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Albany Conquest Game Notes

May 27, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Albany Conquest (6-1) vs Rochester Brigade (1-7)
Date: Saturday, May 31, 2003
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. EST
Site: Pepsi Arena (13,901)
National Anthem: Miranda Mirabella
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: ALB Leads, 4-1
Streaks: ALB – WON 4 ROC – LOST 3
Coaches: Pete Costanza (6-1, 10-13 overall, 1st season in Albany) Mark Saunders (12-29 overall, 3rd season in af2)

THE STAKES: Albany (6-1) is currently two games ahead of the Mohegan Wolves (4-3) for first place in the Northeast Division, as they face the Rochester Brigade for the second time in two weeks. The Conquest, who are set to play six out of their final nine games at home, will face division opponents in six of those games (all at home except 7/11 at Wilkes-Barre). If the season ended today, Albany would have a first-round playoff bye, followed by a home game against any team besides Tennessee Valley (7-0). If the Conquest wants to maintain the slight home-field advantage they currently hold, they must win all of their division games, plus knock off Norfolk twice and win at Greensboro. With only one team guaranteed to make the playoffs from each division, dealing non-divisional opponents with losses can benefit come late season.

THE IFs:

If Albany defeats Rochester, it would ...
• Give the Quest a 5-1 series record with the Brigade.
• Give the Quest a 3-0 home record in 2003
• Give Pete Costanza his seventh victory as head coach of the Conquest.
• Give the Quest their second consecutive 7-1start.
• Extend their winning streak to five games.
• Keep the Quest in first place, ahead of Mohegan.

THE SERIES: CONQUEST LEAD 4-1...(April 13, 2002): Conquest defeat the Brigade, 42-36, behind Ryan Vena's four total TD's (3 pass, 1 rush)...(April 27, 2002): Brigade hand Quest first loss of the season, 34-32, behind Martino Theus' 14 catches for 181 yards and two scores...(June 20, 2002): Conquest become first team to win ten games in 54-42 win at Rochester. OS Corey Hill hauled in 16 passes for 226 yards and five touchdowns...(Aug 3, 2002): First round of af2 playoffs, Conquest win, 31-26, at home. Game MVP Hill finished with 13 catches for 130 yards and two scores...(May 17, 2003): Game MVP Vena throws for 297 yards, six touchdowns, and runs for one, as Albany wins first game of 2003, 52-38.

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.

Mark Saunders was introduced as the first and only head coach of the Brigade prior to the inaugural 2001 season. Saunders has accumulated an 11-22 overall record in two years, including one playoff appearance in 2002. Saunders came to the Brigade after spending the prior eight seasons on the North Carolina A&T Aggies coaching staff, winning the Black College National Championship in 1999. Prior to NC A&T, Saunders served as a graduate assistant for one season at the University of Virginia. Saunders played college football at Johnson C. Smith University, where he set a record for longest run from scrimmage (1981 - 98 yards).

LAST SERIES MEETING: May 17, 2003 (Rochester, NY) - 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 its 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.

YOUR TEAM INJURY REPORT:

Pos. Name Injury Status
WR/DB JEFF HIGGINS Shoulder Long Term IR
OL/DL LOU VEGA Back Short-Term IR
OL/DL JASON DAVIS Ankle Short-Term IR

SERIES NOTABLES: QB Ryan Vena (ALB) has completed 92-of-149 pass attempts for 1,036 yards and 19 touchdowns in four games versus the Brigade, while also rushing for four scores...OS Corey Hill (ALB) has caught 52 passes for 586 yards and eleven touchdowns in four games...OS Martino Theus (ROC) has caught 49 passes for 551 yards with ten receiving touchdowns.

MILESTONES:

• The Corey Hill Watch
af2 Career Numbers
Receptions (306)
Receiving Yards (3,369)
All-Purpose Yards (5,828)
Scoring (356 points)

• QB Ryan Vena has 330 career rushing yards and 4,710 career passing yards.

DROPBACK: Game MVP Ryan Vena threw five touchdowns and ran for another, as the Albany Conquest defeated the Birmingham Steeldogs, 56-47, in front of 5,296 fans at the Pepsi Arena Friday night. With the win, Albany maintained its lead in the Northeast Division over the Mohegan Wolves. Vena completed 19-of-27 pass attempts for 318 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for eighteen yards on six carries. OS Corey Hill caught a game high 12 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown, while racking up another 80 yards on kick returns.

Albany (6-1) got on the board in the first quarter when OL/DL Nick Anderson recovered a fumble in the endzone for a safety and a 2-0 lead. Then Vena found WR/LB Adriel Linyear for the first of his two scores on the night, this one from 39 yards out to give the home team a 9-0 lead.

