Albany Conquest Game Notes

Published on June 23, 2003 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Albany Conquest (9-2) vs Mohegan Wolves (8-3)
Date: Saturday, June 28, 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)
Series Record: ALB 3-1
Streaks: ALB – LOST 1 MOH – WON 4
Coaches: Pete Costanza (9-2, 13-14 overall, 1st season in Albany) Mark Stoute (8-3, 1st af2 Season)

THE STAKES: The Albany Conquest is clinging to a slim lead over this week's opponent, the Mohegan Wolves, in first place of the Northeast Division. After suffering a crushing road defeat at the hands of the Norfolk Nighthawks, and combining that with a Wolves home win over Cincinnati, the Conquest's lead has become just one game. With five games remaining in the 2003 season, two of them against Mohegan, the Conquest can claim their second straight Northeast Division championship with wins from here on out. Albany has the fortune of controlling its own destiny at this point in the season. Two wins over Mohegan and Wilkes-Barre, and one home victory against Rochester, would keep the Conquest as the #2 seed in the American Conference and give them a first round playoff BYE.

THE IFs:

If Albany defeats Mohegan, it would ...
· Give the Quest a 4-1 series record with the Wolves.
· Give the Quest a 5-0 home record in 2003 and 11-2 overall.
· Give Pete Costanza his tenth victory as head coach of the Conquest and a career record of .500.
· Give the Quest their second consecutive 10-2 start.
· Snap their one-game losing streak.
· Keep the Quest in first place, two games 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.

Mark Stoute enters his first season of coaching in af2 with the Wolves. Stoute spent the past two seasons as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Toronto Phantoms (AFL). In 2001, he led the Phantoms to an 8-6 regular season record and the Eastern Division Championship. Prior to their move north, the Phantoms were known as the New England Se Wolves. Stoute served as the Sea Wolves Director of Football Operations/Player Personnel in the team's two-year tenure in Hartford (1999-2000). Stoute was a four-year letterman at Kentucky State as a kicker, before playing in the USFL with the New Jersey generals and Boston breakers.

CONQUEST SERIES NOTABLES: Albany QB Ryan Vena has completed 52-of-92 pass attempts for 579 yards and eleven touchdowns, while also rushing for two scores in three games against the Wolves...OS Corey Hill has caught 54 passes for 522 yards and twelve touchdowns and returned a kick for 51 yards in four games...OL/DL's Lube Stamenich and Spencer Conley each recorded sacks in the last meeting with the Wolves.

MILESTONES:

· The Corey Hill Watch
af2 Career Numbers
Receptions (351)
Receiving Yards (3,797)
All-Purpose Yards (6,474)
Scoring (380 points)

· QB Ryan Vena has 365 career rushing yards and 5,957 career passing yards.

DROPBACK: The Norfolk Nighthawks used two quarterbacks and several big offensive plays to hand the Albany Conquest their second defeat of the season, 63-46, in front of 4,235 fans at the Norfolk Scope Saturday night.

Norfolk (6-5) used the QB combination of Aaron Sparrow (9-for-18, 153, 1 TD, 2 rush TD) and Chris Wallace (6-for 10, 101, 3 TD) to give the Conquest their worst defeat in the team's short two-year history. Wallace arrived in Norfolk Monday, after spending the 2003 season with the Orlando Predators (AFL).

WR/LB Rodney Randall hauled in six receptions for 138 yards and one touchdown, while adding 4.5 tackles and two pass breakups on defense. Four different receivers scored for Norfolk, overshadowing a three touchdown performance by Albany's Phil Taylor. Taylor finished with six catches for 137 yards, while Corey Hill led all receivers with 11 receptions for 88 yards.

Albany (9-2) QB Ryan Vena completed his first seven pass attempts and led the Conquest to touchdowns on their first four possessions, however, once the second quarter began and Norfolk got their second lead of the game at 28-27, it was all Nighthawks. Vena also ran for a score, while completing 20-of-34 pass attempts for 321 yards and four touchdowns. It was Vena's second career 300-yard passing game.

