Costanza's Conquest face the Fire
May 25, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
The Albany Conquest (2-5) remain tied with Macon and South Georgia for the sixth and final playoff position in the American Conference. The Conquest have dropped two straight games to two of the league's top ranked teams. The Louisville Fire (4-3) have lost three consecutive contests following a 47-43 home loss to the Florida Firecats. The Fire are tied with Wilkes-Barre for third place in the East Division and the fifth playoff spot in the Conference.
THE SERIES
The Albany Conquest and Louisville Fire split the inaugural season series between the two clubs with one win each during the 2004 season. The Fire took the first-ever meeting by a 62-56 score at Pepsi Arena on April 24th, while the Conquest went down to Kentucky and earned a 60-56 win at Freedom Hall. The East Division rivals will close out the 2005 season series on June 24th at Pepsi Arena.
ROSTER SHUFFLE
Head coach Pete Costanza has brought some familiar faces with him in his return to the Albany Conquest. He has already added former Indiana University QB Tommy Jones, who was with Costanza as part of the Columbus Destroyers practice squad this AFL season. The New Jersey native then added fan favorite K Vinny Cirrincione off re-assignment from Birmingham.
OOH, KICK IT TO ME
The Albany Conquest are one of two teams in the af2 to have more than 1,000 kick off return yards, and the club ranks fourth with a 22.3 return average. Albany remains top team in the league by allowing an average of 13.8 yards a return for the opposition. The Conquest are also tied for third overall with two kick return touchdowns.
BUCHIE EBAY OFFERS NO SALES
Conquest WR/DB Buchie Ibeh made a splash in his af2 debut on Saturday against Memphis. His first reception was a 41-yard touchdown strike from QB D. Bryant. Buchie wound up the night with two receptions for 64 yards to go with two solo tackles on defense. He played his collegiate ball first at the Capital District's Hudson Valley Community College and then at Temple University.
FAMILIAR FACES
Louisville Fire DS Rob Green played for the Conquest during the 2004 season and head coach Tommy Johnson once played for the Albany Firebirds of the AFL.
PLAYERS/MATCH-UPS TO WATCH
Fire Offense
Louisville QB Matt Sauk leads the league with 272.3 passing yards per game, while topping the af2 with 181 completions and 1,906 yards through the air. The receiving corps all get private time with the ball as Rob Mager (553yds, 15 TD), Dennis Fryzel (342yds, 3 TD) and Cesare Manning (412yds, 9 TD) all have more than 30 receptions and 300 yards receiving this season.
Conquest Defense
The Conquest defense surrendered a season-high 73 points against in Saturday's loss to Memphis. That said, it was another fine performance by DS Travis Coleman, who picked up his third interception to go with a team-high 5.5 tackles. Albany has been solid against the run placing fifth in the af2 by allowing just over 14 yards per game on the ground. The Conquest also stand fifth in allowing the opposition just 21 scores in 30 red zone chances this year.
Conquest Offense
Albany's WR/LB Manwell Talbert had another BIG game last weekend at Pepsi Arena. The 25-year-old caught six passes for 117 yards and his team-high 12th touchdown of the season. He ranks fourth in the af2 with 666 receiving yards and third with an average of 95.1 yards per game. Counting Talbert along with newcomer Buchie Ibeh and OS Jeremiah Pope, who has caught 10 TD's in just four games, and one can see that Albany has firepower.
Fire Defense
Louisville is led by DS Rob Green's 32 (29UA, 6A) tackles, nine pass breakups and two fumble recoveries through seven games during the 2005 season. WR/DB Tony Stallings leads the team with two INT's and is tied for fourth on the club 15 (13UA, 4A) total tackles. The Fire has 17 QBH this season, while the opposition has just three so watch out for the line.
FORWARD MOTION
The Albany Conquest return home on Saturday, June 4th when they face the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings in a 7:30 p.m. kick off at Pepsi Arena. The Upstate GMC Dealers present a Rally Towel Giveaway for all fans in attendance. Each Albany Conquest game is broadcast live on 104.9FM WZMR Froggy Country beginning 15 minutes prior to kick off with the CSEA pre-game show.
The Albany Conquest, a proud member of the Arena Football family, are in their fourth arenafootball2 season.
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