2016 Arena Football League Playoffs Preview: Soul vs Storm (from PPL Center in Allentown, PA)

The Philadelphia Soul and Tampa Bay Storm will meet in the third of four playoff games, and the second of two American Conference playoff games, at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA on Sunday night.

This will be the third meeting between the two teams this season. In the first two meetings, the Soul came out with the win. The Storm, however, have kept it close with them in both meetings. In their first meeting back on May 9, the Storm got off to a 10-0 lead. In their second meeting on July 16, they fell behind early, but came back to make it an interesting game.

Fans can expect the same thing in this game. The Storm may have finished the season 2-14, but they do not play like a 2-14 team. They have two talented quarterbacks in Jason Boltus and Adam Kennedy, as well as the all-time leading receiver in T.T. Toliver.

Same can be said for the Soul. Quarterback Dan Raudabaugh is an MVP candidate, but he has had his struggles this season, throwing 18 interceptions.

Despite all of this, however, in the end, the Soul will come out with a win over the Storm. The offense will be too much for the Storm defense to handle, and the Soul defense will step up either all throughout the game or when it counts.

Sharks Stomp Storm 54-35

While the Jacksonville Sharks (7-9) didn’t have much to play for against the Tampa Bay Storm (2-14), there was still pride, stats, and a season sweep on the line. Jacksonville stepped up to the task, finishing the regular season with a 54-35 win on Saturday.

In what amounted to be the most inauspicious start to a game this season for Jacksonville, The Storm and Sharks started going toe-to-toe, with each team scoring on their first two drives. The only difference was Tommy Grady was comfortable in the pocket, while Jason Boltus, starting in lieu of Adam Kennedy, faced significant pressure from the Sharks defensive line. The first sign of Jacksonville’s weakness came on a kickoff.

Down 14-13 due to another Lindsey Wolfe missed extra point, linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson found himself returning the Tampa Bay kick. He did well getting the ball to near his own 20, but Tampa Bay defensive back Nick Addison stripped the ball, picked it up and ran in for a touchdown and a shock 21-13 lead to end the first quarter.

Being on their heels, the Sharks responded quickly, first with Grady finding Joe Hills (who was on a quest for both the single-season touchdown record and a 2,000-yard season) to pull within a point to start the second quarter, then with David Hyland breaking up a 4th-and-16 pass to give Jacksonville the ball on downs. While the ensuing drive started with a six-yard loss by Derrick Ross, the Storm gave a helping hand thanks to a current Shark and a former one. Roger “Spiderman” Jackson, seeing his first action in several weeks, caught a 17-yard pass on 3rd-and-16, then DE Jerry Turner committed a personal foul to cut the field in half. Hills scored from a yard out, and the lead was restored at 27-20.

The defense didn’t let up after the score, as Greg Reid and Keon Lyn prevented another 4th-and-long conversion, stopping Phillip Barnett at the one-yard line to give Jacksonville the ball yet again. The Sharks couldn’t take full advantage with 36 seconds left, and the lead at the half was a mere seven points.

Jacksonville finally pulled away in the second half, using a Keith Bowers/Jordan Miller combined sack and forcing two more incompletions for another fourth-down stop, then converting two fourth downs of their own before Tommy Grady found Tiger Jones on a 10-yard scoring pass to create a two-score lead.

It was the closest the Storm would get for the rest of the night, and the Sharks finally started to pull away after forcing another turnover on downs to start the fourth quarter. That stop led to a historic moment, as on that drive Hills caught a 19-yard pass to break the 2,000 receiving yard mark for the first time in his career, then caught the touchdown pass on the very next play.

While there was some fight left in Tampa Bay, Jacksonville earned one final turnover on downs to eliminate any hope of a late comeback in the last minute.

On offense, Grady had another good night, completing 21 of 34 attempts for 254 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions. Boltus also played an interception-free game, but only completing 17 of his 36 attempts for 231 yards and four scores.

