Albany To Play Final Two Games Away From Pepsi
July 13, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
The Albany Conquest (3-10) dropped a 58-57 decision to the South Georgia Wildcats at Pepsi Arena last Friday night. The Conquest have lost four in-a-row, stand fifth in the East Division and close out their home schedule with NY Giant Legend Harry Carson in attendance on Friday night at Pepsi Arena. The Green Bay Blizzard (8-5) are coming off a 40-37 loss to the Quad City Steamwheelers on the road Saturday night. The Blizzard are tied for second in the East Division and the third playoff position in the American Conference.
POPE POWER
Conquest OS Jeremiah Pope has risen to the top of the af2 receivers list 10 games into his pro career. He leads Albany with 93 receptions, which is also tied for second in the af2. The C.W. Post alumnus tops the Conquest with 25 TD's and ranks second on the club with 1,045 yards, while his 104.5 yards per game are top ten on the circuit.
NEWCOMERS MAKE PLAYS
Head coach Pete Costanza added new blood that made some critical plays against the Wildcats last week. WR/DB Quentin Ware-Bey led the group with three catches for 30 yards including his first touchdown of the season. WR/DB Roy Hopkins had a tackle and FB/LB Kyle Obendorf added a pass breakup as each played in their first af2 contest.
ALIVE & KICK RETURNING
Following a game against Louisville with only two returns, the Conquest returned to life last weekend. The team racked up 166 kick return yards with WR/LB Jeff Higgins doing most of the damage, picking up 106 yards on three returns. WR/DB Cy Butler added 43 yards, while DS Pete McBride had one return for 17 yards.
PLAYERS & MATCHUPS TO WATCH
- Blizzard Offense South Georgia QB Johnny Thurman has thrown for 2,834 yards with 55 touchdowns in 12 games this season. He is also among the league leaders in completions (242) and plays from scrimmage (433). Green Bay sports five receivers with over 400 yards through the air. WR/DB Brent Holmes leads the group in receptions (44), while WR/DB Lance Taylor rounds out the corps as the only one to play in all 12 games.
- Conquest Defense Albany DS Pete McBride led the club with 5.5 tackles for the fourth consecutive game. He tops the Conquest with 13 pass breakups, places second with 38.5 tackles and is tied for third with one interception. OL/DL Lou Vega had two tackles for loss, 2 QBH's and a pass breakup on Friday and has three TFL in just two games this season. Albany forced two fumbles in the loss to South Georgia and is now tied for the af2 lead with 16 fumble recoveries this season.
- Conquest Offense Albany QB D. Bryant was an impressive 20-for-29 with 270 yards and a career-high tying eight TD's last weekend. He is tied for the league lead with 79 offensive touchdowns and ranks second in the af2 with 3,359 passing yards. WR/LB Manwell Talbert caught five passes for 60 yards last week and leads the offense with 1.125 yards through the air, while placing second with 23 receiving TD's. WR/DB Cy Butler had a pair of touchdowns and eclipsed 500 receiving yards last weekend, leaving him five yards shy of a new career-high.
- Blizzard Defense Green Bay stands fifth by allowing just 41.5 points against and ranks fourth with a 71.4% red zone defense efficiency. DS Ryan Bowers is fifth in the af2 with 76.0 (64UA, 24A) tackles and is tied for the league lead with nine interceptions this season. He also tops the club with eight pass breakups and three tackles for loss. WR/DB David Crocker comes in second with 47.5 (37UA, 21A) tackles and four interceptions.
FORWARD MOTION
The Albany Conquest hit the road for the final two games of the 2005 season. Albany visits the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers for the second and final time on Saturday, July 23rd in a 7:30 p.m. kick off.
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