First Place Empire Win Fifth Straight: by the Numbers
Published on June 4, 2018 under Arena Football League (AFL)
Albany Empire News Release
The Albany Empire (5-2) won their fifth consecutive game on Saturday night in a back and forth battle against the Baltimore Brigade (5-2) at the Times Union Center by a score of 61-53 in front of a crowd of 8,057. The game was even throughout, but thanks to a late defensive touchdown by the Empire, Albany took the lead and momentum and never looked back. Albany maintained its third quarter dominance by allowing just 7 points. So far on the season, the Empire has outscored opponents by 61 total points in the third quarter.
SCORE BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINAL
ALBANY 7 26 14 14 61
BALTIMORE 7 24 7 15 53
The game's MVP, Tommy Grady had huge night tallying 19 completions on 30 attempts for 248 yards and 8 touchdowns. On the season, Grady has totaled 137 completions on 211 attempts for 1,653 yards and 42 touchdowns; both league bests. Grady is also the league leader in touchdowns per game with 6.0.
Grady spread the ball around finding four different receivers for scores. Offensive player of the game, Malachi Jones, led the way with 8 catches for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns. The showing put the rookie back on top of the league lead with 620 receiving yards on the season. Jones is second in the league with 13 receiving touchdowns. Joe Hills has another big night for the Empire reeling in 7 catches for 60 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. This marked the 87th consecutive game with a receiving touchdown for Hills, an active league record. Through six games, Hills leads the league with 16 receiving touchdowns. Hills is second in the league with 46 receptions and third in the league with 536 receiving yards. Collin Taylor added 1 catch for 48 yards and 1 touchdown. Red zone threat Greg Carr chipped in 2 receptions for 7 yards and 1 touchdown. Newly acquired wide receiver Larry Beavers had 1 reception for 3 yards in his debut.
Leading the way on defense once again was jack linebacker Terence Moore who had 4.5 tackles, 1 interception, 1 forced fumbled and 1 fumble recovery. On the season, Moore is tied for the league lead in interceptions with 3 and tied for the league lead in fumble recoveries with 2. Defensive back Marrio Norman added a team high 7.0 total tackles in the victory. On the season, Norman is second in the league in total tackles with 43. Defensive lineman Brandon Sesay had 1 sack and 1 forced fumble. Defensive end Darryl Cato-Bishop had 1 fumble recovery and 1 defensive touchdown. Defensive back Brandon Stephens added 4 total tackles and 1 fumble recovery.
The betting spread favored the Empire (-2.5) which Albany covered winning by 8 points. The score totaled up to 114 points; well above the over/under of 90.5 set by oddsmakers. The 61 points scored by Albany were a season high for the Empire.
The next game for the Empire is another home matchup against the Brigade on Saturday, June 9 at 7:30 pm in the Times Union Center.
Arena Football League Stories from June 4, 2018
- Brigade Today - Baltimore Brigade
- Valor Today - Washington Valor
- First Place Empire Win Fifth Straight: by the Numbers - Albany Empire
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