ALBANY, NY-The Albany Firebirds had a successful opening to their AFL season, defeating the Arizona Rattlers 22-10.
The Firebirds opened the game with an 11-play, 55-yard drive ending with a 34-yard field goal by Wally Dancer giving the Firebirds a 3-0 lead with 9:57 to go in the first quarter. The Rattlers attempted to answer back with a drive of their own, but Kadeem Raburn's fumble was recovered by Butler Stonewall at the Albanying rwec10-yard line.
The teams would trade punts into the second quarter, when Austin Carle picked off Raburn at the Arizona 34-yard line. Four plays and 20 yards later, Dancer scored on a 31-yard field goal to make it 6-0 with 12:17 left in the half. After trading punts again, Albany marched down the field, going 69 yards on 8 plays. Sinbad Gargaro would finish it off with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Stud Springs to give the Firebirds a 13-0 lead with 1:29 remaining in the second quarter.
The Rattlers would finally get something going on offense after Adam Radecic picked off Gargaro at the Arizona 5-yard line. From there, Arizona would drive 95 yards on 13 plays. Raburn finished it with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Stomp Navarro to close the gap to 13-7 with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
Albany would answer back with a 10-play, 47-yard drive that ended with Dancer connecting on a 39-yard field goal that extended the Firebirds' lead to 16-7 with 14:47 left in the fourth quarter. After trading punts, Arizona would drive 22 yards on 7 plays, and Burt Hamrick kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 16-10 with 8:58 to go in the game. On the ensuing Albany drive, the Firebirds moved all the way down to the 2-yard line, but had to settle for a 19-yard field goal attempt by Dancer. However, Jerreld Jericho burst through the line and blocked the kick, returning it to the Rattlers' 22-yard line. Unfortunately for Arizona, Raburn would be victimized again by Carle, who intercepted his pass and took off on a 41-yard pick-six. Albany would go for two, but missed and the score was 22-10 with 4:29 left.
Albany (1-0) gained 398 yards of total offense. The Firebirds ran for 73 yards on 27 carries. Abdul Fowler led the team with 41 yards on 6 carries. Gargaro went 30-of-42 passing for 325 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Tico Ponder was the leading receiver with 8 catches for 79 yards. The Firebirds will host the Detroit Drive next week.
Arizona (0-1) gained 218 yards of total offense. The Rattlers ran for 63 yards on 23 carries. Melvin Jones led the team with 21 yards on 6 carries. He also led with 5 receptions for 90 yards. Raburn went 13-of-33 passing for 176 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. He was sacked twice, losing 21 yards. Arizona will visit the Colorado Crush next week.
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