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2000 Season Game 14 (7/22/00): Albany vs Orlando |
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'Birds go 4th with late loss
ALBANY -- There's rarely such a thing as an insurmountable lead in the wild sport of Arena Football. But even the Albany Firebirds appeared beyond hope Sunday as they entered the fourth quarter trailing the Orlando Predators by 24 points.
That's when the unique rules of Arenaball came into play. Suddenly, the football started taking bizarre bounces off the rebound nets, and the Firebirds made an inspired 28-0 run to take a four-point lead with 21 seconds left.
But the same rules that helped Albany's comeback ultimately led to its downfall.
As time expired, Orlando's Brett Cooper caught a 20-yard touchdown pass against the Firebirds' handcuffed defense to give the Predators a stunning 61-59 victory at Pepsi Arena. It was Albany's second straight loss on the game's final play, and relegated the Firebirds (9-5) to the fourth seed in the playoffs.
"You can't have a give-up attitude, no matter what it is,'' Firebirds head coach Mike Dailey said. "You keep fighting hard and keep playing, then at the end, something great may happen. If that ball's overthrown, or (Cooper) drops it, we win the ball game.''
But Cooper held on to the high, hard throw from Predators quarterback Connell Maynor. Cooper, who had dropped a pass one play earlier, found the gap in the middle of the end zone between Firebirds defensive back Van Johnson and defensive specialist Derek Stingley.
In a split second, the announced crowd of 11,133 -- which appeared smaller -- went from a deafening roar to silence. Firebirds linemen Mark Valvo and Joe Jacobs collapsed to the turf while Orlando celebrated.
"It was heartbreaking,'' Valvo said. "We were getting good pressure, and from where I was, it looked like (Maynor) just heaved it up there. Then I heard the letdown of the crowd.''
In Arenaball, which severely restricts defenses, the Firebirds couldn't do anything special to defend that final play. Only three defensive backs are allowed.
"In the outdoor game, you'd come in with three linemen, and you'd have eight guys back deep,'' Dailey said. "In our league, you're in a tough situation. That's what makes it wide open.''
Just like last week, when the Firebirds lost 77-76 to Iowa when their two-point conversion attempt went awry on the game's final play.
In that game, the teams traded scores for 60 minutes. Against Orlando, Albany's downfall was a poor first quarter in which Orlando jumped to a 20-0 lead.
The Firebirds trailed 55-31 entering the fourth quarter. But suddenly, the Predators couldn't handle the booming kickoffs of Albany's Nelson Garner. Orlando muffed one for a safety to start Albany's comeback. Later, Albany's Na'il Benjamin recovered another kickoff that took a strange bounce off the nets, and the Firebirds turned it into quarterback Mike Pawlawski's 3-yard touchdown run to cut Orlando's lead to 55-53.
Pawlawski (311 yards passing) then threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Greg Hopkins, who was named the team's season MVP before the game, for a 59-55 lead with 21 seconds left.
The win wasn't meant to be, and Albany blew a chance to get the No. 2 playoff seed, which instead goes to Orlando (10-4).
Now the Eastern Division champion Firebirds have a first-round bye and open the playoffs at home in a quarterfinal Aug. 5. They'll likely play the Arizona Rattlers (12-2), the second-place finisher from the Western Division, assuming the Rattlers beat Buffalo in the first round. Arizona demolished Albany 59-35 at Pepsi Arena on May 20.
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