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Soul Hold On For 1st Arena Crown

The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 28, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - Matt D'Orazio threw seven touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead the Philadelphia Soul to their first ArenaBowl victory, beating defending AFL champion San Jose 59-56 on Sunday.

Philadelphia scored on all six of its first-half possessions and took the lead for good with three consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter, then survived a frantic San Jose rally in the final minute to hold on in the 22nd ArenaBowl.

D'Orazio, the Arena League MVP in the regular season, hooked up for three scores with wide receiver Chris Jackson, the offensive player of the game. Jackson finished with 146 yards on 11 catches and D'Orazio threw for 302 yards.

D'Orazio, brought in as a backup, replaced injured starter Tony Graziani in the third game of the regular season and threw 72 TDs with only four interceptions the rest of the way.

"I just really wanted to have fun and keep a smile on my face the whole game and enjoy this," D'Orazio said. "Not everyone gets to do this, and I did."

The Soul finished with the best record in the league (13-3) behind D'Orazio.

San Jose, which hoped to become the first repeat champion since Tampa Bay in 1995-96, lost for the first time in four Arena Bowl appearances.

"Absolutely this stings," San Jose coach Darren Arbet said. "We came here expecting to win the game."

San Jose scored TDs on its first three series, but Philadelphia made two key stops to turn a 20-14 deficit into a 34-20 advantage.

The Soul appeared to be in total control when Phil Bogle caught a touchdown pass to make the score 59-42 with 39 seconds left, but San Jose made the last half-minute interesting, scoring 16 points in 11 seconds with the help of a onside kick.

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Soul Hold On For 1st Arena Crown