Beamon Wins Player of the Week
April 9, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
ALBANY, NY â The Albany Conquest are pleased to announce that Defensive Specialist, Elijah Beamon, has been named the ADT Defensive Player of the Week by the af2 League Office for his efforts during the team's 45-42 win over Richmond in week two.
Beamon led all defenders in the game with seven tackles (five unassisted) and recorded one pass breakup and one timely interception. The interception came with 37-seconds left to play in the game and the Conquest down by three points. Richmond was attempting to run out the clock and seal the win, but Beamon stepped in front of a Joel Gordon pass on second down, tipped it in the air, and launched over two Speed receivers into the endzone for the eventual game-winning score.
In arena football, teams must make an attempt to advance the ball in order to keep the clock moving in the late minutes of a game. Richmond, rather than try to run the ball for positive yardage, threw a short pass into the backfield, intended for defending af2 Ironman of the Year, Kevin Harvey.
"They knew they had to get positive yardage and keep the clock moving", Beamon commented after the win, "And that screen had been getting them yardage all game. But I was looking for it, broke on it and it came right to me".
Beamon and the rest of the Conquest will be tested again this week as the Speed come to town to finish the second-part of a home-and-home series to begin the 2003 season. Richmond (0-1) plays in the American Conference Atlantic Division, but has turned into a serious rivalry for the Conquest in their short one-plus seasons of existence. So far, Albany leads the series 2-1, but neither team ahs been able to win at home against the other.
Tickets are still available for Friday night's game. Kickoff is set for 7:30PM and they can be ordered by visiting www.albanyconquest.com, or from any participating Ticketmaster outlets.
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