Soul Come Up Short, Fall Below .500 After Loss to Valor

Philadelphia Soul DB James Romain is one of just two players in the Arena Football League this season with four interceptions, with the latest coming in his team's 48-41 loss to the Washington Valor on Sunday, June 9, 2019, at the Wells Fargo Center. Romain is the only player in the AFL with multiple pick-sixes (3) (Matt Rappa/SportsTalkPhilly.com).

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

FINAL | Soul 41, Valor 48 | Attendance: 7,164 | Boxscore

The Philadelphia Soul (3-4) — hosting the second game of their season-long three-game home stand Sunday evening at the Wells Fargo Center — failed to revenged their 53-46 Week 4 road loss to the Washington Valor (4-3), as they fell for the second time this season to the the reigning champions, 48-41. The Soul have now lost four of their last five games; if the season ended after Week 7, the Soul would have the fourth and final playoff spot.

• Offensive Player of Game: Douglas McNeil III – Washington, 4 catches, 27 yards, 3 touchdowns
• Defensive Player of Game: James Romain - Philadelphia, 9 solo tackles, 1 interception
• Most Valuable Player of Game: Arvell Nelson – Washington, 18-28, 239 yards, 6 passing touchdowns, 14 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown

With the loss, the Soul's all-time record against the Valor now stands at 6-3. Soul QB Dan Raudabaugh completed just half of his 42 passing attempts, totaling 296 yards and five touchdown passes. Raudabaugh has now thrown at least five touchdowns touchdowns (36 total) in each of his six career games opposite the Valor.

Game Summary

The first three plays of the game resulted in either a fumble or interception, with the two last two plays resulting in turnovers. On the opening kickoff, Valor DB Jadar Johnson forced a fumble, however the ball flew into the stands to remain Soul ball. Then, QB Dan Raudabaugh completed a nine-yard pass to WR BJ Bunn, who fumbled through the efforts of LB Alvin Ray Jackson; DL Zack Bullock recovered.

On the Washington's very first play on offense, QB Arvell Nelson's pass in the end zone was intercepted by Soul DB James Romain, who was shaken up on the play. Romain's interception was his fourth this season; his first three all resulted in pick-sixes (Week 1 vs. Atlantic City, Week 6 vs. Destroyers).

The Soul ran right down the field, highlighted by Raudabaugh's 37-yard pass to WR Darius Prince. Three plays later, FB Adrian Ferns' 2-yard rushing touchdown, his fifth of the season, put the first points on the scoreboard. Ferns' touchdown was his first since Week 3 (vs. Albany Empire). He also had three rushing touchdowns in the season opener against the Blackjacks.

The Valor responded their next possession, with Nelson finding WR Douglas McNeil III in the end zone on a 5-yard pass; the Valor extra-point was no good (7-6 Soul lead).

A 10-play possession — that began with 6 minutes to go in the first and ended with 13 and change to go in the second — resulted in Raudabaugh's first passing touchdown, a 6-yard throw to Ferns to give the Soul a 14-6 lead after kicker Kenny Spencer's extra-point was goo. The score was Ferns' first career touchdown reception and 10th career touchdown overall; he had nine career rushing touchdowns prior, including his one earlier in the game.

The Valor needed one less play to shrink their deficit back to one; Nelson completed his second touchdown pass (3 yards) to McNeil III.

The Benji McDowell-led Valor failed their onside kick attempt, but ended up getting the ball back anyway. With the Soul threatening on the Valor 1-yard line, Raudabaugh fumbled and lost possession.   Washington added seven points off the turnover, as Nelson went on to complete a 8-yard touchdown pass to WR Reggie Gray (extra point good), his third passing touchdown of the contest.

Raudabaugh entered the half completing just seven of his 18 passing attempts for 116 yards. The Soul entered down 20-14; they trailed at the half in 9 of last 10 games. The Soul made up for their turnover near the end of the second, when DB Dwayne Hollis picked off the Valor's Nelson on the opening drive of the second half, his second interception of 2019 (both against Washington). Raudabaugh soon after completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR BJ Bunn, Bunn's third; he grabbed two touchdown catches — the first of his career — in the Soul's 47-35 Week 6 against the then-winless Columbus Destroyers. Spencer's extra-point kick was good giving the team a 21-20 lead.

The Valor and Soul then exchanged touchdowns; Nelson's fourth passing touchdown (8-yard pass to McNeil III), preceding Raudabaugh's third passing touchdown (3-yard pass to Bunn his fourth career receiving touchdown, with two in each of last two weeks). The Soul failed at their two-point conversion attempt.

