No Soul For Dragons
by: Brian Bohl | Senior Writer - NY Sports Day | Monday, April 2, 2007
UNIONDALE, NY — In his previous stint as LSU’s quarterback, Rohan Davey might have seen the school name the athletic complex in his honor if he threw eight touchdowns for 375 yards in a single game.
Those video game-like numbers are more common in Arena Football League, though Davey, who backed up Tom Brady on the Patriots, compiled those gaudy statistics against the undefeated Soul yesterday afternoon. But the AFL rookie was in no mood to celebrate after fumbling three times in the pocket, contributing to five Dragons turnovers overall that was the difference in a 65-60 loss to Philadelphia at Nassau Coliseum.
After failing to score in double figures during the home opener against Dallas, the Dragons heard some early groans from the 8,729 when Bryan Save forced a fumble that Felipe Claybrooks recovered and ran in for a six-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. That set the stage for Philadelphia’s first 4-0 start in franchise history, while the Dragons dropped to 1-3. That lone victory came against winless Tampa Bay.
Dwayne Missouri and Save each added a sack, while Davey lost two fumbles that led to 14 Soul points. In the 16-game season, the Dragons already are falling behind in a division that features a surging Philadelphia squad and 5-0 Dallas.
“It ain’t an adjustment to anything. It’s me turning the ball over,” said Davey, who finished 25-35 with two interceptions in just his third start in the league. “It’s me not having ball security, not having two hands on the ball, relaxing in the pocket. When the play is not there, I need to throw the ball away.”
Tony Graziani, the reigning Offensive Player of the Week after throwing nine touchdowns against no picks last week, picked up where left off for the Soul. He completed touchdown passes to Larry Brackin and Sean Scott as the Soul set a new team record for most points in the first half, jumping out to a 44-28 halftime lead. Graziani finished 24-41 with six touchdowns on 297 yards.
Eddie Moten contributed to that accomplishment by turning in a play that could make most end-of-season highlight films. The defensive back intercepted Davey’s high-arching passing intended for Mike Horacek in the endzone with 9:12 remaining in the second quarter.
As Horacek fell to the turf, Moten stopped for a few seconds as he came down on his feet near the sideboards. The play continued, and Moten broke away from Horacek’s grasp before darting across the entire length of the field for a 50-yard return for a touchdown that made it 34-14 and silenced the crowd.
“When I looked up, the ball was already past me,” Horacek said. “I was just some miscommunication. Just being on the same page, it was more circumstance than anything.”
Horacek and Kevin Swayne helped Davey with a comeback attempt, as both wide outs caught three touchdowns and combined for 21 catches for over 300 yards. Chris Anthony contributed a couple of touchdown receptions while Horacek led all receivers with 188 yards and 11 catches.
“Philadelphia’s a good team, but if we had five turnovers and lost by five,” Horacek said. “If we don’t turn the ball over, we beat these guys by 35 points. You can see what type of team we have. It’s just a matter of shoring up mistakes, which we will do.
“We’re going to make the playoffs, no doubt about that,” he added. “Being 1-3, with 12 games to go, there’s no panic button there. There’s no panic here. We’re more talented than we are last year. We just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Anthony’s 12-yard touchdown catch with 23.2 seconds left cut a 17-point deficit to five In just 35 seconds. Down 65-48 in the final minute, Davey found Swayne on a five-yard touch pass. Coach Weylan Harding elected to go with a two-point conversion try, which failed. After a defensive stop, Anthony added his second score of the game by clutching a 23 yard strike.
Another two-point conversion failed, though two extra points on the last two touchdowns could have made it a three-point game. The strategy became moot after Philadelphia’s Raheem Orr recovered the Carter Warley’s onside-kick attempt to secure the victory.
Charles Pauley, the Ironman of the Game, returned Warley’s kickoff 57 yards for a touchdown immediately after Ja’Mar Toombs’ rushing touchdown cut Philadelphia’s lead down to 10 with just over five minutes left in the fourth. Pauley, who also caught eight passes for two touchdowns, prevented the Dragons from holding on to any momentum.
It seemed every time the Dragons scored, the Soul responded. Pauley caught lob pass in the endzone for 41-21 lead heading into halftime, while Brackins answered a Swayne touchdown late in the third quarter with a 34-yard scoring play of his own on the ensuing drive.
In all, Scott, Pauley and Brackins each contributed two touchdowns, though the Dragons defensive effort was an improvement from the season opener. Harding saw his unit drop an ugly 60-7 decision in a nationally televised game, but the coach said he is seeing improvement.
“We have to take care of the football,” Harding said. “You can’t survive not taking care of the ball the way we did. I still feel like we have something special in that locker room. Once they realize and get a true sense of themselves and stop fighting each other, we’ll show what we’re really about.”
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