FORWARD MOTION: Following this week's game against the Wolves, Albany plays four division games, three of them at home. The Conquest play host to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, Rochester Brigade and finish at home against Mohegan (July 26). Sandwiched in between the Pioneers and Brigade is the final road game of the season for the Conquest at Wilkes-Barre on Friday night, July 11th. Albany controls its own destiny from this point forward. Two wins over Mohegan would ensure the Conquest of their second consecutive division crown. If Mohegan defeats the Conquest this week, they would be tied for the division lead and need some help to get into the af2 playoffs. The top two teams in each conference receive a first round BYE. Albany currently holds the #2 seed.

TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:

Can't Keep Us Down: the Albany Conquest are the only team in af2 to score over 45 points in every single game so far in 2003. They managed to score a touchdown against Norfolk, with 15 seconds to play, to give them 46 points in the game, extending the streak to eleven games.

It's another...First Down: So far this season the Albany Conquest have accumulated more first downs than any other team in af2. The #3 scoring offense in the league has gained 206 total first downs, 141 by way of passes and 15 on the ground. They have also been awarded 50 first downs on opposing team penalties. Mohegan, on the other hand, has gotten a league-worst 138 total first downs. Watch Out QB's This Week: Quarterbacks Ryan Vena, along with whoever suits up for the Wolves this week, should be outfitted with a little extra padding under their uniforms. The Conquest rank 3rd in af2 in sacks (23) and Mohegan is right behind them in 5th (22). Two of the top ten sack-men in af2 will be in action this week as Albany's Spencer Conley (6.0) and the Wolves' Charlie Cook (7.0) will be bringing the heat into the Pepsi Arena.

P.T. Cruiser: Albany WR/DB Phil Taylor has added a nice complement to OS Corey Hill this season. Taylor leads the team in scoring with 19 total TD's (18 receiving) and has 49 receptions for 669 yards. The 2nd-year af2 player has scored three touchdowns in six different games in 2003 and also leads all WR/DB's with 17.5 tackles.

On Record Pace...Again: Here we go again. OS Corey Hill leads the af2 with 112 receptions through 11 games. Last season Hill set the all-time pro football record with 161. Hill is currently on pace for 167 catches in 2003. Follow Hill's progress below as he approaches history for the second straight year.

PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Conquest QB Ryan Vena: Vena, the top rated quarterback in af2 through eleven games (121.65), is completing 68% of his passes. The former Colgate University standout has thrown for 2,916 yards and 56 touchdowns, while picking up another 117 rushing yards with eleven scores. Vena has already tied his passing touchdown output form last season (56) and should surpass his yardage toal this week against Mohegan. He needs 125 yards to set his new career high (3,041 yards in 2002).

Conquest WR/LB Jim Jones: Jones, who played in five games with the Cincinnati Swarm before arriving in Albany, is leading af2 in kick return average. Jones has averaged 27.6 yards per return with four touchdowns (all with Cincy). Jones has 13 total touchdowns in 2003, however just three of them have come as a member of the Conquest, including the game-winning score in Greensboro in week ten.

Mohegan FB/Lb LaJohn Jones: Jones, who enters this week as the Wolves 2nd leading scorer (13 TD), is currently 4th in af2 in rushing yards (153 yds) and 6th in forced fumbles (3). Jones has recorded 11 rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns in eleven games. He ranks 2nd on the team with 4.0 sacks and 5th with 21.5 total tackles. In the last meeting against the Conquest Jones scored one rushing TD, forced a fumble and recorded a sack.

KEY DATES IN TEAM/LEAGUE HISTORY:

June 29, 2001 – Birmingham OS Wayne Thomas totals seven receiving touchdowns, tying Shon King's record for most in a single game.

June 28, 2002 – At the 5:13 mark of the second quarter against Arkansas, Birmingham's Wayne Thomas becomes the first player in af2 history to record 100 career receiving touchdowns.

June 29, 2002 – af2's total attendance reaches one million for second straight season...Augusta's Lavar Rainey joins Tennessee Valley DS Kelly Snell as the only two players with interceptions in six straight games.

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