Hills led all the way in his milestone night, recording game highs in catches (seven), yards (92), and scores (four, bringing him to 58 for the regular season, three shy of Damian Harrell‘s record). Jones wasn’t far behind with four catches for 88 yards and two scores, while Spiderman lured six balls into his web for 71 yards and two scores.

T.T. Toliver had a relatively quiet night by his standards, but still led his team with 84 yards and two scores on four catches. Former Shark Prechae Rodriguez had a team-high six catches (43 yards, TD), and Kendrick Ings finished with five catches for 67 yards and a score.

On defense, Bowers, Miller, Cornelius Lewis, and Neefy Moffett all paid for Boltus’ trips to Sacksonville, while Lyn was the only player to record double-digit tackles.

For Jacksonville, the second season now begins. Thanks to tonight’s results, next week the Sharks will look to repeat their path to the ArenaBowl, as they go on the road to face the Orlando Predators in the conference semifinals. Kickoff is set for Saturday, August 6 at 7:00 p.m., and the game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.

 

2016 Week 18 Preview: Sharks vs Storm

The Jacksonville Sharks and Tampa Bay Storm will face off in their season finale on Saturday evening. Both teams sit behind the Orlando Predators and Philadelphia Soul and await of the winner of that game to see where they will be playing in the playoffs.

Both teams have players who have made great strides. Sharks wide receiver Joe Hills has caught a touchdown pass in 67 consecutive games. For the Storm, wide receiver T.T. Toliver is the all-time leader in receptions, reception yards and all-purpose yards.

Hills has reached his milestone in part to his quarterback Tommy Grady. Grady has thrown for 4,241 yards and 86 touchdowns.

The Storm have played two quarterbacks over the course of the season. They started the season with Adam Kennedy under center, then moved to Jason Boltus. Boltus suffered an injury a few weeks ago and Kennedy took over again. Kennedy has led the Storm to their second win of the season and gave the Soul a challenge.

The Storm and Sharks played in Week 5. The Sharks scored the game-winning touchdown with three minutes left, and the defense held on for a 33-27 win. Based on the last game, the defense should be the factor in this game. Whichever defense steps up late in the game will lead their team to victory.

Storm Stop Steel’s Comeback, Hang On to Win 41-40

The Tampa Bay Storm hosted the Portland Steel at the Amalie Arena in Tampa on Saturday evening. The Storm were looking for their second win of the season while the Steel were looking for their second consecutive win for just the second time in franchise history.

The Storm got on the board first when Adam Kennedy, who started for the injured Jason Boltus, found V’Keon Lacey from nine yards out. The Storm needed two plays to score a touchdown when fullback Bryson Kelly ran it in from four yards out. The extra point was blocked and the Storm held a 7-6 lead. That would be the score after the first quarter.

After a penalty after a Kennedy interception gave the Storm the ball back, the Storm scored to start the second quarter when he found Prechae Rodriguez in the end zone. After the Steel fumbled the ensuing kickoff away, the Storm expanded their lead when Kennedy handed the ball off to Ings and he ran it into the end zone.

The Steel failed on a 4th and 13 inside their own five and the Storm took over with great field position. They would capitalize when Kennedy found a wide open Toliver in the end zone on the second play of the drive.

After a Shane Austin pass was intercepted in the end zone by Cameron McGlenn, the Storm failed to convert a fourth down. The Steel would score to close out the half, but the Storm still led 28-13.

The Steel would score with a Rashaad Carter touchdown to bring the score to 28-19. Each team would swap touchdowns, and the Storm led 35-26 at the end of the third quarter.

The Steel would make it a two point game when Austin found Nick Truesdell for a touchdown. Down by just one, the Steel forced an interception to get the ball with 3:52 left. On a 4th and 5, the Steel converted, but the catch was fumbled and Cortez Stubbs picked it up and returned it for a touchdown. After review, the call was overturned and the Steel kept the ball.

They would chew the clock and set themselves up for the game-winning field goal. The kick was blocked and the Storm won by a final score of 41-40. The Storm will travel to take on  the Jacksonville Sharks to close out their regular season next week. The Steel will close out their regular season in Portland against the Los Angeles KISS.