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Nine touchdowns by Graziani lift Soul

Philadelphia gets its first victory against the Crush

Published March 23, 2007 at midnight

PHILADELPHIA - In last season's matchup between Colorado and Philadelphia, John Dutton threw four touchdown passes to Damian Harrell in a Crush victory. Thursday, a Philadelphia duo made its mark.

Quarterback Tony Graziani threw nine touchdowns passes, including four to Charles Pauley, leading the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul to a 71-47 victory against the Crush before 14,721 at the Wachovia Center.

It was Colorado's first loss to Philadelphia in five meetings and snapped a two-game win streak. The Crush (2-2) had won the previous four games against the Soul by an average of 14 points.

Colorado returns home to face the Nashville Kats on April 1, with kickoff at 1 p.m.

Dutton finished with five touchdown passes, three to Harrell, but he also threw three interceptions that negated several Crush scoring opportunities.

"(Philadelphia) is a heck of a football team," Dutton said. "We had our chances. That's what hurt. Our defense stopped them. It was just one of those deals where we didn't take advantage, throwing three interceptions."

Graziani, who completed 21- of-31 passes for 312 yards and no interceptions, had three of his touchdown strikes go for 40 yards as he helped lead Philadelphia (3-0) to its best start. Pauley caught 11 of Graziani's passes for 202 yards.

Philadelphia entered with the league's No. 1-rated offense and showed why it was ranked so high after rallying from a 27-13 deficit late in the first half to score 28 straight points.

"We knew coming in here that (Philadelphia) would be a tough team," Dutton said.

"It was a struggle," Crush coach Mike Dailey said. "It started to get away from us when we couldn't convert offensively."

Harrell finished with a game- high 14 receptions for 181 yards but credited defensive back Eddie Moten and the Philadelphia defense for causing problems.

"(Moten) did a great job (Thursday)," Harrell said. "You have to give it up to them. You have to give the DBs their credit."

Soul 71, Crush 47

Colorado......13 14 13 7 - 47
Philadelphia......13 14 21 23 - 71

First quarter

Col - Harrell 9 pass from Dutton (kick blocked), 10:20.

Col - Redd 34 pass from Dutton (Ball kick), 8:38.

Phila - Brown, 1 run (France kick), 5:26.

Phila - Brackins 40 pass from Graziani (kick failed), 1:17.

Second quarter

Col - Thomas 1 run (Ball kick), 11:42.

Col - Thomas 1 run (Ball kick).

Phila - Pauley 40 pass from Graziani (France kick), 4:33.

Phila - Brackins 8 pass from Graziani (France kick), :50.

Third quarter

Phila - McKelvey 8 pass from Graziani (France kick), 10:53.

Phila - Pauley 35 pass from Graziani (France kick), 7:55.

Colo - Harrell 45 pass from Dutton (Ball kick failed), 5:53.

Phila - Pauley 40 pass from Graziani (France kick), 5:43.

Colo - Harrell 7 pass from Dutton (Ball kick), 1:40.

Fourth quarter

Phila - Brackins fumble recovery (France kick), 13:32.

Colo - Pyatt 19 pass from Dutton (Ball kick), 11:02.

Phila - Pauley 22 pass from Graziani (France kick), 8:18.

Phila - France 39 field goal, :38.

Phila - Brian Mance net recovery (France kick failed), :35.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Colorado, Peaua 1-0, Thomas 3-0; Philadelphia, Price 2-18, Brown 2-2, Ours 2-1.

Passing - Colorado, Dutton 47-24-3-329; Philadelphia, Graziani 31-21-0-312.

Receiving - Colorado, Harrell 14-181, Redd 5-58, Pyatt 3-40, Quinnie 2-50; Philadelphia, Pauley 11- 202, Brackins 6-78, Gonzales 2-12, Ours 1-12, Mc- Kelvey 1-8.

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