Soul falls to Predators, 53-46

ORLANDO - The Orlando Predators fan sitting above the Philadelphia Soul's bench wasn't showing any southern hospitality.

"Hey, Vena, thanks for the interception," the fan taunted Soul quarterback Ryan Vena. "You're our best player. I'll buy you a drink after the game."

Despite flashes of brilliance, Vena's debut as Soul quarterback will be remembered for two second-half interceptions that allowed Orlando to take a 53-46 victory before an announced Amway Center crowd of 11,789.

Vena finished the night with 246 yards passing and four touchdown passes in addition to two first-half rushing scores, but those picks helped send the Soul (1-3) to a third straight loss.

"He played inspired, but we lost the football game," Soul coach Mike Hohensee said. "We still made the mistakes we've been making."

For the second straight game, Philadelphia saw an early lead fade. The Soul were up by 27-12 midway through the second quarter and appeared to be on the verge of putting Orlando (3-1) away.

But a pick of Vena on the opening possession of the second half helped Orlando pull within a score. In the fourth quarter, a touch pass landed in the arms of Orlando linebacker Paul Griffin, and the Predators took a 45-40 lead on Nick Hill's 6-yard pass to Bobby Sippio with 2 minutes, 40 seconds remaining.

"We went back to the things that have cost us games," Hohensee said. "We didn't take care of the ball, and we gave [Orlando] extra possessions."

Vena's third touchdown pass to Donovan Morgan gave the Soul a 46-45 lead with 44 seconds left, but Orlando answered with James Lynch's 3-yarder with 18 seconds remaining. A Vena desperation heave to Morgan in the end zone on the final play fell incomplete.

Morgan finished with seven catches for 156 yards.

Vena started strong, lumbering 32 yards for a score on the opening drive and needing just 14 first-half plays to register three touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Soul defense forced Orlando to exert the maximum effort to keep pace. Defensive pressure kept Orlando's Nick Hill both off-balance and reliant on underneath passes. And Orlando's 0 for 3 on extra-point attempts also helped.

Then there was a bizarre play, which always seems to happen in Orlando.

After Vera's second scoring run gave the Soul a 21-12 lead, Hill overthrew Robert Quiroga on the far side. The ball went into the third row, where it appeared a fan touched it before it trickled off Quiroga's back into the hands of Tanner Varner, who ran it back 36 yards.

Officials ruled no fan contact was made, so the score stood, and the Soul had a 27-12 lead with 9:13 remaining in the first half.

Philadelphia settled for a 27-18 halftime lead after what would have been Varner's second pick-six was called back on a roughing-the-passer call.

Hill finished with 309 yards and six touchdown passes for Orlando. Sippio (nine catches for 105 yards) caught four and T.T. Toliver (13 for 131) had three.