Playoff Hopes Still Very Much Alive As Albany Travels To Kentucky

June 11, 2008 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release


2008 Record:

3-7 (2-3 Home, 1-4 Road) - Streak: Lost 6 - Third Place, East Division, American Conference

Week 11 Recap:

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers returned to winning-ways by trouncing the Albany Conquest 69-27 for their eighth win of the season on Saturday night at the Times Union Center. The East Division-leading Pioneers went right to work in the first quarter as they received the opening kickoff and drove quickly down the field for a touchdown on only three plays. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's defense then forced Albany to turn the ball over on downs, which led to another Pioneers touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Albany QB Dan Cole linked up with Antwun Williams for an eight-yard TD pass, but a failed extra point left the Conquest trailing by eight points as the first quarter came to an end. The visitors pulled away in the second quarter by using the deep ball attack. Pioneers QB Ryan Vena heaved the ball down the field not once, but twice on consecutive possessions to WR J.J. Outlaw, each time resulting in a 34-yard touchdown reception. Albany's Vernard Abrams scored on a two-yard TD pass from Cole, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton added a ten-yard TD strike from Vena to Larry Kendrick to take a 35-13 lead into halftime.

Looking to grab momentum with the opening drive of the third quarter, the Conquest failed to take advantage of their possession as they were forced out on downs for the fourth time in the game. Kendrick was again the target as Vena found his received for a six-yard score and a 22-point lead. Cole answered with another touchdown pass to Abrams, this time an eight-yard pass, but Vena countered by finding Outlaw for his third TD reception of the game and a 48-20 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Pioneers tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to erase any thoughts of a comeback. WR Rich Musinski caught a 15-yard TD pass from Vena and DB Barry Drakeford picked off a Dan Cole pass, returning the ball 25-yards for a touchdown, as the visitors opened up a 42-point advantage. Albany backup QB Joe DeLuise came in with two minutes remaining in the game and on his first snap connected with WR Heath Decker for a 34-yard gain; it was DeLuise's first career af2 pass completion. Two plays later DeLuise recorded his first career af2 touchdown pass, as he found fittingly Albany's all-time leading TD receiver Antwun Williams for a four-yard score. After a failed Conquest on-side kick attempt, Pioneers fullback Kirby Griffin completed the scoring with a seven-yard TD run and a 69-27 win.

Week 12 Preview:

In spite of losing their 6th straight game in Week 11, the Conquest's playoff hopes are still very much alive. Albany is currently two games behind the Quad City Steamwheelers (5-5), who sit in the eighth and final playoff spot in the American Conference; Albany will need a win over Lexington to cut into that deficit and right the ship. The Horsemen have had a fantastic expansion season thus far, but have hit a rut, losing their last two games. They currently reside in the 7th place playoff position, holding a three-game lead over Albany.

A Look Back Into Conquest History:

May 15, 2004 - Louisville, Kentucky

Albany has not won an af2 game in the state of Kentucky since May 15, 2004, when the Conquest narrowly edged the Louisville Fire 60-56 in front of 8,347 fans at Freedom Hall. Three weeks prior to this date, Louisville stunned the Conquest and their home crowd of 5,833 with a 62-56 road victory in the first ever franchise meeting between Albany and Louisville. Albany returned as the franchise made it's first ever trip to Kentucky in May. Future AFL QB D. Bryant led the Conquest with a fantastic day, being directly responsible for all eight of Albany's touchdowns. Bryant completed 13-of-25 passes for 313 yards, 6 touchdowns and a 137.1 QB Rating. He also ran the ball five times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Bryant's main target was Tony Locke, who amassed an incredible 305 all-purpose yards. Locke caught a team-high 8 passes for 211 yards and 4 touchdowns, while adding four kickoff returns for 94 yards. Locke had a fantastic season in 2004, setting five different Conquest single-season records that he still holds to this day. Defensively the Conquest were led by Rob Green, who had a game-high 9.0 tackles (7 solo, 4 assisted), Travis Coleman, who tallied six solo tackles in Albany's four-point victory. Albany has traveled to Kentucky two more times since that day, losing to Louisville 62-55 in overtime on May 27, 2005 and then falling to the Fire on 51-38 May 20, 2006, for a combined 1-2 record while playing in the Bluegrass State.



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