Week 1 (4/24/99): Albany @ Tampa Bay

Firebirds capture opener

TAMPA, Fla. - Firebirds fans, convinced this is finally their year, received their first sign Saturday night.

There were no Stevie Thomas heroics, and a Mike Pawlawski-to-Eddie Brown combination was already in midseason form.

And for the first time in franchise history, Albany scored a road victory in Tampa. The Firebirds smacked the Storm, 49-42, before an Ice Palace crowd of 10,436.

Ending a seven-game road losing skid to the Storm, Albany made a strong statement against the four-time Arena League champions.

"We've been battling, knocking on that wall, knocking on that wall and now we finally knocked it down," said Albany coach Mike Dailey. "Hopefully, it'll give us some confidence the rest of the season. It's a big game, but this is a long season."

While Dailey played down any significance to the victory other than the fact that Albany is 1-0, the always outspoken Brown did not.

"I told [Tampa Bay's] Stevie Thomas and George LaFrance it was time for them to pass the throne to me," Brown said. "They said I'd have to earn it. They beat us last year, and I had to bow down to them because it was their house. I told them this time they would bow down to me."

Brown, thoroughly enjoying a mismatch with Storm defender Chris Perkins, backed up his boasting.

He caught the game-winner on a 26-yard pass with 46 seconds remaining to cap off a record-setting night.

Brown finished with 14 receptions for 213 yards, eclipsing his team record of 198 yards against Orlando back in 1996. Brown's reception total was one shy of his career-high 15.

The Storm still had one chance remaining in the waning seconds, but showed poor time management.

Peter Tom Willis moved Tampa Bay to the Firebirds' three yardline with a completion to Lawrence Samuels with 15 seconds left. But by the time Willis spiked the ball, only five seconds remained, time for just one play.

Rather than passing to Thomas or LaFrance, the play went to Alvoid Mays and fell incomplete as the buzzer sounded.

Brown (three touchdowns) and Pawlawski (23-37-1, 368 yards and five TDs) were supported well by Firebirds newcomers.

Na'il Benjamin and Van Johnson combined for seven catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Veteran Tim Brown, replacing Chad Dukes as the starting fullback-linebacker, rushed for a touchdown that gave Albany a 42-35 lead with 7:39 left.

Tampa Bay trailed, 28-14, after Leroy Thompson's two-yard run with 5:11 remaining in the first half, but rallied to tie three times in the second half.

Albany opened up a 21-7 advantage, despite a pair of turnovers.

With the Firebirds leading, 7-0, Chris Lawson picked off Willis on Tampa Bay's first possession, but a bizarre play nullified the Firebirds' advantage.

Pawlawski went deep to Greg Hopkins, but the ball bounced off his hand, and Mays intercepted it. Hopkins pushed the referee while protesting the call and was ejected.

Albany answered a 32-yard Willis-to-LaFrance bomb with the second Pawlawski to Brown score with 1:30 remaining. Dailey successfully gambled with an onside kick, but the Firebirds coughed it up when Brown fumbled on the Storm two.

The Firebirds held Tampa Bay to a three-and-out, then took a 21-7 lead on Pawlawski's 32-yard bomb to Benjamin with 5:11 left in the half.