Firebirds come up short... again (Full Story)
July 2, 1998 - Final 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Totals Albany 3 10 14 21 48 Iowa 7 20 14 14 55 Frustrated Firebirds lose at one-yard line
DES MOINES, Iowa - Like a scratched record that keeps skipping on the same groove, the Albany Firebirds lost by a 55-48 score for the second week in a row Thursday night.
Albany came up a yard short of tying the score on the final play of the game against the Iowa Barnstormers as offensive specialist Eddie Brown caught a pass from Mike Pawlawski at the Iowa five and was brought down at the one.
The Firebirds have lost three straight and stand at 6-4, tied with New Jersey for first place in the Eastern Division.
The loss Thursday was eerily similar to a 55-48 loss to New Jersey Saturday at Pepsi Arena.
The Firebirds trailed by a touchdown and had the ball for the game-deciding possession in each game.
This time, the Firebirds had less time to work with but came closer to tying the score.
After Iowa quarterback Aaron Garcia hit Carlos James on a 26-yard touchdown play to make it 55-48 with 34.5 seconds left, Albany's Chad Dukes returned the kickoff to the Firebirds' 14, but used 12 seconds to do it as Albany took over with 22 seconds left and three timeouts.
Pawlawski hit Brown for 11 yards and Dukes for five to set up a second-and-five at midfield with 10.2 seconds left.
Pawlawski overthrew Jay Jones in the end zone, and with 5.5 seconds left, he found Brown, but the Firebirds' leading receiver couldn't get in the end zone as the clock ran out.
Garcia, who has a 3-2 record for the 3-7 Barnstormers after being traded by New Jersey, was named game MVP, completing 21 of 30 passes for 313 yards.
For the second week in a row, a fumble by Dukes helped put the Firebirds in a hole.
Neither team got much going in the first quarter as Iowa took a 7-3 lead, and after the Barnstormers took a 13-10 lead early in the second quarter, Dukes appeared to be on his way to a touchdown with the ensuing kickoff, but he fumbled the ball out the back of the end zone.
Garcia used three plays to get Iowa another touchdown, and the Firebirds trailed until there was one minute left in the game, when Pawlawski hit Brown on a 47-yard touchdown to tie the score at 48-48.
Iowa took over on its own eight, and after two incompletions, Garcia hit Darrell Walker for 16 yards.
On the next play, he hit James at the 13, and defensive back Tommy Johnson couldn't wrap the receiver up as James scored the game-winning touchdown.
The Firebirds committed 14 penalties for 74 yards - the team single-game record for penalty yards is 77.
The line was particularly susceptible to flags, both offensively and defensively, as Joe Jacobs was whistled repeatedly for jumping offsides.
Greg Hopkins caught nine passes for 90 yards and three touchdowns for the Firebirds.
Firebirds head coach Mike Dailey has given the team off until Wednesday. The Firebirds don't play again until next Monday, July 13, when they host the defending ArenaBowl champion Arizona Rattlers.
