ArenaBowl XXXII
ArenaBowl XXXII was the 32nd and final ArenaBowl and the championship game of the 2019 Arena Football League season. The game took place on August 11, 2019, with kickoff at 8:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.[1] It featured the winners of the two semifinals, the No. 1 seed Albany Empire and the No. 3 seed Philadelphia Soul.
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Date | August 11, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Arena | Times Union Center, Albany, New York | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Tommy Grady (QB, Albany) | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 12,042 | ||||||||||||||||||
Winning coach | Rob Keefe | ||||||||||||||||||
Losing coach | Clint Dolezel | ||||||||||||||||||
TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Jon Meterparel, Sherdrick Bonner, Meredith Gorman and J. J. Raterink | ||||||||||||||||||
AFL Commissioner Randall Boe also confirmed that the league's expansion plans for next season would be unveiled during the game;[1] however, these plans were pushed back to several weeks after the game[2] after Boe said that negotiations for the two new teams would not be finished in time.[3] The league ultimately filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on November 27 of that year, making the game the final one in the league's history.[4]
Venue
As the higher seed, the No. 1 Albany Empire hosted ArenaBowl XXXII at the Times Union Center.[5]
2019 playoffs
Semifinals | ArenaBowl XXXII | ||||||||||
1 | Albany Empire | 61 | 62 | 123 | |||||||
4 | Baltimore Brigade | 26 | 21 | 47 | |||||||
1 | Albany Empire | 45 | |||||||||
3 | Philadelphia Soul | 27 | |||||||||
2 | Washington Valor | 33 | 41 | 74 | |||||||
3 | Philadelphia Soul | 69 | 48 | 117 |
Teams
Albany Empire
The Empire, led by head coach Rob Keefe, finished the regular season 10–2 and earned the No. 1 seed for the second straight season. They defeated No. 4 Baltimore home and away in the semifinal to advance to their first ArenaBowl.
Philadelphia Soul
The Soul, led by head coach Clint Dolezel, finished the regular season 7–5 and earned the No. 3 seed for the second straight season. They defeated No. 2 Washington home and away in the semifinal to advance to their sixth ArenaBowl; they are 3–2 in previous appearances.
Series record
The all-time series between the Empire and the Soul dates back to the Empire's inaugural game on April 14, 2018. Entering the game, Albany led the series 4–3.
Albany victories | Philadelphia victories |
No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score | ||||
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1 | April 14, 2018 | Albany, NY | Philadelphia | 56–35 | ||||
2 | May 19, 2018 | Philadelphia, PA | Albany | 41–36 | ||||
3 | June 16, 2018 | Albany, NY | Philadelphia | 75–74 | ||||
4 | July 7, 2018 | Albany, NY | Albany | 71–57 | ||||
5 | May 11, 2019 | Philadelphia, PA | Albany | 57–48 | ||||
6 | June 29, 2019 | Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia | 54–43 | ||||
7 | July 20, 2019 | Albany, NY | Albany | 72–27 | ||||
Series: Albany leads 4–3 |
Game summary
Scoring summary | ||||
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Qtr. | Time | Team | Scoring play | Score |
1 | 12:09 | Philadelphia | Darius Prince 34 yard pass from Dan Raudabaugh; Kenny Spencer kick good | Philadelphia 7, Albany 0 |
6:58 | Albany | Maurice Leggett 54 yard interception return; Adrian Trevino kick good | Philadelphia 7, Albany 7 | |
4:58 | Philadelphia | B. J. Bunn 38 yard pass from Dan Raudabaugh; Kenny Spencer kick good | Philadelphia 14, Albany 7 | |
1:56 | Albany | Quentin Sims 11 yard pass from Tommy Grady; Adrian Trevino kick good | Philadelphia 14, Albany 14 | |
2 | 9:59 | Albany | Quentin Sims 6 yard pass from Tommy Grady; Adrian Trevino kick good | Philadelphia 14, Albany 21 |
4:56 | Philadelphia | Darius Prince 4 yard pass from Dan Raudabaugh; Kenny Spencer kick good | Philadelphia 21, Albany 21 | |
3:23 | Albany | Quentin Sims 25 yard pass from Tommy Grady; Adrian Trevino kick good | Philadelphia 21, Albany 28 | |
0:22 | Albany | Quentin Sims 11 yard pass from Tommy Grady; Adrian Trevino kick good | Philadelphia 21, Albany 35 | |
3 | 10:06 | Albany | Mykel Benson 8 yard pass from Tommy Grady; Adrian Trevino kick good | Philadelphia 21, Albany 42 |
4 | 13:09 | Philadelphia | Lonnie Outlaw 3 yard pass from Dan Raudabaugh; Kenny Spencer kick missed | Philadelphia 27, Albany 42 |
9:59 | Albany | Adrian Trevino 31 yard field goal | Philadelphia 27, Albany 45 | |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Philadelphia | 14 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
Albany | 14 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 45 |
Statistics | PHI | ALB |
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First downs | 19 | 14 |
Total yards | 300 | 208 |
Rushes–yards | 7–0 | 5–8 |
Passing yards | 300 | 200 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 26–39–1 | 16–25–0 |
Penalties–yards | 3–25 | 3–9 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Philadelphia | Passing | Dan Raudabaugh | 26/39, 300 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT |
Rushing | Adrian Ferns | 5 car, 1 yd | |
Receiving | B. J. Bunn | 10 rec, 129 yds, 1 TD | |
Albany | Passing | Tommy Grady | 16/25, 200 yds, 5 TD |
Rushing | Mykel Benson | 3 car, 14 yds, 1 TD | |
Receiving | Quentin Sims | 9 rec, 93 yds, 4 TD |
References
- Levack, Jeff (June 25, 2019). "AFL Planning To Announce Expansion Teams At Arena Bowl". 104.5 The Team ESPN Radio. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- Dougherty, Pete (11 August 2019). "AFL expansion likely to be announced soon". www.timesunion.com. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- Boe, Randall (8 August 2019). "We've narrowed the list for @officialafl expansion to five markets—we're in negotiations now and are committed to adding 2 new teams for 2020. We want to be thoughtful and get it right even if it takes more time. Look forward to announcements soon. #BetOnUS". @randallboe. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- Gleeson, Scott (November 27, 2019), "Arena Football League files for bankruptcy, ceases all operations", USA Today, retrieved November 27, 2019
- "Arena Football League 101". Arena Football League. Retrieved July 6, 2019.