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Saturday Night Match-ups

May 1, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


Saturday night's action gets underway in Albany, N.Y. as the Firebirds host the Mahoning Valley Thunder. This will be the second time these two clubs have squared off in 2009. In the first meeting, Mahoning Valley walked away with its only victory so far this season, 44-34, in Week 1. Last week, the Thunder weren't so lucky, falling to the Tulsa Talons, 66-30. Mahoning Valley QB Blake Powers had a rough night running from the Tulsa rush. The rookie signal caller from Indiana completed 16 of his 22 pass attempts for 163 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Powers left the game with a third quarter shoulder injury and was replaced by Davon Vinson. Vinson failed to engineer any scoring drives while throwing an interception and fumbling in the end zone. WR QUOREY PAYNE had seven catches for 94 yards and one touchdown. Currently Payne averages the third most all-purpose yards in the league with 207.8 per game. Mahoning Valley continues to struggle with defense, allowing their opponent to score a league high 63.6 points per contest and 312.4 yards of offense. The Thunder also have trouble with turnovers, having the worst ratio in the league. So far this season, they have turned the ball over 20 times (11 fumbles, 9 INTs) while only forcing eight from their opponents. The Thunder will be led this week by defensive coordinator turned interim head coach BRENNEN BOOTH. Booth was promoted to replace MIKE HOLD on Tuesday. Albany is coming off a humbling home loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 70-26. The Firebirds are currently sitting at 0-5 on the season and desperately want that elusive first win. Problems are noticeable on both sides of the ball, with the offense only averaging 33.6 points per. The defense hasn't fared much better, however, allowing an average of 58 points per outing. QB ADAM BEDNARIK has been sacked a league-high 17 times and has one of the lowest pass efficiency ratings in the league. He also has eight interceptions. Bednarik completed just 18-of-38 passes against the Pioneers with three touchdowns and two interceptions. WR CHRISTIAN WISE has been one of Albany's few bright spots. The rookie receiver is averaging eight receptions a game with 116 yards. Last week, Wise caught nine passes for 139 yards and one touchdown. Expect a low-scoring yet highly-competitive outing from these two teams who are in desperate need of a win.



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