Desperados foil late surge by Soul
With 53 seconds left, the Soul closed the gap to 59-56, but couldn't seal the deal against Dallas.
Four times in the second half last night, the Soul pulled to within four points of the Dallas Desperados and appeared to be gaining momentum.
Each time, however, Dallas answered with a score. And at the end, the Desperados held on for a 59-56 Arena Football League win in front of a crowd of 15,853 at the Wachovia Spectrum. With a concert taking place at the Wachovia Center, the Soul's game was moved across the parking lot.
The Soul scored their last touchdown, and added a two-point conversion, with 53 seconds remaining.
"We couldn't get that break that we needed," said Soul coach Bret Munsey, whose team is 6-7.
It was the fifth win in a row for AFL Eastern Division champion Dallas (12-1), which has clinched a playoff berth. With last night beginning the last four weeks of the regular season, all 19 Arena League teams remained alive for a berth in the postseason.
After trailing by 11 points at the break, the Soul were down by just 31-27 with 10 minutes, 27 seconds to play in the third quarter. And after quarterback Tony Graziani hit Mike Brown for the receiver's first touchdown catch of the season, Dallas' edge was trimmed to 38-34 with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period.
It was 45-41 before Andrae Thurman took a quick pitch and went the length of the field to give Dallas a 52-41 advantage with 12 minutes left in the game.
"They found a way - like a 12-1 team - to score," Munsey said. "Our offense played well, but our defense needs a little work."
When the Soul and the Desperados met in Dallas on April 16, the hosts came out with a 51-41 victory. During that game, Graziani suffered a sprained left shoulder that kept him out for four games, all of which turned out to be losses for the Soul.
The team won its first two outings with Graziani back in the lineup. Last night, the quarterback plunged 1 yard for the Soul's first touchdown, and threw two passes for scores before intermission. He also was intercepted twice.
Dallas was up, 14-6, after leading by 7-0 and 7-6. The visitors were ahead, 14-13, at the end of the first period, 31-20 at halftime.
Desperados quarterback Clint Dolezel had four touchdown passes during the first two periods, and seven for the game.
Graziani ended up with five TD tosses.