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Albany Conquest Game Notes

May 20, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Albany Conquest (5-1) vs Birmingham Steeldogs (3-3)
Date: Friday, May 23, 2003
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. EST
Site: Pepsi Arena (13,901)
National Anthem: Collette Drennan
Coin Toss: Head Referee
Officials: Ed Kierce (Head Referee)
Broadcast: Teamline Services (Internet broadcast via www.albanyconquest.com)...Jacob VanRyn and Bill Callahan
Series Record: 1st Series Meeting
Streaks: ALB – WON 3 BIR – LOST 1
Coaches: Pete Costanza (5-1, 9-13 overall, 1st season in Albany) Bobby Humphrey (35-23 overall, 4th season in af2)

THE STAKES: The Albany Conquest are sitting atop the Northeast Division, a spot they have held for all but one week of the team's existence. This week they face a non-divisional opponent in the Birmingham Steeldogs. Birmingham is currently in third place in the American South Division, behind Tennessee Valley (6-0) and Macon (5-2). With overall record being the most important factor come playoff time, both teams need to rack up as many non-divisional wins as possible. The Steeldogs are coming off a BYE week, while Albany returns home after playing five out of their first six on the road. Albany needs a win to guarantee at least a share of the division lead with Mohegan (4-2). Birmingham faces a must-win as they try to keep pace with two of the toughest teams in af2 in the Vipers and Knights.

THE IFs:

If Albany defeats Birmingham, it would ...
· Give the Quest a 1-0 series record with the Steeldogs
· Give the Quest a 2-0 home record in 2003
· Give Pete Costanza his sixth victory as head coach of the Conquest.
· Give the Quest their second consecutive 6-1start.
· Extend their winning streak to four games.
· Keep the Quest in first place, ahead of Mohegan.

HEAD COACHES: Pete Costanza enters his first season as head coach of the Conquest. In 2002, Pete turned around a 0-16 Columbus (GA) Wardogs team and finished 4-12, including having the league's #5 ranked defense. Costanza, a New Jersey native, brings over seven years of arena football coaching experience to the Capital region, which includes stops with the New Jersey Red Dogs, Roanoke Steam, Norfolk Nighthawks, Iowa Barnstormers and the Wardogs. Costanza has coached every position in arena football and will be responsible for calling both the offense and defense for the Conquest in 2003.

Bobby Humphrey was named head coach of the Steeldogs on August 12, 1999. During his three seasons as head coach, Humphrey has guided the Steeldogs to a 32-20 mark, including two postseason appearances. Humphrey, who is the only coach who has been with his team since the beginning of af2, was a standout running back at U. of Alabama. He was taken in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and played three seasons in Denver, appearing in the 1990 Super Bowl. A resident of Birmingham, AL, Humphrey earned a bachelors degree in Social Work fro University of Alabama in 1998.

LAST SERIES MEETING: 1st Series Meeting

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:

WR/DB JAMIE WARE, on retaining the NY Lottery I-90 Cup: "It's our only in-state rival so it's big to take the cup home. Although we've got to play Rochester two more times, it's coming home on the bus with us to Albany."

MILESTONES:

· The Corey Hill Watch
af2 Career Numbers
Receptions (294)
Receiving Yards (3,229)
All-Purpose Yards (5,552)
Scoring (350 points)

· QB Ryan Vena has 312 career rushing yards and 4,393 career passing yards.

DROPBACK: Game MVP Ryan Vena threw six touchdwons and ran for another in leading the Albany Conquest (5-1) over the Rochester Brigade (1-6), 52-38, in a Northeast Division match-up Saturday night at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY. Rochester led 12-0 at the end of the first quarter behind two Jason Visconti touchdown passes and two missed extra point attempts. Vena then threw a scoring strike to WR/DB Phil Taylor, before he scampered in from three yards out to give Albany their first lead of the game, 13-12. The two teams exchanged scores before the half. Brigade WR/DB Derek Baker caught his first of the night, before Vena found his other "Phil", WR/LB Phil Yarberough from 31 yards away on fourth down and twenty yards to go, giving the visiting Conquest a 19-19 tie heading into the half. Rochester struck first in the second half when OS Martino Theus hauled in his scond touchdown reception of the game from twelve yayrds out. Albany countered with their own OS Corey Hill catching a seven yard pass from Vena for his first of the night. Albany WR/DB Jamie Ware scored from 29 yards to the end the third quarter and gave his team the lead, 32-25 going into the final quarter of play. In the fourth, Albany used two crucial interceptions, one by Ware to end a Brigade drive when they were trailing by only six, 38-32. The other came from Yarberough, who recorded his second interception of the season, an amazing leaping catch that he returned 16 yards to paydirt, putting the game away, 52-32. Rochester would get a late score from Andra Johnson, but to no avail as the Conquest won their third straight game, fifth in six games and held their spot atop the Northeast Division. Vena, who named Game MVP for the fourth time in six games, finished 25-of-40 for 297 yards without an interception. Yarberough was named Ironman of the Game for his three touchdown performance (2 rec, 1 INT). Hill caught a game-high nine passes for 82 yards, while adding another 70 yards on returns. Visconti completed 18-of-32 passes for 243 yards and six touchdowns of his own. Baker, who was spectacular all night on kick returns (4 for 78 yards), had a game-high 121 yards receiving on seven catches.

