Week 14 AFL Matchups: The Road to ArenaBowl XXX Heats Up as Soul Visit Brigade, Gladiators Host Storm

July 7,2017

Soul look to stay undefeated and chase AFL history, Gladiators host Storm as they jockey for playoff positioning

LAS VEGAS – The Philadelphia Soul (10-0) travel to take on the Baltimore Brigade (3-6),  Saturday, July 8 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Royal Farms Arena LIVE on CBS Sports Network. The Soul are on a roll winning 17 consecutive games dating back to last season including their ArenaBowl XXIX victory. A win Saturday would equal them two Arena Football League records, most consecutive wins – including playoffs (2013-14 Arizona Rattlers - 18) and most consecutive regular season wins (2000-01 San Jose SaberCats – 15). In their way, the Baltimore Brigade. The Brigade have enjoyed home cooking to the tune of a 2-1 record in games played at Royal Farms Arena. In their last contest against the Soul on May 13, the Brigade were :33 seconds from victory before a Philadelphia fumble return for touchdown put an end to that bid.  

The Tampa Bay Storm (8-2) head north to take on the Cleveland Gladiators (3-8),  Saturday, July 8 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Quicken Loans Arena streaming on AFLNow and Twitter. The Storm locked up a first-round playoff contest at home with a victory last weekend against the Washington Valor. The Gladiators are looking to position themselves in AFL Playoff seeding as they are currently two games behind Baltimore in the loss column. Both teams feature quarterbacks with an arsenal of weapons. Tampa Bay’s Randy Hippeard is tied for the league lead in touchdown tosses (62) and leads all quarterbacks with 2,739 passing yards. Cleveland’s Arvell Nelson is second in the AFL with 2,505 yards passing, 192 completions and leads the league in rushing with 197 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. In the teams’ previous two contests, the Storm were victorious by a combined margin of six points. The last game yielding a one-point Storm win, 62-61, as Hippeard rushed for a one-yard game-winning touchdown with :03 seconds remaining.

For complete official statistics, game notes and media guides, go to:  www.afldigital.com .

WEEK 14 MATCHUPS

PHILADELPHIA SOUL (10-0) at BALTIMORE BRIGADE (3-6)
Saturday, July 8 – 7:00 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
	PHILADELPHIA	BALTIMORE
REG. SEASON SERIES LEADER	PHI leads regular season series 2-0
STREAKS	W10	W1
LAST WEEK	Bye	Bye
LAST REG SEASON MEETING	5/13/17, BAL 56 at PHI 61
TOTAL OFFENSE (RANK)	248.5 (5)	270.9 (3)
TOTAL DEFENSE (RANK)	280.7 (4)	278.9 (3)
POINTS SCORED (RANK)	59.6 (1)	48.0 (4)
POINTS ALLOWED (RANK)	45.1 (1)	55.4 (5)
TURNOVER MARGIN (RANK)	+15 (1)	-11 (5)
PASSING	Raudabaugh 177/278/2316, 62 TD, 7 INT	Carden 196/300/2413, 48 TD, 11 INT
RUSHING	Benson 77/178, 16 TD	Carden 24/52, 6 TD
RECEIVING	Reynolds 60/876, 28 TD	Talley 41/692, 14 TD
TACKLES	Romain 57.5 (56/3)	Victorian 41.5 (41/1)
SACKS	Bell 8.0	Smith 7.0
INTERCEPTIONS	Romain, Hollis, Goosby - 4	Victorian 3
KICKING	Trevino 75/82 PAT, 1/3 FG	Clarke 48/56 PAT, 2-3 FG
KICKOFF RETURNS	Duvalt 36/653, TD	B. Thompkins 14/280

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: SOUL:  QB Dan Raudabaugh is tied for the league lead with 62 passing touchdowns… Has played in 118 consecutive games, the longest current streak… Has won 14 consecutive games as a starting quarterback, one shy of tying the AFL all-time record (Erik Meyer, 2014-15)… In two games vs BAL this season, has completed 39-of-70 passes for 475 yards, 13 TD’s and an INT…  FB Mykel Bensonleads the AFL with 16 rushing touchdowns… Is second in the AFL with 178 rushing yards… Has 103 rushing touchdowns in his career and is tied for 3rd in AFL History (Andre Bowden)… In three games vs BAL in 2017, he has carried the ball 13 times for 52 yards and three TD’s…  WR Darius Reynolds leads the league in scoring with 180 points… Leads the AFL with 28 touchdown receptions, third in the AFL with 876 receiving yards and sixth in the AFL with 60 receptions… Caught 13 passes for 147 yards and three TD’s in two games vs BAL in 2017…  WR Ryan McDaniel is seventh in the AFL with 57 receptions and tied for fourth in the league with 16 receiving touchdowns… Is the Soul’s all-time leader in receptions with 402… Has caught 15 passes for 209 yards and eight TD’s vs BAL this season…  DB James Romain leads the AFL with 57.5 tackles… Tied for the league lead with four INT’s…  DL Beau Bell leads the AFL with 8.0 sacks this season…  BRIGADE:  QB Shane Carden is second in the AFL with 268.1 passing yards per contest and second in the league with 2,413 passing yards… In two games vs PHI this season, has completed 41-of-66 passes for 549 yards, 10 TD’s and three INT’s…  WR Julian Talley has caught 41 passes for 692 (6th in the AFL) and a team-high 14 touchdowns (8th in the AFL) this season… He leads the league in yards per catch, 16.9… Against PHI he has 14 receptions for 235 yards and four TD’s in 2017…  WR Paul Browning has 41 receptions for 420 yards and seven touchdowns…  WR Reggie Gray is third on the team with 39 receptions for 420 yards and eight TD’s this season… Coming back from injury, he had nine receptions for 111 yards and three TD’s vs WSH two weeks ago…  WR Brandon Thompkins has 15 receptions for 230 yards and three TD’s in three games with the Brigade this season… He also returned 14 kickoffs for 280 yards as he assumes duties off the net for BAL…  DL Khreem Smith is second in the AFL with 7.0 sacks this season…  K Pat Clarke has converted 48-of-56 PAT attempts this season (2nd in the AFL)… Made 2-of-3 FG’s.

TAMPA BAY STORM (8-2) at CLEVELAND GLADIATORS (3-8)
Saturday, July 8 at 7:00 p.m. ET (Streaming on AFLNow and Twitter)
	TAMPA BAY	CLEVELAND
REG. SEASON SERIES LEADER	CLE leads the regular season 8-6
STREAKS	W1	L1
LAST WEEK	W, 55-51 vs WSH	Bye
LAST REG SEASON MEETING	4/22/17 CLE 62 at TB 61
TOTAL OFFENSE (RANK)	284.5 (2)	300.2 (1)
TOTAL DEFENSE (RANK)	287.7 (5)	266.4 (2)
POINTS SCORED (RANK)	51.7 (2)	51.5 (3)
POINTS ALLOWED (RANK)	49.7 (2)	53.7 (4)
TURNOVER MARGIN (RANK)	+4 (2)	-2 (3)
PASSING	Hippeard 259/378/2739, 62 TD, 6 INT	Nelson 197/306/2505, 50 TD, 10 INT
RUSHING	Hippeard 36/116, 6 TD	Nelson 40/197, 10 TD
RECEIVING	Hills 95/999, 27 TD	Sims 79/1071, 24 TD
TACKLES	A.R. Jackson 44.0 (38/12)	Moore 41.0 (36/10)
SACKS	Mo. Lewis and D. Jackson 4.0	Seither 5.5
INTERCEPTIONS	Five tied with 1	Four tied with 3
KICKING	Ma. Lewis 45/62 PAT	Basil 15/15 PAT
KICKOFF RETURNS	Ings 40/824, 2 TD	Thompkins 25/524, 2 TD

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: STORM:  QB Randy Hippeard is tied for the AFL lead with 62 passing touchdowns… Leads the league with 273.9 passing yards per contest, 2,739 yards, 259 completions and completion percentage 68.5%… Completed 59-of-78 passes for 592 yards, 13 TD’s and an INT against CLE in two games this season…  WR Joe Hills leads the league with 95 receptions… Is second in the AFL with 999 receiving yards, 27 touchdowns and 111.0 receiving yards per game… Has caught 22 passes for 194 yards and seven TD’s vs CLE in 2017, including 15/141/4 on 4/22…  Has caught a receiving TD in 77 consecutive games, one game shy of the AFL Record (Damian Harrell)…   WR Kendrick Ings is third in the AFL with 74 receptions and fourth in the league with 16 receiving touchdowns and 812 receiving yards… The reigning AFL Offensive Player of the Week, leads the league in all-purpose yards with 1,651, including 824 yards via kickoff return…  WR Lamark Brown 61 receptions (T-4 in the AFL) and 660 reception yards (7th) in 2017… 13 touchdown catches (9th)…  DB LaRoche Jackson leads in the league with 6.3 tackles per game (31.5 total)…

GLADIATORS:  QB Arvell Nelson is 2nd in the AFL with 2,505 passing yards and 197 completions… Leads the league in rushing with 197 yards and 2nd in the league with 10 rushing touchdowns… In one game vs TB this season (4/22) he has completed 26-of-35 passes for 358 yards, seven TD’s and rushed for 13 yards with a score…  WR Quentin Sims leads the league with 1,071 receiving yards and is 2nd in the AFL with 79 receptions… Is 2nd in the league with 1,071 all-purpose yards… Is 3rd in the AFL with 24 touchdown receptions and points scored with 162… In one game vs TB this season, had 14 receptions for 205 yards and five TD’s…  WR Michael Preston has caught 57 passes for 597 yards and 11 TD’s in 2017… Caught six passes for 68 yards and two scores against TB on 4/22…   WR Collin Taylor has caught 33 passes for 503 yards and eight touchdowns… Is 2nd in the AFL in yards per reception (15.2)… Has caught 10 passes for 147 yards and two TD’s vs TB this season…  DB Kenny Veal after being named the Week 11 AFL Defensive Player of the Week, he has intercepted three passes in his last two games… He intercepted PHI QB Dan Raudabaugh on back-to-back passes in Week 12, which included a pick-six.