Albany Conquers at Richmond Again
April 5, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
Elijah Beamon's 3-yard interception return for a touchdown with 34 second to play gave the visiting Albany Conquest a 45-42 victory over the Richmond Speed at the Richmond Coliseum Saturday night.
Jamie Ware intercepted a Joel Gordon pass to seal the victory, as the Conquest defense scored two touchdowns on the night, the other coming on a fumble recovery by defensive end Lube Stamenich just before halftime. The win marked the second consecutive victory for Albany in Richmond.
Both teams traded scored all night long, leading to nine lead changes. Quarterback Ryan Vena ran for three touchdowns and amassed 73 rushing yards, while throwing another touchdown to OS Corey Hill. Hill led all receivers in the game with ten receptions and chipped in another 111 yards on kick returns.
Richmond was led by WR/DB Jeff Townsley who caught six passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. QB Joel Gordon ran for three scores and threw three for Richmond, en route to Offensive Player of the Game honors. The Speed's WR/DB Kevin Harvey was named Ironman of the Game. He caught four passes for 31 yards and a score, ran for seven yards and led all Richmond defenders with 4.5 tackles, including one for a loss.
Beamon, who was named ADT Defensive Player of the Game, totaled seven tackles, one interception and one pass breakup. Stamenich, a rookie out of the University of Virginia, contributed 4.5 tackles, teo for loss, one sack and the crucial fumble recovery resulting in a touchdown for the visiting Conquest.
Albany took a 19-18 lead into halftime, but saw their lead erased on the first play of the second half when Gordon found OS Damon "Red" Thompson for a 41-yard scoring strike. Albany answered back on one of Vena's rushing touchdowns, this one from 48-yards away.
Richmond will not have to wait long to get back at the Conquest. The two teams meet again in six days, this time at the Pepsi Arena in the Albany 2003 home opener on Friday, April 11th. Kickoff is set for 7:30PM.
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