Soul Ready For Monday Home Opener With Sharks

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Soul will play their home opener on Monday night as they welcome the Jacksonville Sharks to the Center.

The Soul opened the 2016 season in style last Friday night, hammering the Gladiators in Cleveland, 69-41.

"We were a little rusty, like you're supposed to be being off for a year," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel tells KYW Newsradio. "A lot of the new guys that came in did well. The vets showed why they are vets for us. Our 15 guys that we brought back were outstanding for us. Some of the young guys, new guys, did well. So, yeah, good first game."

Listen to the entire interview with Soul head coach Clint Dolezel

Philadelphia jumped out to a 42-7 lead against the Gladiators and never looked back.

Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh had a big day in the win with seven touchdown passes and the defense also stepped up, returning three interceptions for touchdowns.

Jacksonville lost its opener to the LA Kiss last week, 64-39. The Sharks were only down 40-39 in the third quarter but then things got away from them down the stretch.

Dolezel is impressed with the Jacksonville offense.

"They've got a 6-7 quarterback (Tommy Grady), he's an All-Arena guy," Dolezel says. "He's one of the top three quarterbacks in the league without question. They protect him well, he doesn't take any sacks. They were #1 in the league last year, we were just behind them, in sacks given up. They've got three veteran receivers and they've got the best running back in the league (former Soul running back Derrick Ross) in the backfield. We've got to be able to stop them, we've got to get of the field when we can and we've got to take care of the football on offense."

Philadelphia and Jacksonville will get underway at 7:00pm on Monday night.