Washington Valor drop Game 1 of Arena Football League semifinal series to Soul

With one game down and one to go, the road to defending their ArenaBowl title became a lot more challenging for the Washington Valor.

Arvell Nelson’s four touchdown passes were hardly enough offensive firepower as the Valor lost to the Philadelphia Soul 69-33 in Game 1 of their Arena Football League semifinal series Sunday at Capital One Arena.

The winner of the two-game series will be decided by aggregate score, so Washington will need to win Game 2 by 37 points in order to advance to ArenaBowl 32. Game 2 is Aug. 4 in Philadelphia.

A momentum swing in Philadelphia’s favor early in the third quarter put the Valor out of reach for good, and two extra Soul touchdowns in the last minutes of the fourth quarter exacerbated the point differential.

“We shot ourselves in the foot as many ways as we could have, and it cost us,” Valor coach Benji McDowell said. “When you’re in these type of games, a 14-point loss turns into a 30-plus-point loss.”

The Valor swept the Soul in the regular season, but could not come up with the pivotal playoff win Sunday.

“I feel like because of those two (regular season wins) that we kind of came to this game with the ideal of, ’Oh, we beat you twice already and we got a win,’” said receiver Josh Reese, who had eight catches for 80 yards. “And that wasn’t the way to go into it.”

The Soul pulled ahead for a 20-7 halftime lead thanks in part to 245-pound fullback Adrian Ferns, who stomped in for two short touchdowns in the first half.

On the opening drive of the second half, Nelson found Chris Duvalt for a pretty 32-yard touchdown that brought the Valor back within seven. But the ensuing PAT was tipped at the line and missed, and the Soul scored on their very next play from scrimmage.

Washington’s struggles worsened when Philadelphia won an onside kick after a lengthy official review. Two plays later, Philadelphia crossed the goal line again, opening up a three-touchdown lead.

They traded touchdowns into the fourth until Marrio Norman, brother of Redskins cornerback Josh Norman, grabbed an interception for the Valor. But Nelson’s pass on the very next play bounced out of receiver Dezmon Epps’ hands and to Soul defensive back James Romain, ruining the Valor’s last chance to forge a comeback.

Epps later ran back a kick return for a Valor touchdown in the game’s final minute.

Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh finished with 284 passing yards and six touchdowns.

The Valor won ArenaBowl 31 over the Baltimore Brigade last year after a 2-10 regular season finish.