Wolves Down Firebirds 74-53
April 19, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Albany Firebirds News Release
MANCHESTER, NH - Wolves Quarterback James Pinkney accounted for eight touchdowns as Manchester defeated the Albany Firebirds 74-53 Saturday night at the Verizon Wireless Center.
The Firebirds entered the contest hungry for their first win of the season and they set the tone early when quarterback Adam Bednarik launched a 30-yard touchdown bomb to Christian Wise on the first offensive play of the game. The Firebirds quickly attempted an onsides kick and appeared to recover the ball, but a penalty negated the play and gave the Wolves the ball on the Albany seven yard-line. Two plays later Albany linebacker Jose Harris recorded a sack and a forced fumble on Pinkney and linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson ran the ball all the way down the field to make it 14-0 Firebirds. Pinkney quickly made up for his fumble by tying the game with touchdown passes on each of his next two drives; first to wide receiver Emery Sammons and then to Steven Savoy. Next Jackson put his team ahead with his second fumble-return for a touchdown of the night after teammate Kenney Williams coughed-up the ball during a kick-return. However, Pinkney needed just one play to make the game 21-20 with another strike to Sammons.
At the start of the second quarter the Firebirds reclaimed the lead when Bednarik hit Wise for his second touchdown of the game. Next Albany kicker Brian Umstead made it 30-20 with a 27-yard field goal, but in the closing seconds of the half Savoy caught his second touchdown of the contest to cut the Firebirds lead to 30-26 at halftime.
Manchester started the second half with the ball and quickly took a 33-30 lead with a long pass from Pinkney to Sammons, but Albany responded on the next drive with a rushing touchdown from fullback Derek Adams Jr. that made it 37-33. On the ensuing Wolves drive Savoy gave his team another three-point lead with his third receiving touchdown of the night. Manchester added to their lead on the ensuing kick-off, recovering a loose ball in the endzone after a strange bounce off of the end-net. A Bednarik interception on Albany's next possession and a Manchester field goal made it 50-37 Wolves.
The Firebirds offense stalled early in the fourth quarter and Wolves kicker Chris Koepplin tacked on a 29-yard field-goal to increase his team's lead to sixteen points. A Pinkney QB-Keeper made it 60-37 midway through the fourth and in the closing minutes of play Bednarik accounted for his first touchdown of the half with a strike to Wise; a successful two-point conversion made it 60-45. Manchester's Antwan Stewart thwarted Albany's last-minute comeback efforts by returning an onsides-kick to the Firebirds endzone to give Manchester the 67-45 advantage. Albany wasn't done yet, as Bednarik found Jon Leible in the endzone and added a two-point conversion to make it a 67-53 with 28 seconds to play. However, another unsuccessful onsides-kick allowed Pinkney to find Savoy in the endzone again to make it a 74-53 final.
PASSING LEADERS: (Comp-Att-Yds-TDs-INT)
ALB: BEDNARIK, Adam - 19-36-262yds-2TD-1INT
MAN: PINKNEY, James - 18-30-252yds-7TD-0INT
RECEIVING LEADERS: (Rec-Yds-TD)
ALB: WISE, Christian: 8-139-3TD
MAN: SAVOY, Steven: 8-86-4TD
Russell Offensive Player of the Game: James Pinkney (MAN)
Aaron's Defensive Player of the Game: Brandon Isaac (MAN)
JLS Ironman of the Game: Alvin Ray Jackson (ALB)
The Big Game Catch of the Game: Steven Savoy (MAN)
Nifty Hit of the Game: Brian Umstead (ALB)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Final
Albany Firebirds (0-4) 21 9 7 16 53
Manchester Wolves (2-1) 20 6 24 24 74
Albany returns home for a home match-up with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers on Saturday, April 25th at 7:00 pm. at the Times Union Center.
Partial season ticket packages and single game tickets are now on sale; for more information please contact the Firebirds at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyfirebirds.com.
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