Albany Makes Lone Visit To Quad Cities In Need Of Win
Published on May 31, 2006 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
Albany, N.Y. - The Albany Conquest dropped a 56-51 decision to the Green Bay Blizzard at Pepsi Arena's U.S. Army Field on Saturday night. Albany (4-4) is locked in a three-way tie for third place in the East Division and will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Steamwheelers are coming off a 68-63 road loss to the Spokane Shock on Saturday. Quad City (2-6) is sixth in the East Division and tonight's match-up is the second and final meeting between the East Division rivals during the 2006 season. Saturday is the third all-time meeting between Albany and Quad City. The Conquest to the Week Five meeting with a win at U.S. Army Field, while the Steamwheelers recorded a 62-50 home victory on June 18, 2005.
MOVES & NOTABLES:
The Albany Conquest have been assigned WR/DB Thomas Anthony, who spent the 2006 season as a practice squad member for the New York Dragons (AFL). The club has placed OS Manwell Talbert on Long Term Injured Reserve, where he will be joined by WR/LB Antwun Williams, who had successful surgery after sustaining an abdominal injury on Saturday. Albany scored a season-high 72 points against the Steamwheelers on April 29th. That is also the second-highest, single-game point-total in franchise history behind last year's 88-point outburst against Green Bay.
VENA NEARING HISTORIC MARK: QB Ryan Vena is closing in on 10,000 passing yards in the af2. He currently has 9,819 yards, standing 181 yards shy of becoming just the 10th player in league history to hit that number. Vena has thrown for 2,317 yards during the 2006 campaign after picking up 7,502 in 31 games from 2003 through 2004. He is also just 11 yards shy of 500 career-rushing yards, having rushed for 489 yards during his af2 career.
WILLIAMS MAKING WAVES: WR/LB Antwun Williams led Albany with eight catches on offense and five tackles on defense in the loss to Green Bay. He stands as the club's third leading receiver with 21 receptions and five TDs, playing in only five of eight games thus far. The 23-year-old tied for tops on the club with four pass breakups to go with 0.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles in his first professional season.
JJ BACK KICKIN' HIS HEELS: WR/LB Jim Jones picked up 104 kick return yards against the Blizzard on Saturday. He ranks fourth in the league with 635 return yards on 32 kick returns this season. Jones is the only Conquest player with over 1,000 (1,074) all-purpose yards and is averaging 134.2 yards of total offense each game through eight match-ups.
PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:
Quad City Offense:
QB Tim Hicks threw for 222 yards with four TDs in limited action after some turnovers last weekend. He leads the league in passing yards (2,434), total offense (2,481) and completions (207). WR/LB Jack Walker Jr. caught 16 passes for 165 yards and paces Quad City receivers with 810 yards and 12 TDs this year. WR/DB Tim Dodge ranks second on the club with 56 receptions, while OS Kris Peters stands second with 11 TDs.
Conquest Defense:
OL/DL Ralph Horton totaled 3.5 tackles with one QBH, while fellow linemen Karleton Thomas and Konrad Dean each got to the quarterback once. DS DeOnte Taylor had four total tackles and DS Pete McBride returned to the secondary with three tackles and two pass breakups. WR/LB Jim Jones matched a season-high with 4.5 tackles for a group that will need to tighten up against the af2's highest-scoring offense.
Conquest Offense:
QB Ryan Vena ranks second in total offense with 2,391 yards and fifth in the league with 36 total TDs. WR/LB Jim Jones caught four passes for 56 yards with two TDs last week and should be more involved this week, while WR/DB Quentin Ware-Bey caught two passes for 24 yards in his first game of the season. WR/DB Kenny Williams will return to the lineup and WR/DB Bakari Brown could make his season debut at The Mark.
Steamwheelers Defense:
DS Sidney Lewis leads team defenders with 37.0 tackles and nine pass breakups. WR/DB Troy Graham led the Wheelers with five tackles against Stockton and has two INTs with eight pass breakups this season. The pressure comes from FB/LB Jeff Macrea (two sacks & six QBHs) and OL/DL Adrian Wilson, who has five QBHS.
FORWARD MOTION: The Albany Conquest return to U.S. Army Field at Pepsi Arena to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers on June 10, 2006 at 7:00pm. Marvel Comics superhero Wolverine will be at the game to take pictures and sign autographs, while lucky winners will win prizes from the hit movie High School Musical.
The Albany Conquest are in their fifth anniversary arenafootball2 season with four-game flex ticket packages currently on sale. Individual game tickets for the 2006 campaign are also on sale now by calling the Albany Conquest offices at (518) 487-2244 or by visiting www.albanyconquest.com for more information.
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