'Birds put hurt on Red Dogs (Full Story)
May 11, 1998 - Final 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Totals Albany 7 17 7 21 52 New Jersey 14 3 7 14 38 Firebirds put hurt on Red Dogs
MARK SINGELAIS
Staff writerEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The fourth-quarter tackle Chad Dukes made on Adrian Lunsford had such cataclysmic force, some of the fans in the upper tier of Continental Airlines Arena probably got groggy just watching it.
The slow-motion replay on the scoreboard made people cringe.
Two hard tackles by Jon Krick, Dukes' teammate with the Albany Firebirds, had a huge impact on the outcome of the game.
From beginning to end, the Firebirds mauled the New Jersey Red Dogs en route to a 52-38 win in an Arena Football League game.
"They were ready to break,'' said Albany wide receiver/linebacker Greg Hopkins, named the game's Ironman. "We hammered them in the first half, and we knew coming into halftime that we outphysicaled them. We knew if we came out in the third quarter and kept hammering them down we'd pull away.''
Hopkins caught six passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns and also returned an interception for a touchdown to put the game away in the fourth quarter.
"We knew they were not a very physical team,'' wide reciever/defensive back Stan Petry said. "They had one guy, No. 42 (Damon Thomas) who was pretty physical and brought his game. But the rest of them are just finesse receivers. If you don't hit them, they can cause you problems downfield. But hit them and shake them up a little bit, and they don't want no part of it.''
Krick, a lineman, said he could hear New Jersey quarterback Aaron Garcia imploring his lineman to block better because he was under so much pressure.
Krick made a key tackle at the end of the first half, when the Red Dogs were at the Albany 8 with six seconds left. Krick blew uncontested through the line and sacked Garcia as time expired, preserving Albany's 24-17 lead at halftime.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Albany kicker Pete Elezovic missed a 56-yard field goal attempt, but Krick forced New Jersey return man Willie Gaston to fumble, and Petry recovered at the Red Dog 2.
After a holding penalty against Albany marched the ball back eight yards, Albany quarterback Mike Pawlawski (18 of 26, 234 yards, five TDs) hit Hopkins for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Firebirds a 38-24 lead with 13:33 left.
On the ensuing kickoff, Dukes left his mark on the game -- and most likely one on Lunsford. After Lunsford got out to the 2, Dukes struck him as if he'd been fired out of a cannon, putting a shoulder into Lunsford that flattened the New Jersey return man.
"Oh, gosh,'' Krick exclaimed. "That was just an emotional lift for everybody else. Things are going your way and when you see a guy like (Dukes) still bringing it, it's a tremendous feeling. Chad's capable of making big plays. We all know that.''
