By Barbara Mason 4/14/08
Bay Area Sports/Raiderdrive.com

The San Jose SaberCats came into HP Pavilion Saturday night following a miserable drubbing last week at the hands of the New Orleans VooDoo.  It was the second time this season that the team was absolutely blitzed, something this team is hardly used too. In this seventh game of the season, San Jose took on the undefeated Philadelphia Soul who coming into this game was having their best start in franchise history with an undefeated record of 6-0. 

Whether it was the fact that the team was back home or whether they were just tired of coming up short, San Jose came into this game like a house on fire.  They were all over Soul quarterback Matt D’Orazio from the first snap.  The SaberCat defense became his worst nightmare causing 2 turnovers in the first quarter.  San Jose quarterback Mark Grieb found Rodney Wright for a 10-yard strike and James Roe for a 7-yard pass his first two touchdowns of the game.  Frank Carter blasted into the end zone on a 1-yard run and the SaberCats had a 20-0 lead as the first quarter came to an end. 

The nightmare for D’Orazio continued into the second quarter as the San Jose onslaught was giving Philadelphia all they could handle. The SaberCats were playing with an unbridled abandon.  That’s not to say they were reckless in any way, quite the contrary.  The team’s defense was constant, quick, and penetrating while the offense was precise with Grieb right on the money practically every down.  The teams took to the locker rooms at the half with San Jose leading 33-14.  The Soul seemed to somewhat revive itself as the half came to an end and the second half promised to be a whole lot different than the opening half.  San Jose would have to keep the pressure on and cash in on every possession if they were to hold on.

Less than a minute into the 3^rd quarter, Philadelphia scored on a 17-yard pass drawing ever-closer 33-21.  For the second time in the evening, special teams Trestin George had a spectacular return for 44 yards (he had a 53 yard return in the first half) setting up another San Jose score, Grieb to Roe extending their lead to 40-21.   All it took was a Philadelphia score and an unfortunate pick in the end zone and the Soul were back in business only trailing 40-28 and the SaberCats were fighting to retain the lead. 

As the 4^th quarter got underway, it became clear that the SaberCats would have to fight for this one right down to the final play.  The Soul pulled within 5 points of the lead in the next series, 40-35.

  San Jose had let a substantial lead slip away and with 12:37 left in the game had to get back the momentum that had driven their success in the first half.  Philadelphia had completely doused the fire that San Jose had come into the game with.  When it seemed that everything had turned in favor of the Soul the SaberCats came fighting back with a circus catch by Cleannord Saintil for a 47-35 lead.  With 7:04 left in the game crunch time took on new meaning.   Philadelphia came storming back with a 57-yard romp on the very next kickoff and the score was 47-42.  San Jose’s next drive culminated with a 34-yard field goal by A.J. Haglund and with 1:45 left in the game the SaberCats led by the score of 50-42.  Philadelphia took it to the house and successfully went for two points and the game stood dead even 50-50 with 60 ticks left in the game.  Eleven seconds later, San Jose was in the end zone taking back the lead 57-50.  The Soul was not finished and not only came back with the touchdown but also successfully converted the two-point attempt and for the first time in the game led 58-57.  With ten seconds left on the clock

Mark Grieb skillfully threw two sideline passes to not only stop the clock but also to get A.J. Haglund as close as possible for the field goal attempt.  The 48-yd kick was not meant to be and San Jose dropped to 3-4 and Philadelphia went home with their perfect record intact 7-0.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the San Jose SaberCats.  “That was devastating,” said Director of Media Relations Phil Simon.  “They (Philadelphia) made plays.  We had a big lead and we let up a little bit,” he said.  “It just goes to show you.  You can have a 24-point lead in this game and it’s never over.  That’s the beauty of arena football.  You’ve got to play it all the way through.”  Simon was extremely encouraged however by the way the team played tonight.  “We played a heck of a lot better than we played last week.  We played with a lot of emotion; the defense stepped up and played well.  It was good to see. Philadelphia is a good team.  They are not 7 and 0 for nothing,” he said.  “When you look at how we played tonight, 99 times out of 100 we’re going to win games when we play this well.” 

San Jose will now head out on the road to take on the Utah Blaze this Friday night.  If the team can play with the same intensity they will be more than alright.  On April 26, San Jose will take on the rival Los Angeles Avengers back home at HP Pavilion.  Kickoff is set for 7:30.