Perez-to-Brown does in Firebirds(Full Story) Perez-to-Brown does in Firebirds
It was Mike Perez to Eddie Brown all over again Saturday night at Pepsi Arena, but this time, that combination didn't result in an Albany Firebirds victory.
Perez, the Firebirds' quarterback for three years before being traded at the end of last season, returned with his new team Saturday night, the New York CityHawks, and passed the expansion franchise to a 62-41 victory over the Firebirds before 9,273 fans.
Coincidentally, one of Perez's chief weapons this season has the same name, Eddie Brown, as the Firebirds' offensive specialist, who for three years was Perez's favorite target in Albany.
Saturday night, it was the CityHawks' Eddie Brown who came up with the clinching touchdown, hauling in a 23-yard pass from Perez to give New York a 14-point cushion midway through the final period.
"I didn't see it, but I just threw it out there, and Eddie made a great catch," said Perez, who was 21-for-30 for 281 yards and four touchdowns, and was named the game's MVP. "The guys did a great job giving me protection tonight. I knew we'd have to go with a short game because of their pass rush, and to keep them off balance."
Perez peppered the Albany defense with a number of short passes, but also went deep with success. The Firebirds defense, already without defensive specialist Larry Jones, received another blow when it lost Derek Stingley early in the game. Stingley, who was laid out on the field for more than 10 minutes, was not hurt seriously.
"We don't have Larry Jones, and then we lose Derek Stingley," said Albany coach Mike Dailey. "That killed us. We had a guy back there [Tony Blockett] who was playing his first game ever."
Along with the defensive problems, the Firebirds were shut out in the fourth period after getting as close as seven points, 48-41, with 35 seconds left in the third period.
The loss dropped the Firebirds to 3-4, three games behind the Eastern Division-leading New Jersey Red Dogs, a 44-28 winner Saturday night over the Tampa Bay Storm. For the CityHawks, the win kept alive their hopes of turning around the season after a 1-5 start. That was what mattered to Perez, more than beating his former team.
"It didn't matter to me who we were playing, as long as we won," said Perez. "It wasn't Mike Perez against the Firebirds. It was two teams out there, and I didn't feel like I had anything to prove. The people here saw me for three years. They know what I'm capable of."
New York's Eddie Brown finished with three touchdowns, while Albany's Eddie Brown caught eight passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns, including one great catch that set up a third-period Albany score.
After Jerome Brown recovered a Perez fumble, Albany had an opportunity to tie the score early in the fourth period, but a fourth-down pass by Pawlawski intended for Mike Baker was off the mark.
"He was open. He just overthrew him," Dailey said. "There were several circumstances where we had to make a play, and we didn't. If we scored a touchdown there, it's a different game. We just have to go back to work on Monday."
The Firebirds scored first on a one-yard run by Pawlawski with less than three minutes gone in the game. The score was set up by Pawlawski's 33-yard pass to Greg Hopkins.
The CityHawks, however, came back to score twice in the opening quarter. Perez hit Brown for a 13-yard touchdown at 8:44, before scoring himself on a one-yard run at 1:11.
It was on the ensuing kickoff that Stingley was hurt, left prone in the end zone on a hit by the CityHawks' Thomas Orr. After a delay of more than 10 minutes, Stingley was wheeled off the floor on a stretcher, and taken to Albany Memorial Hospital with a concussion. According to Firebirds public relations director John Kolnar, Stingley was not seriously hurt, and returned to the bench in the fourth quarter.
Kolnar, concerned that Stingley's father, Darryl, might have been watching the game on television, contacted him in Chicago by phone to let him know his son was OK.
It was in 1978 that Darryl Stingley, a wide receiver for the New England Patriots, was left paralyzed by a brutal hit from Oakland Raiders safety Jack Tatum.
