ThunderBirds Hand Conquest 62-53 Loss
Published on May 8, 2008 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - The Albany Conquest dropped their second straight game, losing to the Daytona Beach ThunderBirds 62-53 Thursday night at the Ocean Center.
The ThunderBirds never trailed in this game and held a 35-27 lead going into the second half. Daytona took a two-possession lead when they sacked Albany QB Dan Cole, forcing a fumble that was returned by Tim Daniels 20-yards for a touchdown. Late in the third quarter, the Conquest finally created the defensive turnover they were looking for as Brandon Taylor intercepted a Matt Bohnet pass off the net, leading to a 15-yard Cole TD pass to Chris Bocage. Albany cut the lead to just two points with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter on another Bocage touchdown, but they would never come any closer.
After winning the coin toss, Albany elected to kick off to start the game, giving the ThunderBirds the ball first. Daytona Beach took advantage of the early possession on their first drive, scoring on a 6-yard TD pass from Bohnet to Lamar Hughes. Then the ThunderBirds came up with a defensive stop, forcing Albany to turnover the ball on downs in their first offensive series. Daytona Beach immediately marched down the field and again Bohnet linked up with Hughes, this time for an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 lead. The Conquest found their rhythm in their second possession as Cole connected with Bocage for a 19-yard touchdown pass. Albany and Daytona Beach matched each other with three touchdowns apiece, the only difference being a missed extra point attempt by Jason Fralicker, pushed back five more yards due to an Albany false-start penalty. Antwun Williams caught two touchdown passes in the second quarter, while Jeremy Grier had two for Daytona Beach.
Daytona Beach QB Matt Bohnet had a game-high eight passing touchdowns and completed 22-of-34 passes for 290 yards, but did throw one interception. Albany QB Dan Cole was 23-for-38 passing for 329 yards and six touchdown passes and one interception; Cole also had one rushing touchdown. Conquest WR Chris Bocage had a game-high 10 receptions for 178 yards and four TD catches; he also had 96 kick return yards and 12 rushing yards for a game-high 286 all-purpose yards. ThunderBirds WR Mike McCullum had a team-high eight receptions, but WR Lamar Hughes led Daytona Beach with seven catches for 122 yards and five touchdowns. Albany DB Brandon Taylor had a game-high 8.0 tackles (6 solo, 2 assists) and recorded his third interception of the season.
Schutt Offensive Player of the Game: Daytona Beach WR Lamar Hughes
ADT Defensive Player of the Game: Albany DB Brandon Taylor
U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE GAME: Daytona Beach WR Lamar Hughes
CUTTERS CATCH OF THE GAME: Daytona Beach WR Lamar Hughes
Score By Quarters: 1 2 3 4 F ALBANY 7 20 19 7 53
DAYTONA BEACH 14 21 14 13 62
After the short week in Daytona Beach, the Conquest have a few extra days to get ready for a massive East Division clash with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers on Friday, May 16th at Wachovia Arena. The 7:00 pm kickoff in Pennsylvania will be the first of three meetings between Albany and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season. Albany's next home game will come in Week 9 as they host the Manchester Wolves on Friday, May 23rd at 7:00 pm at the Times Union Center.
Partial season ticket packages and individual game tickets are now on sale for the remainder of the 2008 Albany Conquest regular season. For more information please contact the Conquest at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyconquest.com.
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