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Firebirds Visit First Place Pioneers

July 15, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release


The Firebirds are no longer in control of their own playoff destiny after dropping a contest to the Manchester Wolves 59-45 on Saturday, July 11th. Now the ninth-seed in the American Conference, Albany will be keeping tabs on eighth place Florida (6-8) and seventh place Manchester (7-7), which both hold tie-breakers over the Firebirds. The Pioneers have already locked up first place in the American Conference, but last week they lost 56-52 to the National Conference-leading Spokane Shock.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

The Firebirds defensive front-five took down Manchester quarterback Mike Potts three times last week. LB Charles Bryant recorded a season high 1.5 sacks and five tackles in the contest to earn the Aaron's Defensive Player of the Game award. DE Anton Lindsay recorded his fourth sack of the season en-route to a 3.5 tackle performance. The big sack earned Lindsay his first career NiFTY Hit of the Game award. DT Reggie Paramoure added the final half-sack to re-claim his team-lead from DE David Tash with 5.5 sacks this season.

DB Kenneth Williams and DB Malik Jackson led the Firebirds in tackles last week with seven apiece. Williams has led the team in tackles six times this year in only nine games played. He currently leads all defenders with 54 tackles during the 2009 season.

WR/LB Alvin Ray Jackson caught ten passes for 121 yards with two touchdowns against Manchester and overtook Christian Wise as Albany's leading receiver with 84 receptions. His 914 yards in 14 games are still well behind Wise's 1,221 receiving yards through 11 appearances. Jackson also posted three tackles and one interception to earn his eighth JLS Ironman of the Game award this year.

WR Anthony Rodriguez's 125 receiving yards led all Firebirds in Week 16, marking the second straight week that the rookie led the team in receiving yards. Rodriguez's 79 catches for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns rank third among Albany receivers in each category.

QB Stephen Wasil threw for 292 yards with five touchdowns and added a rushing score to stay among the league's stat-leaders. His 299.2 total offensive yards per game rank second in the league and his 290.1 passing yards per game rank third.

QB/WR Adam Bednarik caught four passes for 34 yards and a touchdown last week, marking his fourth-straight game with a touchdown reception. The versatile rookie has 23 receptions for 233 yards and six touchdowns in seven games at receiver. Bednarik played five games (four starts) at quarterback when Stephen Wasil went down at the start of the season.

Week 17 Schedule:

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

Saturday, July 18th - 7:30 pm - Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza - Wilkes-Barre, PA

vs. Manchester Wolves (6-7)

- This is the 24th all-time meeting between Albany and Wilkes-Barre Scranton and their final match-up of the 2009 season. The Pioneers lead the all-time series 15-8 and have taken the first two contests this season. In Week 2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won 70-28 at home and in Week 5 they dropped the Firebirds 70-26 at the Times Union Center. Albany's last win against the Pioneers came on July 29, 2007 in the home finale.

- Leading Passers: QB - Ryan Vena - (284-421-10, 3,615yds, 75TD)

- Leading Rusher: FB - Kirby Griffin - (60att-319yds-16TD)

- Leading Receivers: Irvin Campbell - (94rec-1,214yds-16TD), JJ Outlaw - (86rec-1,135yds-32TD), Rich Musinski - (59rec-710yds-17TD)

Firebirds Pecks:

- Playoff Watch: Albany and Florida have identical 6-8 records heading into Week 17, but the Firecats hold the head-to-head tiebreaker and currently occupy the eight and final playoff spot in the American Conference. Florida's final games are against playoff teams Tennessee Valley (10-4) and Kentucky (9-5).

- Pioneers Home Field Advantage: Wachovia Arena has become a visiting team's worst nightmare in recent years. The Pioneers have won 24 straight regular season home games, a streak that dates back to 2006. Counting the playoffs, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has won 28 of its last 29 home games. The last time the Pioneers lost a regular season home game was on July 8, 2006 when the Florida Firecats edged Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 56-51. The af2's all-time best home win streak belongs to the Tulsa Talons at their previous home, the Tulsa Convention Center. The Talons won 26 consecutive regular-season home games from 2000-03.

- 2009 af2 PLAYOFF STANDINGS:

American Conference Standings

1. W-B/Scranton (11-3) - xy - East Division Champion

2. Tennessee Valley (10-4) - y - Current South Division Leader

3. Iowa (10-4) - y - Current Midwest Division Leader

4. Kentucky (9-5) - y - Owns point differential advantage in HTH meetings over SGW (28-6)

5. South Georgia (9-5) - y

6. Green Bay (8-6)

7. Manchester (7-7)

8. Florida (6-8) - Owns HTH advantage over ALB

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9. Albany (6-8)

10. Peoria (5-9) - Owns point differential advantage in HTH meetings over MKE (16-5)

11. Milwaukee (5-9)

12. Quad City (5-10)

13. Mahoning Valley (1-13)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1. Spokane (13-1) - y - Current West Division Leader

2. Tulsa (12-2) - xy - Central Division Champion

3. Arkansas (10-4) - y - Current Southwest Division Leader

4. Boise (12-2) - y

5. Bossier-Shreveport (9-5) - y

6. Rio Grande Valley (7-7) - y

7. Oklahoma City (7-8) - y

8. Stockton (5-9) - y

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9. Central Valley (3-11)

10. Tri-Cities (2-12)

11. Corpus Christi (2-12)

12. Amarillo (2-12)

x - clinched division; y - clinched playoff spot

*Teams in bold currently lead their respective division; HTH = Head-to-head

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