Pawlawski ties team record with nine TD passes in win over 'Hawks

MARK SINGELAIS
Staff writer

NEW YORK -- It was the only game in town Monday night, but New Yorkers could not have cared less. In a city with so many distractions, people hardly even noticed that the Albany Firebirds were playing the New York CityHawks at Madison Square Garden.

The game was promoted as the "Empire State Bowl,'' with the winner earning bragging rights in the state. The Firebirds came away with the trophy as Mike Pawlawski tied a team record with nine touchdown passes in a 71-50 rout.

The historic Garden, which seats 18,700 for Arena Football, was nearly empty. The CityHawks announced the attendance at about 5,723, but really, it was much closer to about 1,500, if even that many.

But it didn't matter to the Firebirds, who were ecstatic about avenging the 21-point loss to the CityHawks three weeks ago. The Firebirds (5-5) improved their position in the playoff race, while snuffing out the CityHawks' already slim hopes of making the playoffs. New York dropped to 2-8.

Albany offensive specialist Eddie Brown, who made 11 catches for 152 yards and four touchdowns, said the win was sweet revenge. He also accused the CityHawks of dirty play and said that this time, the Firebirds stood up to New York.

"It showed that we're a more classy team than they are,'' he said. "There was a lot of unnecessary stuff that could have been avoided. We've got to come out here and perform like professionals. All that fighting stuff, they have to go in the boxing ring with that. We're here to play football.''

The game was characterized by hard tackling, with players violently tossing each other into the boards. There was also a second-quarter fight between New York quarterback Mike Perez and Albany lineman Steve Shine, who was then ejected. "Perez didn't like being hit, but that's part of the game,'' Shine said. "And he's got to be able to take that.''

Perez found the going much tougher against the Firebirds defense than the last time these teams met. Perez was intercepted once by Larry Jones, and in the first half, he had two straight pass attempts knocked out of the air.

Meanwhile, Pawlawski was precise. He completed 21 of 30 passes for 320 yards and nine touchdowns, tying the club record set by Tom Porras in 1992.

He threw four touchdown passes to Greg Hopkins, whose presence is becoming bigger every week.

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