The Soul and Gladiators, both Eastern Division rivals, split a pair of meetings this regular season. The Soul won the most recent meeting, 62-61, in Philadelphia in Week 16. The Gladiators had earlier downed the Soul 67-55 in Week 10, ending the Soul's perfect season in the process.
This is the first Conference Championship Game for both teams. Philadelphia enters the game after finishing the regular season with an AFL-best 13-3 record. The Soul edged the New York Dragons 49-48 in the Divisional Round last week. Cleveland, playing on short rest, defeated the Georgia Force 73-70, on Monday night.
The Soul is led by WR Chris Jackson, who finished the regular season second for lifetime receiving touchdowns with 318, second for lifetime receiving yards with 13,229, and is tied with Barry Wagner for second in receptions with 991. This season, Jackson tallied 140 receptions for 1,719 yards and 50 touchdowns.
Soul QB Matt D'Orazio was voted Player of the Year by the Arena Football Writers Association on Wednesday. D'Orazio led the league in passer rating (131.3) and completion percentage (72.4). He also ended the season throwing for 3,331 yards, 72 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions for the Soul.
WHO: Philadelphia Soul vs. Cleveland Gladiators
WHERE: Wachovia Center
WHEN: Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 1 p.m. (et)
TV: ESPN (Live)
RADIO: Highlight clips can be attained from 950 ESPN (WPEN).
PHOTOS: Photos for all Soul games can be found through Getty Images after the game is over.
INTERNET
FOOTAGE: Can be attained through Phoenix Communications at no cost.
FTP SITE - ftp://phoenix@66.9.143.221
user: phoenix password: phoenix1. (don't forget the period)
FOLDER-Arena Football 2008 Season
Click---Weekly Highlights Folder
Click---Conference Championship
CONTACT: Greg Wiley, Director of Communications, 215-636-0421 x. 176
gwiley@philadelphiasoul.com
The Soul are celebrating their fifth anniversary this season. Following last season, the Soul were recognized with the Commissioner's Award as the Organization of the Year and were an honorable mention for the PRISM Award in the category of fan appreciation. The Soul have drawn a total of 131,817 fans this season, their largest number since their inaugural season of 2004. The Soul sold out four games in the 2008 season and averaged a crowd of 16,477 fans per game. Since their inception, the Soul have drawn a total of 646,043 fans, the most in the AFL over that time frame. Tickets for the National Conference Championship game are now on sale. For more ticket information call (888) PHIL-AFL or log on to www.philadelphiasoul.com.
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