The two teams then traded scores for the next two and a half quarters. Birmingham's (3-4) WR/LB Anthony Jordan caught three Chris Windsor touchdown passes, compiling a team high five receptions for 121 yards. Windsor, playing in his second game back since the 2001 season, completed 14-of-24 passes for 197 yards and five touchdowns of his own.

Albany OL/DL Spencer Conley was named ADT Defensive Player of the Game, grabbing 3.5 tackles (three unassisted and 1.5 for loss), forced and recovered a crucial third quarter fumble, and registered his fifth sack of the season. Conley came into the game tied for 2nd in af2 in sacks. FB/LB Ron Perry also had a big game, rushing for 11 yards and a touchdown, while registering 1.5 tackles and a sack on defense.

Conquest international member, Japan's Yuichi Watanabe, made his first career interception and ran it back 25 yards in the first quarter to halt a Steeldogs' scoring opportunity.

FORWARD MOTION: Next week the Conquest head south to take on the Greensboro Prowlers in the first of three straight non-divisional match-ups. Greensboro (3-5) plays out of the American-Atlantic division, the same as the Norfolk Nighthawks, a team that Albany will play twice in a row following next week in North Carolina. After the game against the Prowlers, Albany will have just two road games remaining (6/21 @ Norfolk, 7/11 @ Wilkes-Barre) and should be poised to make a run at the 2003 af2 playoffs.

TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:

The BIG "5-0": The Conquest have scored more than 50 points in each of the last four games, and have not scored less than 45, through seven games this season. During the 2002 season, teams went 162-40 (80%) when they scored 50 points or more in a game. So far in 2003, six teams are averaging 50 or more points per game and have a combined record of 34-11 (Peoria is 3-5, but averages 50.6 ppg).

Playing the Percentages: The Conquest rank 2nd in af2 with a team completion percentage of 67.1, less than one point behind Cape Fear (67.7). On defense, Albany allows only a 52.4 completion percentage by opposing signal callers, a number good for 3rd in the league as well. Their (10) Ten interceptions defensively are good enough for a tie for 3rd in af2 and 111 completions in the second fewest allowed of any team in the league.

Field Goals Suffer, When Offense is Hot: Albany's Chris Drennan finished 4th in af2 in scoring (108 pts) and field goals made (13) in 2002. Through the first three weeks of the 2003 season, Drennan was also in the league's top five in both categories. Since the Conquest offense has caught fire as of late, Drennan's attempts have decreased. Before his two attempts vs. Birmingham, the last field goal he tried was at Mohegan in week four. He has attempted two kicks in the past four games.

Turnover Terror: The Conquest rank #1 in af2 with a (+ 1.43) turnover rate per game. They are (+10) for the season with ten interceptions and fumble recoveries each, while coughing the ball up a total of just ten times total.

Spreading the Wealth: The Conquest are the only team in af2 to have four different receivers with a minimum of seven touchdown receptions. Corey Hill (9), Jamie Ware (8), Phil Taylor (7) and Adriel Linyear (7) have been QB Ryan Vena's favorite targets. WR/LB Phil Yarberough has caught four touchdowns in the past three games and each one of them has at least ten receptions.

PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Conquest WR/DB Jamie Ware: Ware, in his second season out of Shippensburg, has become a serious scoring threat so far in 2003. He has caught 16 passes for 271 yards and eight touchdowns (2nd on team). With OS Corey Hill drawing most of the attention from defenses in 2003, Ware has reaped the benefits. In 2002, Ware caught just 22 passes for 274 yards in 13 games. He has already caught two touchdowns in a game three times. Pretty good, seeing as how he caught only two scores all last year.

Conquest OL/DL Spencer Conley: The "Minister of Defense" moved himself into a tie for first place in af2 when he recorded his fifth sack of the season against Birmingham. Conley, who holds the af2 record for sacks in a single game (4.5), is also tied for first in Tackles for Loss (5.0) and second in forced fumbles (2). Conley was released by Cape Fear three days before the start of the season and brought his pass rushing talents to the Northeast Division for the first time in his career.

Rochester FB/LB Lamonte Coleman: Coleman ranks 2nd in af2 in rushing yards (151) and has scored six touchdowns thus far in 2003. Coleman, who is currently 2nd on the Brigade in tackles (20.0) and 3rd in scoring (36 pts), ran for four yards, caught a pass for seven yards and recorded 4.5 tackles in the first meeting between these teams two weeks ago.

KEY DATES IN TEAM/LEAGUE HISTORY:

June 1, 2002 – Peoria's Lincoln Dupree records four interceptions against the Quad City Steamwheelers, setting a new af2 record for picks in a single game...The Pirates' 67-43 win snaps Quad City's record-setting 25-game home winning streak.



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