PLAYERS TO WATCH:
WR/LB Alvin Ray Jackson continues to be one of the most productive Firebirds on both sides of the ball. Last week Jackson turned in a pair of fumble recoveries for touchdowns; the first from a Jose Harris sack/forced fumble on Manchester quarterback James Pinkney and the second on a Kenny Williams fumble during a kick return. In Week 3 Jackson caught two touchdown passes at home against Florida and recorded the team’s second interception of the season, picking Florida’s Chris Wallace in the endzone on the Firecats’ opening drive.
After taking just one week off as Albany’s top receiver, WR Christian Wise put up 139 yards for three touchdowns on six receptions in Week 4 to lead Albany in each category. Wise’s 441 yards and four touchdowns on the year lead the team and Wise ranks 10th in the league with 110.2 receiving yards per game. WR Anthony Rodriguez tops the Firebirds in receptions with 34.
FB Derek Adams Jr. has played in two games with the Firebirds this season and has led the team in rushing in both games. Last week Adam’s Jr. was given just one rushing attempt, but he made the most of it with a 6-yard touchdown rumble.
OL/DL David Tash joined the team via a trade from Manchester last week and he made his presence known in his first game against his former team. Tash registered five tackles, one sack and one forced fumble which led to a Firebirds defensive touchdown. Team-leader in tackles Kenneth Williams (DB) also notched five tackles in week four and added a team-high three pass break-ups. Williams leads all Firebirds defenders with 22 tackles on the season. Defensive Lineman Reggie Paramoure’s 3.5 tackles for loss (including 2 sacks) have him ranked 10th in the league in TFL per game.
Firebirds Pecks:
· Big Play Ray Under Center: After QB Brett Hall’s mid-week release, the Firebirds had just one healthy quarterback for Week 4 (starter Adam Bednarik). WR/LB Alvin Ray Jackson, a former Albany State quarterback, was listed as the team’s number two signal-caller. Albany’s leading scorer wore non-contact orange during practice and worked-out his arm during warm-ups, but stuck to WR/LB during all team-drills and did not take any snaps in Manchester.
· New Faces at Quarterback: Week 1 starter Stephen Wasil will return to non-contact drills this week and is expected to participate in team drills during Week 6. In the mean time, Head Coach Tony Bowick brought in QB Datwan Hemmingway for a two-day tryout.
· Tale of Two Halves: Through four games this year the Firebirds have scored 95 points in the first-half to just 47 in the second-half. Their opponents, on the other hand, have really turned it up after halftime with 124 points versus 96 first-half points.
· Kicker Putting Up Points: Kicker Brian Umstead ranks second on the team in scoring with 24 points. Umstead is 15-for-17 on PAT’s which ranks 4th in the league (91.7%) and his three field goals on seven attempts has him ranked third in field goal percentage (42.9) and tied for third in field goals per game (1.00). Three of Umstead’s four misses have come from more than fifty-yards out.
· Vena Returns to Albany: Pioneers QB Ryan Vena has surpassed the 20,000 passing-yard mark; he ranks 3rd All-Time in af2 history. Vena has also completed 400 TD Passes in his career, which also ranks 3rd All-Time in af2 history. Vena was Albany’s quarterback for three years (2002-2003, 2006) and holds franchise records for passing yards (12,023), passing touchdowns (213), pass attempts (1,527), pass completions (983), completions percentage (64.4%), passing interceptions (48), sacks taken (58), rushing attempts (212), rushing yards (652) and rushing touchdowns (56).
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