Conquest Weekly
June 7, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
Albany, N.Y. - The Albany Conquest dropped a 72-61 road decision to the Quad City Steamwheelers last Saturday night. Albany (4-5) is locked in a three-way tie for third place in the East Division and will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak on Saturday. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers are coming off a 51-48 road win over the Louisville Fire on Saturday. Wilkes-Barre (7-2) leads the East Division and Saturday's match-up is the second of three meetings during the 2006 season, with the final match-up at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza on July 29 2006.
ALL-TIME: Saturday is the 14th all-time meeting between Albany and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, with the Pioneers holding a 7-6 advantage. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has won six straight in the series, including a 55-48 overtime win at Pepsi Arena's U.S. Army Field on April 14th. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton turned in a 55-37 road win on April 14th. The Conquest began the series by winning the first five meetings between the two franchises.
VENA HITS 10,000 IN STYLE: QB Ryan Vena became just the 10th passer in league history to gain at least 10,000 yards on Saturday. Vena has played in a league-high 376 offensive downs, and ranks third in the af2 with 2,716 yards of total offense. He ran for his league-best 15th rushing TD against Quad City and is now just nine yards shy of 500 career-rushing yards during his af2 career.
ANTHONY EARNS AN A+: WR/DB Thomas Anthony had a strong debut with the Conquest on Saturday. He hauled in seven passes for a team-high 107 yards with three TDs in the loss to Quad City. The 23-year-old made his af2 debut just minutes from his hometown of Bettendorf, IA after joining the club earlier in the week.
BROWN BREAKS IN: OS Bakari Brown also saw his first indoor action last weekend. He caught a team-high eight passes for 89 yards, including his first af2 touchdown during the second quarter. The 6-0, 185-pound rookie came over to the Conquest in a trade with the Tulsa Talons earlier this season.
DeONTE LIKES D: WR/DB DeOnte' Taylor led Albany with 5 (4UA, 2A) tackles along with one pass breakup against his former team last weekend. He has stepped up and now ranks third among active players with 23.5 (19UA, 9A) tackles in seven of nine games during the 2006 campaign.
PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:
Wilkes-Barre Offense:
QB Mike Granieri threw for 233 yards with five TDs but had two INTs against Louisville. He is tied for eighth with eight rushing TDs for an efficient offense. WR/LB Yardon Brantley leads the crew with 45 receptions and ranks second with nine TDs. OS J.R. Thomas tops the receivers with 528 yards and 13 TDs, while WR/LB Yaacov Yisrael is the middle-man with 41 catches and 508 receiving yards.
Conquest Defense:
DS Pete McBride topped the defense with two pass breakups to go with 4.0 tackles against the Wheelers. He leads the club with five pass breakups and is second with 25.5 (21UA. 9A) tackles this season. OL/DL Jamarr Ward added his team-high third sack in his return to Quad City, while Albany Academy's Agean Robinson had a solid debut with 1.5 tackles and one QBH.
Conquest Offense:
QB Ryan Vena threw for 323 yards on Saturday, marking the fourth time this season he's surpassed the 300-yard mark. Bakari Brown stepped in to the OS role with 89 yards on Saturday, while WR/DB Thomas Anthony provided the BIG play option at two-way. WR/LB Jim Jones added six catches and three TDs as Vena found seven different targets for an offense that remains hard to contain.
Pioneers Defense:
Linemen Doug Harding and Tyree Young led a team effort with 1.5 sacks each against the Fire. Wilkes-Barre totaled four sacks in the game and now ranks fourth by allowing just 40.3 points per contest. DS Jamie Hattley tops the club with 48.5 tackles, while DS Matt Forbes leads with four INTs and nine pass breakups for a strong defensive club.
FORWARD MOTION: The Albany Conquest host the Louisville Fire at Pepsi Arena's U.S. Army Field on Saturday, June 17, 2006 in a 7:00pm kick-off.
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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