AFL Game of the Week: Desperados at Soul
It's back!!! I finally decided to write another "AFL Game of the Week" article, mainly because I witnessed a "Battle of the Undefeateds" last night. Usually when two undefeated teams meet, we see a shootout. But, last night proved different. The 8-0 Philadelphia Soul hosted the 7-0 Dallas Desperados, and ended up being a lop-sided blowout. Philadelphia took control early, and never looked back, cruising to a 57-28 victory to improve to 9-0 on the season.
With Soul QB, Tony Graziani, sitting out with an injury (again!!!), backup QB Matt D'Orazio, the former Chicago Rush star, took control of the game. D'Orazio threw 6 TD's (with just 1 INT), and ran for two more. D'Orazio ran for his first TD just 3 minutes into the game, and the Connor Hughes extra point made it a 7-0 ballgame. Philly's defense held Dallas scoreless for a quarter and a half, until Dallas finally scored with 4:51 remaining in the half on a Clint Dolezel 1-yard run. Dallas Kicker Remy Hamilton's extra point attempt was blocked by Philly's iron man, Mike Brown, which gave Philly a 23-6 lead. D'Orazio threw for his 3rd passing TD of the game with under a minute to go in the half. The pass went to Phil Bogle for 3 yards, Hughes' XP made it a 30-6 game. But, Dallas came right back out and on the 5th play of the drive Dolezel ran for a second TD from 2-yards out, 30-13 Philly. Philly did the same thing, scoring on 4 plays, capping the drive off with a 17-yard pass from D'Orazio to Larry Brackins, Hughes makes the XP.
37-13 Philly at Halftime
Backup QB, Matt D'Orazio, led the 9-0 Soul to a big victory last night using his arm, and legs
Compared to the second quarter, the 3rd quarter was relatively quiet. It seemed as though Dallas QB Clint Dolezel was going to lead them to a comeback after a 22-yard TD pass to Will Pettis just 2 minutes into the quarter. Dallas found themselves just 17 points behind after the Hamilton XP attempt split the uprights. But, once again, D'Orazio and Co. crushed their hopes with a 17-yard TD pass to Chris Jackson just 4 minutes later (XP failed). That TD pass capped the third QTR scoring. The following drive for Dallas ended on a bad note. Third and goal from the Philly 3-yard line, and Dolezel gets picked off by Philly DB Eddie Moten.
After the INT, D'Orazio leads Philly on yet another scoring drive, which was capped by D'Orazio's second, and final rushing TD. Hughes' XP makes it a 30-point game (50-20). But, give Dolezel credit for not giving up. With just over 11 minutes left, Dolezel completed a 25-yard pass for a TD to Iron-man Will Pettis (2-point conversion succeeded on a pass to Marcus Nash). Though D'Orazio later put the game out of reach with 12-yard TD pass to Larry Brackins (Brackins' 3rd TD catch of the game). Philly's D held the now 7-1 Desperados scoreless for the remaining 9 minutes.
Final
Soul (8-0) 57
Desperados (7-1) 28
Player of the Game:
Matt D'Orazio (Philly QB)- 20/29, 194 Yards, 6 TD, 1 INT (2 rushing TD's)
Who needs Tony Graziani when you've got Matt D'Orazio??? This could be the best offseason move, Philly picked D'Orazio up from the Chicago Rush over the offseason.
Stay Tuned: I may decide to write an "AFL Game of the Week" article next week. It all depends on what I feel like doing.
Week 10 Matchups:
Friday, May 2nd
Philly (9-0) at Cleveland (4-4)
Grand Rapids (3-5) at Colorado (3-5)
Saturday, May 3rd
New Orleans (7-2) at Georgia (3-5)
Dallas (7-1) at Columbus (2-6)
San Jose (5-4) at Orlando (6-3) (Game of the Week)
Kansas City (1-7) at Utah (0-9)
Arizona (4-4) at Los Angeles (3-6)
Monday, May 4th
Chicago (7-2) at Tampa Bay (3-5)
Ew!! Most of the week 10 matchups are very lop-sided. Philadelphia is the only remaining undefeated team now. Can the 4-4 Cleveland Gladiators knock them off their thrown??? Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see, won't we?