ArenaBowl XXII
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ArenaBowl XXII was played on July 27, 2008 at
New Orleans Arena Smoothie King Center (locally referred to as SKC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the city's Central Business District, adjacent to Caesars Superdome. The arena opened in 1999 as New Orleans Arena and ...
in
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
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(the host of
ArenaBowl XXI ArenaBowl XXI was the 2007 championship game of the Arena Football League and was played at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, July 29, 2007. It was the third-ever neutral site title game in league's history and the first h ...
). It was the 22nd and final championship game in the history of the original Arena Football League. This was the fourth neutral site ArenaBowl in AFL history and the second ArenaBowl in the state of Louisiana. It was the last ArenaBowl before the AFL's economic suspension, until 2010 when the AFL was
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, continuing on with
ArenaBowl XXIII NAPA Auto Parts ArenaBowl XXIII was an arena football game between the National Conference champion, Spokane Shock and the American Conference champion, Tampa Bay Storm. The Spokane Shock won the game successfully defending ArenaCup X of the form ...
.


Background

The game was played between the American Conference Champions
San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...
, who were making their fourth, and second consecutive, appearance in the title game (they have won in all of their previous trips), against the National Conference Champions
Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...
, who were making their first appearance in the franchise's history in the ArenaBowl.


Philadelphia Soul

The Soul, along with division rival
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, were undefeated at week 9. They preceded to beat them in that week, however when travelling to Cleveland for the following game, they lost their first game of the season. They continued to sputter, dropping two of their last three, however these ultimately were their only three losses on the season. They were the top seed in their conference, clinching
home field advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...
throughout the playoffs until the actual ArenaBowl.


San Jose SaberCats

The SaberCats finished the season with a record of 11-5, yet, unlike the Soul, were not undefeated for one week of the season, due to their loss in week one to the Chicago Rush. However, after losing four of their first seven games, and five out of their first ten, they continued on to finish with six consecutive wins to have a total of eleven during the season. They finished well enough to have the second best record in the conference, and best in their division. They were the number two seed in the playoffs.


Playoffs

One odd fact noted throughout the playoffs was that both lowest seeded teams making the playoffs won in the first round. In the playoffs, the Soul first beat the sixth-seeded
New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in ...
48-49 in the Divisional round of the tournament on a controversial call. The Soul appeared to have scored the game-winning touchdown as time expires. The play was reviewed, and even though the replays seemed to indicate a knee down before the ball crossed the goal line, the score was confirmed and the Soul won the game. In the Eastern Conference Championship they proceeded to beat the fourth-seeded
Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...
by a score of 35-70. The SaberCats had a similar playoff schedule. They also had a first-round bye but unlike the Soul, failed to gain home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They beat the fifth-seeded
Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspend ...
(51-64) in the Divisional round and the sixth-seeded
Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...
(55-81), who previously beat top-seeded
Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,20 ...
, in the Western Conference Championship.


Game summary

The SaberCats received the opening kickoff, and teams exchanged touchdowns through the first quarter, tying the game three times. It was 20-20 when the Soul took control. Philadelphia scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to go up 34-20 and led 37-27 at halftime. In the second half, Philadelphia scored on its opening drive and added a safety to up its lead to 46-27. San Jose responded to close the game to 46-34 on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Mark Grieb to Jason Geathers. But the Soul was able to match each SaberCat score. With 39 seconds left in the game, a two-yard touchdown pass from Matt D'Orazio to Phil Bogle gave the Soul a seemingly comfortable 59-42 lead. San Jose scored in 11 seconds and recovered an onside kick, and scored again with just 17 second left. Suddenly it was 59-56, but the Soul recovered the ensuing onside kick and was finally able to run out the clock. Philadelphia defeated San Jose 59-56, and Soul quarterback
Matt D'Orazio Matthew Louis D’Orazio (born October 1, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football at Otterbein College. D'Orazio was a member of the Roanoke Steam, Rochester Briga ...
was named the Mitsubishi Motors ArenaBowl XXII MVP. D'Orazio was 26 for 43 for 302 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. His leading receiver was Chris Jackson with 11 catches for 146 yards and three scores. Grieb finished with 299 passing yards, eight touchdowns and one interception. Rodney Wright caught 13 passes for 144 yards and two scores. Geathers had five touchdowns and 101 receiving yards.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arenabowl Xxii 022 Arena Football League in New Orleans Events in New Orleans 2008 in sports in Louisiana 2008 Arena Football League season San Jose SaberCats Philadelphia Soul Football, American 2008 in American television July 2008 sports events in the United States 2000s in New Orleans