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Graziani leads Philadelphia to home-opening win

Mar 23, 2007 - 6:17 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Tony Graziani and the Philadelphia Soul finally broke through against the Colorado Crush.

Graziani threw for eight touchdowns and 312 yards as the Soul remained unbeaten with a home-opening 71-47 victory over the Crush.

Charles Pauley had 11 receptions for 202 yards and four touchdowns for Philadelphia (3-0), which knocked off Colorado for the first time in five meetings.

Twice coming back from double-digit deficits in the first half, the Soul took their first lead of the game when Graziani threw an eight-yard TD pass to J.J. McKelvey 4:07 into the third quarter.

Graziani, who completed 21-of-31 attempts, later found Pauley for 35- and 40-yard touchdowns in the third, giving Philadelphia a 48-40 advantage entering the fourth.

In the final period, receiver Larry Brackins recovered a fumble in the end zone and Pauley hauled in a 22-yard score within the opening seven minutes to extend the Soul's lead to 62-47.

Brackins finished with three touchdowns along with six catches for 78 yards for Philadelphia.

John Dutton finished with 329 passing yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions for the Crush (2-2), who had their two-game winning streak snapped.