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Firebirds Look to Continue Winning Ways

June 10, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release


2009 Record:

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

The Stakes

The Firebirds have won four of their last five games to draw even with the Manchester Wolves for second place in the East Division; Albany's 3-4 division record gives them the tie breaker over Manchester (2-4). Last Week Albany defeated the Wolves 48-46 in Manchester for their second consecutive win against their division rival. Mahoning Valley opened the season with a Week 1 home victory over the Firebirds, but have since gone on to lose nine straight games, falling to last place in the league. Chris Mackeown replaced Booth Brennan as head coach on May 26th and will be looking for his first win this weekend in his third game leading the club. Last week the Thunder dropped a 58-47 decision to the Milwaukee Iron in their highest scoring output of the season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

WR/LB Alvin Ray Jackson's two-way performance in Week 11 earned the third year star the JLS IronMan of the Week award. Jackson registered 4.5 tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up on defense, and he made six receptions for 71 yards on offense. Ironically, Jackson did not find the endzone for the first time in six games. It was Jackson's first ever league award.

QB Stephen Wasil threw for 300 yards with six touchdowns last week in Manchester, marking the fourth straight game he has thrown for at least 300 yards and six TDs. In six starts this season, the second-year pro has a 115.82 passer rating with 1,595 passing yards and 33 passing touchdowns. Wasil's six games played exclude him from the league leader-board.

WR/DB Christian Wise was held to under 100 receiving yards for just the second time this season in the win over the Wolves. He still led the club with 85 receiving yards and two touchdowns and Wise ranks fourth in the league in receiving yards per game (127.4) and all purpose yards per game (193.1). His 8.56 receptions per game rank eighth in the af2 and his 20.1-yard kick return average is 10th overall.

WR Jared Jones caught two Firebirds scores last week in his second game of the season. Jones' second touchdown, a 25-yard fourth-quarter bomb that sent the receiver over the end-boards, earned him the catch of the game. Jones has five catches for 63 yards with three touchdowns in his two games during the 2009 campaign.

C Junior Ramos, G Chris Scanzano and TE Jon Leible anchored a Firebirds O-Line that allowed a season-low zero sacks in Week 11. Leible also caught his second touchdown in as many games for his third of the season. G Tim Johnson, fresh off of the IR, also saw reps on the solid front line.

DB E.J. Whitley made his af2 debut last week against Manchester and recorded 3.5 tackles and forced a fumble. DB Jamel Ramsay led the team with 6.5 tackles and notched the team's second forced fumble, a goal-line, game-changer in the fourth quarter. The fumbles were recovered by WR/LB Alvin Ray Jackson and DE David Tash, respectively. It was Tash's first fumble recovered of the season, but the lineman is no stranger to loose footballs; Tash is tied for first in the league with 0.50 fumbles forced per game.

Albany's defensive line did not record a sack last week, but the unit was still able to wreak havoc on first time QB Mike Potts. DE Anton Lindsay's two pass break-ups led the Firebirds defense and team sacks-leader DT Reggie Paramoure added a tackle for a loss. He leads the team with 7.5 tackles for loss this season.

Week 8 Schedule:

All games are broadcast LIVE on af2TV free streaming video at www.albanyfirebirds.com

Saturday, June 13th - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Mahoning Valley Thunder (1-9)

- This is the eighth all-time match-up between Albany and Mahoning Valley with the Thunder holding a 5-2 advantage in the series. The teams split their first two contests in 2009 and this will be the final match-up of the season. Mahoning Valley took down the Firebirds 44-34 in the season opener for both teams on March 27th. Albany won the next contest by a 50-41 score at home back in Week 6 on May 2nd.

- Leading Passers: QB - Davon Vinson - (96-164-8, 1,0835yds, 17TD)

- Leading Rusher: FB - Brenton Brady - (10att-60yds-1TD)

- Leading Receivers: Quorey Payne - (68rec-1020yds-18TD), CJ Brewer - (57rec-539yds-9TD), Trin Frederick - (25rec-216yds-2TD)

Firebirds Pecks:

- Full Timers: WR/LB Alvin Ray Jackson, DT Reggie Paramoure and K Brian Umstead are the only players on the team that have started in all ten games this season. FB Norman Bauer and WR Anthony Rodriguez have also played in all ten games, but the pair has started in nine of the 10 match-ups so far.

- Comeback Kids: Last week in Manchester marked the first time this season that the Firebirds won a game in which they led at the half. Albany was previously 0-3 this season when heading into the lockerroom with the lead. Albany has still not won a game in which they have lost the opening coin toss (0-4)

- Injury Report: DB Patrick Horne and DB Kenneth Williams have returned to full-contact drills in practice and may be available to return this weekend. WR Johnnie Butler is still limited and is likely to be placed on IR. DB Lawrence Wade was placed on the IR before last weekend's match-up.

The Firebirds return to Albany for a Week 12 divisional match-up with the Mahoning Valley Thunder on Saturday, June 13th in a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. Partial season ticket packages are now on sale; for more information please contact the Firebirds at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyfirebirds.com.



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