Conquest Take Losing Skid Back Home To Face Division-Leading Pioneers

June 4, 2008 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release


2008 Record:

3-6 (2-2 Home, 1-4 Road) - Streak: Lost 5 - Tied-Second Place, East Division, American Conference

Week 10 Recap:

The Mahoning Valley Thunder scored the final 30 points of the game as they shocked the Albany Conquest 44-31 Friday night at the Chevrolet Centre. The game began when Mahoning Valley's quarterback Shane Adler threw an interception on the Thunder's first possession of the game, sparking a turnover-riddled first half. Conquest defensive back Brandon Taylor picked off a pass from Adler deep in Albany territory, Taylor's team-leading fifth interception of the season, and he returned the ball back into the Mahoning Valley side of the field. Albany capitalized on the turnover as WR Chris Bocage finished off the drive with a 1-yard run for the first touchdown of the game, although Jason Fralicker's extra point hit the upright, giving Albany a 6-0 lead. The two teams then combined for five-consecutive turnovers before the Conquest scored again, this time Cole went to the air to find Bocage for a 23-yard catch and run for a touchdown; due to a bad snap on the PAT, Albany led 12-0. Mahoning Valley missed a 60-yard field goal attempt and then both teams turned the ball over on downs as the clock ran out in the first half. Mahoning Valley had six total turnovers in the first two quarters (1 interception, 3 fumbles, 1 missed field goal and 1 on downs), while Albany had three turnovers on downs.

Albany extended their lead the second half to 18-0 on their first possession of the third quarter. Antwun Williams caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Dan Cole, giving Williams his 60th career touchdown reception as a member of the Conquest and break the all-time franchise mark. But the Thunder refused to go away and backup QB Davon Vinson connected for two TD passes to cut the Albany lead to 18-14 at the end of the third quarter. The Conquest fired back with a pair of touchdowns to take a 17-point lead; Jared Jones caught an 11-yard touchdown from Cole and then defensive end Brian Bond intercepted a batted pass in the end zone for a defensive touchdown, giving Albany a 31-14 lead with just under ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Thunder struck back with two more touchdown passes from Vinson and a two-point conversion run from John Tackmann to cut the Albany lead to three points, but the Conquest still had the lead and the ball with under four minutes remaining in the game. Mahoning Valley forced a turnover on downs and took the lead on a 1-yard Vinson run. The Thunder then sacked Dan Cole in the end zone for a safety, giving them a six-point lead. Albany's onside kick attempt failed with 19 seconds left in the game, and as time ran out the Thunder fumbled the ball, got it back and scored to ice the game 44-31.

Week 11 Preview:

Former Albany Conquest QB Ryan Vena will bring his first-place Pioneers to the Times Union Center this weekend for the first of two visits in the 2008 season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton steamrolled the Conquest 69-27 in their first meeting of the year on May 16th at Wachovia Arena in Pennsylvania. In that game the Pioneers offense scored on every possession and Vena posted an impressive 300 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Albany's defense will be looking to carry the momentum from their six-turnover performance against Mahoning Valley into this week's game, while the Conquest offense after a disappointing 31 points scoring in Ohio, 6 of which were scored on a defensive touchdown. Having lost their last five consecutive games, Albany will be eager to turn around their fortunes this week. The Pioneers are coming off their second loss of the season, their first since Week 1, dropping a road game nail-biter 70-63 to the Manchester Wolves, snapping a seven-game winning streak.

Week 11 Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on 88.3 FM The SAINT and on the Internet at www.albanyconquest.com)

Saturday, June 7 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center

vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (7-2) - Streak: Lost 1

First Place, East Division, American Conference

This is the 20th All-Time meeting between Albany and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, with the Pioneers holding an 11-8 lead in the series and Wilkes-Barre has won four of the last five meetings. Positive news for the Conquest, Albany is 6-3 all-time against the Pioneers at the Times Union Center, with one of those three losses coming by way of overtime.

Leading Passer: Ryan Vena (#5) - 6 GP, 136-for-189, 1,668 yards, 45 TDs, 5 INTs, 127.4 QB rating. Leading Rusher: Jason Acquaye (#30) - 8 GP, 25 carries for 47 yards, 4 TDs, 1.9 yards per carry. Leading Receivers: J.J. Outlaw (#9) - 9 GP, 54 catches for 620 yards, 14 TDs, 11.5 yards per catch & Rich Musinski (#4) - 6 GP, 47 catches for 660 yards, 17 TDs, 14.0 yards per catch. Leading Tackler: Tu Tu Ferguson (#22) - 9 GP, 46.5 tackles (40 solo, 13 assisted), 1 INT, 2 fumbles recovered. Conquest Player of the Week: (Week 10)

Mike Lewis - LB - #37 11 catches for 130 yards and 7 Touchdowns

LB Mike Lewis had a phenomenal game as he led the Albany defense to their best performance of the season against the Mahoning Valley Thunder in Week 10. Lewis had a team-high six tackles (5 solo, 2 assisted), recorded 1.5 sacks, 2.0 tackles for a loss of 17 yards, he forced a fumble, recovered a fumble for an 11-yard return and had 1 quarterback hurry. The Conquest defense as a whole forced the Thunder offense into six total turnovers, including two interceptions and one defensive touchdown. For the season Lewis is tied for first on the team in tackles for loss (4.0), QB hurries (2), fumbles recovered (2) and forced fumbles (1); he is second in tackles (32.5) sacks (2.5).

Conquest Arrows:

- ANOTHER RECORD RECEPTION - In Week 9 WR Antwun Williams broke the Conquest single-game franchise record for touchdown catches with seven TDs against Manchester. In Week 10 Williams broke another franchise record. The Prince George, Virginia native hauled in his 60th career touchdown reception for Albany, becoming the Conquest's all-time leader in receiving TDs and passing Corey Hill's (2002-2003) previous record of 59 TD catches.

- A NEW THIEF - DE Brian Bond had an outstanding game for Albany in Week 10, recording his first half-sack of the season and becoming the first Conquest defender other than Brandon Taylor to tally an interception. Bond intercepted a Davon Vinson pass in the Mahoning Valley end zone for a defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter, at the time giving Albany a 31-14 lead.

- A RECORD NOT REALIZED - It was widely published that WR Antwun Williams's seven-touchdown performance in Week 9 versus Manchester broke the Conquest single-game record for most receiving touchdowns. But what passed under the radar was that Williams' 42 points scored against the Wolves also broke another franchise record for single-game scoring, previously held by WR Bakari Brown, who had 36 points (5 receiving TDs, 1 kickoff return TD) on May 5, 2007 against the Florida Firecats.

- STEALTH DEFENDER - DB Brandon Taylor picked off his team-leading fifth interception of the season on Mahoning Valley's first offensive series of Week 10. Taylor is tied for 9th in the af2 with 5 INTs and he ranks 10th in the league in interception return yards (79). The Eatontown, New Jersey native is one interception shy of the Albany single season record of six INTs, held by Brandon Tinson and Henry Baker, who each had six picks during the 2002 season.

- FORMER FIELD GENERAL RETURNS - Former Albany Conquest QB Ryan Vena comes to town this weekend still holding franchise records for single-game, season and career passing yards, passing touchdowns, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns; a total of 12 records. Vena has also had a lot of success playing against Albany; in four games against the Conquest Vena has completed 75-of-104 passes for 931 yards, 25 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and a 139.1 QB rating. However, Vena has never thrown a touchdown pass at the Times Union Center while wearing any uniform other than the Conquest colors.



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