The game was tied 27-27 after three quarters, but it did not stay that way for long. On the first play of the final frame, Nelson completed his fifth touchdown pass to McNeil III, his career-high-tying fourth of the game and team-leading 11th since returning from injury in Week 4. McNeil also posted four scores in the Valor's loss to the Albany Empire last weekend.

With just over 5 minutes to go, Raudabaugh completed his fourth passing touchdown of the game, 33rd of the season, and 767th of his career to Prince — marking Prince's 10 straight game dating back to the 2018 season with a score. His now-10-game scoring streak is the longest active such streak on the team.

The Valor retook the lead with just 2 minutes and change to go (Nelson 45-yard touchdown pass to Gray); but the Soul answered with a touchdown of their own (Raudabaugh 33-yard pass touchdown pass to Prince).  Nelson put matters into his own hands to record the game-winning score with a one-yard rushing touchdown; with the extra-point good, Washington took a 48-41 lead with 20 seconds to go.

The Soul could not put together a comeback; Raudabaugh threw an interception on the last play, sealing the Soul's loss to the Valor for the second time this season.

Stats

• First Downs: WSH 18, PHI 19
  • Rushing: WSH 1, PHI 2
  • Passing: WSH 14, PHI 16
• Net Yards Rushing: WSH 7, PHI 12
  • Rush Attempts: WSH 6, PHI 5
  • Average Per Rush: WSH 1.2, PHI 2.4
  • Rushing Touchdowns: WSH 1, PHI 1
• Net Yards Passing: WSH 239, PHI 288
  • Comp-Att-Int: WSH 18-28-2, PHI 21-42-1
  • Average per attempt: WSH 8.5, PHI 6.9
  • Average per completion: WSH 13.3, PHI 13.7
  • Passing Touchdowns: WSH 6, PHI 5
• Total Offensive Yards: WSH 246, PHI 300
  • Total Offensive Plays: WSH 34, PHI 48
  • Average Gain Per Play: WSH 7.2, PHI 6.2
• Fumbles (No-Lost): WSH 2-0, PHI 3-2
• Penalties (No-Yards): WSH 5-33, PHI 6-46
• Kickoffs-Yards: WSH 6-310, PHI 5-277
  • Average Yards Per Kickoff: WSH 51.7, PHI 55.4
  • Touchbacks: WSH 0, PHI 2
• Time of Possession: WSH 25:01, PHI 34:59
• Third Down Conversions: WSH 3/4, PHI 5/8
• Fourth Down Conversions: WSH 1/1, PHI 1/3
• Red-Zone Scores-Chances: WSH 6-6, PHI 5-6
• PAT Kicks: WSH 6-7, PHI 5-5
• Points Off Turnovers: WSH 7, PHI 14

Scoring Summary:

1st quarter

• PHI, 7-0 (10:39): FB Adrian Ferns 2-yard rush; K Kenny Spencer kick good.
• WSH 6-7 (8:40): QB Arvell Nelson 5-yard pass to WR Douglas McNeil III; K Pat Clarke extra-point no good.

2nd quarter

• PHI, 14-6 (14:05): QB Dan Raudabaugh 6-yard pass to FB Adrian Ferns; K Kenny Spencer kick good.
• WSH, 13-14 (7:42): QB Arvell Nelson 3-yard pass to WR Douglas McNeil III; K Pat Clarke extra-point good.
• WSH, 20-14 (2:14): QB Arvell Nelson 8-yard pass to WR Reggie Gray; K Pat Clarke extra-point good.

3rd quarter

• PHI, 21-20 (10:18): QB Dan Raudabaugh 2-yard pass to WR BJ Bunn; K Kenny Spencer kick good.
• WSH, 27-21 (7:24): QB Arvell Nelson 8-yard pass to WR Douglas McNeil III; K Pat Clarke extra-point good.
• PHI, 27-27 (2:16): QB Dan Raudabaugh 3-yard pass to WR BJ Bunn; 2-point conversion attempt no good.

4th quarter

• WSH, 34-27 (14:56): QB Arvell Nelson 10-yard pass to WR Douglas McNeil III; K Pat Clarke extra-point good.
• PHI, 34-34 (6:26): QB Dan Raudabaugh 8-yard pass to WR Darius Prince; K Kenny Spencer kick good.
• WSH, 41-34 (3:01): QB Arvell Nelson 45-yard pass to WR Reggie Gray; K Pat Clarke extra-point good.
• PHI, 41-41 (1:44): QB Dan Raudabaugh 33-yard pass to WR Darius Prince; K Kenny Spencer kick good.
• WSH, 48-41 (0:20): QB Arvell Nelson 1-yard rushing touchdown; K Pat Clarke extra-point good.

What's Next:

• Sunday, June 9, 2019: vs. Atlantic City Blackjacks, 4 p.m.
  • TV: NBCSP+, ESPN3; Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic