vs.

March 16, 2007 1 2 3 4 F Philadelphia Soul 10 6 0 19 35 New York Dragons 0 21 17 10 48

by Stephen Edward
Brooklyn Sports Network

Uniondale, NY - The New York Dragons beat the winless Philadelphia Soul, withstanding a late Philly rally and hanging on to win 48-35. New York once again came out flat, failing to score in the first quarter.

But the Soul gave the lead away, scoring only six points in the second and third quarters.Philadelphia staged a desperate comeback attempt, scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter but New York effectively iced the game with 10 points of their own.

Philadelphia started the scoring with a first quarter field goal followed by a Tony Graziani to J.J. McKelvey touchdown pass that gave the Soul a 10-0 lead after one. New York answered with an Aaron Garcia to Mike Horacek touchdown pass to put the Dragons on the board.

Another Todd France field goal made the score 13-7 in favor of Philly before Nick Rogers plunged in from a yard out to give New York their first lead. France gave the lead back to the Soul with a long 53-yard field goal with 38 seconds before the half.

But excellent field position after the kickoff gave New York the opportunity to retake the lead and they didn't waste it. The short drive was capped off by Garcia's two yard pass to Horacek to give the Dragons a 21-16 lead at the half.

The Dragons took over in the third, scoring three times. First on a Garcia one-yard run, next on Jesse Obert's 53-yard field goal and finally on Geir Gudmundsen's three-yard fumble return just 28 seconds let in the quarter. The 38-16 lead would be more than enough, letting New York withstand Philly's fourth-quarter comeback attempt.

Graziani threw an eight-yard pass to Sean Scott giving the Soul some home even if the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. But Garcia responded with a touchdown pass of his own, to Maurice Brown, killing any realistic shot at a comeback.

Two more Graziani touchdown passes, both to Mike Brown, sandwiched around an Olbert field goal completed the late scoring and giving New York the 48-35 victory.

New York improves to 4-3 with the win while Philadelphia remains winless at 0-7.

Next Up: The Dragons play next Friday night, March 23rd against the Storm in Tampa Bay, FL.

Around the AFL: Week 8

THU 7:00PM ORL 34  (3-4) @ NO 41 (4-3)

FRI 8:00PM DAL (4-3) 54 @ TB (4-3) 36

FRI 9:00PM LV (2-5) 57 @ GEO (3-4) 50 OT

FRI 10:30PM LA (4-2) 50 @ COL (2-4) 58

SUN 12:00PM SJ (3-3) 52 @ GR (4-2) 30

SUN 3:00PM CHI (4-2) 45 @ ARZ (4-2) 28

SUN 4:00PM NSH (4-2) 37 @ KC (3-3) 40

SUN 6:00PM AUS (5-1) 52 @ CMB (3-3) 59

Philadelphia Soul 35 New York Dragons 48
1 2 3 4 T Final PHI (0-7) 10 6 0 19 35 NYD (4-3) 0 21 17 10 48	9:00 PM March 16, 2007 Nassau Coliseum, New York, NY

Team Stat Comparison   Total Offense 164 142 1st Downs 6 8 3rd Down Efficiency 1-6 5-11 4th Down Efficiency 1-1 2-2 Total Yards 284 209 Rushing Yards -7 9 Passing Yards 171 133 Turnovers 2 1 2-Point Conversion 0-2 0-0 Penalties 2-20 1-5 Possession Time 13:05 18:55 Scoring Summary 1st Quarter PHI-NY PHI 53y FG by France-6:31 03-00 PHI 8y pass Graziani to McKelvey (France Kick)-3:40 10-00 2nd Quarter NYD 2y pass Garcia to Hoarcek (Obert Kick)-7:29 10-07 PHI 34y FG by France-4:55 13-07 NYD 1y run by Rogers (Obert Kick) -2:33 13-14 PHI 53y FG by France-0:38 16-14 NYD 2y pass Garcia to Hoarcek (Obert Kick)-0:08 16-21 3rd Quarter NYD 1y run by Garcia (Obert Kick) -4:17 16-28 NYD 53y FG byObert-0:55 16-31 NYD 3y fum ret by Gudmundsen (Obert Kick)-0:28 16-38 4th Quarter PHI 8y pass Graziani to Scott (Conversion Failed)-6:38 22-38 NYD 7y pass Garcia to Brown (Obert Kick)-3:44 22-45 PHI 40y pass Graziani to Brown (Conversion Failed)-2:52 28-45 NYD 21y FG byObert-1:19 28-48 PHI 11y pass Graziani to Brown (France Kick)-0:28 35-48

Philadelphia Soul PASSING CP/A YDS TD INT T. Graziani 13/29 171 4 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD W. Ours 1 1 1.0 0 S. Scott 2 1 0.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD M. Brown 6 97 16.1 2 S. Scott 3 30 10.0 1 J. McKelvey 1 8 8.0 1 DEFENSE TKL SCK FF INT M. Brown 8 0 0 0 S. Scott 5 0 0 1/7 J. Ordway 4 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP LNG PTS T. France 3/4 2/2 54 11 New York Dragons PASSING CP/A YDS TD INT A. Garcia 16/32 136 3 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD N. Rogers 6 3 0.5 1 A. Garcia 3 4 1.3 1 M. Horacek 2 2 1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD M. Horacek 6 49 8.1 2 M. Brown 6 61 10.1 1 A. Estrada 2 19 9.5 0 K. Swayne 2 7 3.5 0 DEFENSE TKL SCK FF INT J. Rodriguez 4 0 0 0 M. Brown 4 0 0 0 G. Gudmundse' 2 0 1 0 W. Holder 2 0 0 1/19 D. Singfield 2 0 0 0 K. Jones 2 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP LNG PTS J. Obert 2/3 6/6 53 12