WR Tiger Jones led all receivers with 141 yards on 8 receptions for 2 TD's and WR/KR Jeff Hughley added 6 receptions for 91 yards and 1 TD.
The Soul's leading receiver coming into tonight's game, WR Donovan Morgan, was held to a season low 3 receptions for just 15 yards and 2 TD's. He's was the team's leading rusher in terms of yards, but never got the opportunity to rush the ball. Morgan needed to be an integral part of the Soul's game plan if they wanted to ensure an easier path to victory. Neither things happened and the Soul couldn't overcome their mistakes against a well disciplined Gladiators squad.
Hughley added a 55-yard TD kickoff return late in the 1st quarter to his already impressive 2012 campaign. He proved his worth yet again in such a tight game, but his contributions to the kick return game wasn't nearly enough for the Soul.
The Soul are now in a three-way tie for 1st place in the East with the Gladiators and Mustangs all sitting at 2-1 now. The Soul head back out on the road next week to face the Georgia Force on Saturday night.
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