Dallas gets demolished by Soul Posted on April 29th
Tonight’s game between the unbeaten Soul and Dallas Desperados was billed as a Broad Street Brawl.
Aside from a few minor instances of trash-talking, there wasn’t a brawl to be found at the Wachovia Spectrum.
The Soul’s defense halted the Desperados on their first three possessions. Their high-powered offense had no trouble capitalizing, and the Soul jumped to a 21-point lead on the way to a convincing 57-28 victory.
“I’m proud of our guys,” coach Bret Munsey said. “I’ve got a system here, and we play more man [coverage] than most. It’s just what we believe in. Those guys covered as well as they’ve covered all year.”
In the matchup between two unbeaten teams, the Soul (9-0) claimed sole possession of first place in the Arena Football League’s Eastern Division. The win also tied the Soul’s franchise mark for regular-season victories and ended the Desperados’ 15-game regular-season winning streak.
The Desperados (7-1) were supposed to be the team with the hyped defense, but it was the Soul who had the Big D in this one.
The Soul snared four interceptions, including three by Dallas resident Eddie Moten, and held the Desperados to their lowest-scoring output since they scored 30 against Arizona in 2002.
“It’s my hometown, and I just wanted to play good against those guys,” Moten said. “I guess I get a little extra pumped, a little extra motivated.”
Defensive back Mike Brown set the tone for the game, intercepting Dallas quarterback Clint Dolezel on the first play from scrimmage. He ran the ball back 26 yards, setting up a 7-yard touchdown scamper by quarterback Matt D’Orazio.
The Desperados then drove to the Soul’s 9-yard line, but Dolezel couldn’t connect with any of his receivers, firing three incompletions before defensive lineman Bryan Save sacked him on fourth down.
After a 17-yard touchdown by Larry Brackins gave the Soul a 14-0 lead, Dolezel went back to work. Again, he couldn’t find success. He ultimately found Moten, who intercepted him in the end zone.
The Desperados finally got on the board on their fourth drive on Dolezel’s 1-yard rush. But even that didn’t quite work out, as Brown scooped up a blocked PAT and ran it into the end zone to earn two points for the Soul.
By halftime, the Soul had distinguished themselves as the better of the unbeaten teams, owning a 37-13 lead.
“We know we were capable of putting one of those games together,” Moten said. “We hadn’t done it all season long. Perfect timing tonight.”
Moten snagged his second pick late in the third quarter on a Dallas third-and-goal opportunity. The interception marked the third time the Soul stopped the Desperados in the red zone. Any faint chance Dallas had of making a comeback died there.
For good measure, Moten picked off Dolezel again late in the fourth quarter.
“The bottom line is this is Week 9,” Munsey said. “Week 20, [if] we win, we can . . . celebrate a little bit more.”