Post by rkozak201 on Jul 12, 2008 0:30:51 GMT -5
Reading Eagle: Jeremy Drey
Reading linebacker Matt Sola: "It's just too much fun to seek that running back and destroy him. It's a beautiful thing. I love playing out there with a controlled chaos."
By Brian Rippey
Reading Eagle
Reading, PA - Matt Sola is quick to tackle any question about what he likes most about playing linebacker for the Reading Express.
"It's just too much fun to seek that running back and destroy him," Sola said. "It's a beautiful thing. I love playing out there with a controlled chaos."
Sola will take that mentality to the Sovereign Center at 7 tonight when the Express hosts the Florence Phantoms in the American Indoor Football Association Eastern Conference championship game.
The winner will host the AIFA title game in two weeks. If the Express wins, the game would be Thursday, July 24, against the winner of the Mississippi-Wyoming game in the Sovereign Center, where the Express has won 19 straight.
One of seven players who has been with the Express for all three seasons, Sola often has gone unnoticed. Since going about his job quietly the first two seasons made him feel somewhat underappreciated, Sola has changed his style.
He raised more than a few eyebrows from Reading to Erie when Sola said he felt the Express was 40 points better than the RiverRats. He also has gotten into a few skirmishes on the field while sticking up for his teammates.
"Being who I was wasn't enough for the league the past couple years," said Sola, who was omitted from league all-star teams. "I see guys out there acting like fools sometime; maybe I'll get a little foolish. But it's all in fun. I've been having a lot of good plays this year, too. With good plays come celebrations."
Sola's biggest plays came in a home win over Arizona. He recovered a fumbled snap and walked into the end zone for the first touchdown of his playing career at Central Catholic, Kutztown University or the Express.
On the final play of that game, Sola filled a hole near the goal line and stood up the Arizona running back as time ran out to preserve the win.
"I can read a play, fill that hole better than the running back 90 percent of the time," Sola said. "It makes me feel like I'm in high school again. In high school, some of the hits I laid on some guys, they never saw them coming."
Sola has made several other big plays, including a forced fumble in the regular season finale that helped the Express rally past Baltimore for a road win that gave Reading homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
And there was a crushing blow for a safety that Sola said he is certain Phantoms quarterback Omar Jacobs will remember when he returns to Reading tonight.
That came during Reading's 66-30 rout of the Phantoms April 19. The Phantoms have regrouped since and are riding an eight-game winning streak, including a 55-9 win over Huntington Monday in the South Division championship game.
But Sola said the Express is ready for the challenge from the Phantoms, a team that has several players from the Lakeland squad that defeated Reading 54-49 in last year's AIFA title game.
"There's enough guys here from those last two years that still have the taste, that nasty feeling of losing the championship game last year and losing the conference championship the year before," Sola said. "This team, we have that feeling this year, the desire to get out there and take it home for the city of Reading."
•Contact Brian Rippey at 610-371-5070 or brippey@readingeagle.com.
