Philadelphia Soul, Going For .500, Host Iowa on Sunday
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Soul will look to get to the .500 mark for the first time this season on Sunday as they welcome the Iowa Barnstormers to the Center.
After a 0-3 start, Philadelphia has put together back-to-back wins, including a 56-41 victory over Jacksonville last week in their home opener.
"We knew we have a good football team," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel tells KYW Newsradio. "We've had a few injuries early in the season, been out of sync, been on the road for four games. No excuses, but it's hard. It's nice to come back home like we did last week and put a good performance out there. Not clicking on all cylinders, but getting close, though."
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Clint Dolezel
On Sunday, Philadelphia will take on an Iowa team that is 3-2 so far this season.
"Good defensive team, for sure," Dolezel says. "They play good, sound football. They've got a good coach in [former Soul head] coach [Mike] Hohensee, who has been around the league for a long time. They are going to be scrappy. They're physical, they hit you. We've just got to play good, sound football and win all three phases. We won two out of three this past week, and if you win all three, that's when you start getting the big wins."
If you need an example of how good the Iowa defense is, you need look no further than last week. Iowa held Los Angeles to the absurdly low Arena Football League total of 12 points in a 31-12 victory.
Philadelphia has tweaked the roster a bit over the last couple of weeks. One of the moves was sending veteran wide receiver Larry Brackins to Orlando. Brackins enjoyed an outstanding run in Philadelphia -- he is top three in franchise history in receptions (3rd), receiving yards (3rd) and receiving touchdowns (1st). Dolezel says moves like this are always difficult.
"We love Larry, and always will," Dolezel says. "He's a good football player, he's meant a lot to the organization. Won them a championship here."
The Soul and the Barnstormers will kick-off at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