FORWARD MOTION: The Conquest will get to play back-to-back games at home for the first time during the 2003 season. Next Saturday, May 31st, Albany will host the Rochester Brigade (1-6) in a Northeast Division match-up. The Conquest defeated the Brigade this past week, 52-38, in Rochester. Following that game, Albany will play five out of their final eight games at the Pepsi Arena, including their final four home games against division opponents. Mohegan (4-2), who the Conquest will play in their final game of the season, is currently one game behind the Conquest in the Northeast.

TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:

The BIG "5-0": So far this season five teams are averaging over 50 points per game in af2. Albany ranks 2nd with 54.0 points per game, more than two points behind the Quad City Steamwheelers (56.4). The combined record of the five teams is 24-8. Tennessee Valley (6-0) is the only remaining undefeated team and defending af2 champs, Peoria (2-4) averages 50.9, but has lost four games.

Playing the Percentages: The Conquest rank 2nd in af2 with a team completion percentage of 66.7, less than two points behind Cape Fear (68.5). On defense, Albany allows only a 51.6 completion percentage by opposing signal callers, a number good for 2nd in the league as well. Their (9) Nine interceptions defensively are good enough for a tie for 4th in af2 and 97 completions in the third fewest allowed of any team in the league. Code "Red"...Code "Red": The Conquest are tied for 3rd in af2 at this point with 30 red zone touchdowns. They have scored 33-42 times (78.6%) inside the 5-yard line with 11 rushing scores and 19 through the air. Despite two each of fumbles, interceptions and turnover on downs inside the red zone, they rank 6th in af2 in conversions through six games.

Turnover Terror: The Conquest rank #1 in af2 with a (+ 1.50) turnover rate per game. They are (+9) for the season with nine interceptions and fumble recoveries each, while coughing the ball up a total of just nine times.

PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Conquest QB Ryan Vena: Vena has been on fire as of late. Last week at Rochester, Vena threw six touchdowns and ran for another in leading his team to their third straight victory and fifth overall in six games. Vena had completed nearly 70% of his passes for 1,354 yards and 29 touchdowns through six games. Add to that his eight rushing touchdowns and you can see why how Vena goes these days, so do the Conquest.

Conquest WR/LB Phil Yarberough: Yarberough, playing in his first season out of Lafayette University, has really begun to learn the game of arena football. In the last three games he has recorded three touchdowns to go along with his first two interceptions (one he returned 16 yards for a TD) of the season. His two picks tie him for the team lead, while he has also grabbed 6.5 tackles and two pass breakups.

Birmingham OS DeMontray Carter: Carter has replaced Aryvia Holmes as the Steeldogs OS after Holmes was signed by an NFL Europe team. Last game vs. Louisville Carter recorded three total touchdowns (2 REC, 1 RUSH) and caught a team-high six passes for 71 yards. Carter will face a tough assignment this week as he goes against one of the top DS combinations in af2. Albany's Elijah Beamon and John Stuart have each had the honor of being named af2 ADT Defensive Player of the Week already in 2003. They each have two interceptions on the season, while Stuart ranks in the af2 top ten in pass breakups with 15.

KEY DATES IN TEAM/LEAGUE HISTORY:

May 26, 2000 – Quad City defeats host Greensboro 103-3, racking up the most points in arena football history.

May 23, 2002 – Roanoke QB Chris Sanders signs with the Tennessee Titans of the NFL.

May 24, 2002 – Greensboro's Jermaine Toney shatters the af2 record for most tackles in a single game with 16.5 against Rochester.

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