The conference championships to determine who will compete in Arena Bowl XXVIII have been set. On August 22, the Arizona Rattlers and San Jose SaberCats will compete in the National Conference title game while the Philadelphia Soul and Jacksonville Sharks will compete in the American Conference match on August 23. The Arena Bowl XXVIII game will be held on August 29.
The National Look
A big part of the match between Arizona and San Jose is that the Arizona Rattlers have been dominant in the playoffs in recent time. The Rattlers have eliminated the SaberCats in the last three playoffs. Still, the SaberCats have won both their games against the Rattlers this year.
The SaberCats’ Erik Meyer has one of the best completion percentage totals in the AFL this year. He has a 66.9% completion rating so far this year. The Rattlers’ Jeremy Kellem leads the league with fourteen interceptions this season, thus potentially giving Meyer a good challenge for the coming game.
The American Check
In the American Conference title game, the Jacksonville Sharks won both their games against the Philadelphia Soul this year. Still, the Soul will be hosting the game at the Wells Fargo Center. In addition, the Soul have plenty of playoff experience against the Sharks as the team eliminated the Sharks in the conference championship in both 2012 and 2013. This means that there is a real potential for the Soul to actually win the game.
The Soul’s Dan Raudabaugh has the second-highest total number of passing yards this year with 4,992 yards. He also leads the league with 119 touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Sharks’ Derrick Ross leads the AFL with 586 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns. The Sharks’ Anthony Jones also has 2,087 receiving yards and 38 touchdowns.
The big matches on this upcoming weekend will certainly be of interest to all Arena Football fans. The potential for the teams to go far this year is strong as they are both hoping to go far and get the most out of this exciting and rather competitive season.