May 16, 1998 - Final	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Totals
San Jose	3	10	10	7	30
Albany	7	12	23	14	56

Firebirds put clamps on SaberCats

By MIKE MacADAM
Gazette Sportswriter

ALBANY - The Albany Firebirds better be careful, or they're going to ruin their reputation as an offensive powerhouse.

For the second week in a row, Albany's defense set the tone to lead the team to victory, a 56-30 rout of San Jose before 10,231 at Pepsi Arena.

Albany improved to 3-0, and the SaberCats, which had won two previous meetings with the Firebirds, fell to 0-3.

After a sloppy, lackluster first half, the Firebirds' offense got it going in the second half, but it was the defense that decided the issue, forcing four field-goal attempts in the first half. Albany finished with four sacks, including two by Joe Jacobs, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Firebirds have an Arena Football League-leading 10 sacks in three games, after totaling 10� all last season.

"It's exciting to see us play at that level on defense," Firebirds head coach Mike Dailey said. "Traditionally, we've always been a team that's relied heavily on our offense, and our defense certainly carried us in the game tonight, when our offense turned the ball over too much."

"The big difference is they've got a lot better pass rush this year," San Jose coach Todd Shell said.

The Firebirds finally got the kinks out of their offense in the third quarter, as quarterback Mike Pawlawski hit Eddie Brown for two touchdowns and Cornelius White for one, and Jacobs provided the punctuation mark with a crushing sack for a safety to give Albany a 42-23 lead at the end of the quarter.

Greg Hopkins iced it with an interception return for a touchdown, his second defensive score in two games.

"Last year, at the end of the game, you're thinking, `OK, it's going to be a shootout,' " Pawlawski said. "This year, you know the defense is just playing really well. It's not the same mindset.

"You still take what the other team gives you, but you also have the confidence that you're going to get the ball back. Inspired is a good word, I think. They're [the defense] playing so hard right now." Pawlawski, the top-rated passer in league history last season, threw six touchdown passes, including three to Brown, but he also had four interceptions.

In fact, his first pass of the game was a pick as he tried to force one to Hopkins after being flushed from the pocket.

"Horrible decision," Pawlawski said. "I'm on the move, and I'm thinking that I can throw back across my body like a young kid in a run-and-shoot offense, or something."

The defense never buckled, though. Jon Krick and Chad Dukes combined for one sack, Tim Brown had another, and Jacobs had two to up his season total to five.

"He's playing with a lot of intensity," Dailey said of Jacobs.

"Everybody's just staying in their lanes, and if you run the defense, you're going to get the sacks," Jacobs said. "Somebody's going to get them."

The Firebirds turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions, but the defense kept them in it, forcing turnovers and field-goal attempts until San Jose finally scored a touchdown with 1:50 left in the half to tie it at 10-10.

Rookie Andy Jacobs scored his second touchdown of the season on a 17-yard catch-and-run from Pawlawski in the first quarter, and Eddie Brown made a diving, fingertip grab in the end zone with 46.7 seconds left in the second quarter as Albany took a 16-10 lead.

On San Jose's next possession, the SaberCats settled for another field goal after Tommy Johnson leaped to break up a pass in the end zone.

San Jose drilled a squib kick that bounced off Johnson, who covered it to set up a 40-yard Pete Elezovic field goal to end the half.

In the third quarter, Pawlawski found Eddie Brown wide open for a 22-yard touchdown, and after another field goal, Pawlawski air-mailed a 30-yarder to White on a post-corner route

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