Round Two—Conquest Scores Knockout Win Over Speed
David Chappell
Saturday April 12, 2003
In stark contrast to the dramatic 45-42 Conquest win last Saturday night in Richmond, there were no last minute heroics needed to determine the outcome of last night’s game. Enjoying a big game on offense from Albany WR Phil Taylor and riding a stifling defensive effort spearheaded by DS John Stuart, the Conquest completely dominated “round two” between these heated rivals. The thirteen point output by Richmond tied a franchise mark for fewest points in a game, equaling the meager total in a 44-13 loss to the Augusta Stallions on April 28, 2000 in the Speed’s first home game ever.
It became evident very early on that this was not going to be a night to remember for Richmond. On Albany’s first play from scrimmage, quarterback Ryan Vena hit Taylor for a 30 yard touchdown on a crossing pattern for a 7-0 Conquest lead. Richmond would cut the deficit to 7-3 with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter on new kicker Nathan White’s 25 yard field goal. White’s kick went through the uprights despite being partially blocked. Even the successful field goal did not come without a negative for the Speed. On the third down play before the kick, Richmond WR Richard Holland suffered an apparent hip injury while attempting to stretch for a first down. Holland, who had been shifted to offense in place of Damon Thompson, was expected to be a primary receiving threat for the Speed in this game. Holland did not return to action for the rest of the contest after the injury.
When Albany stretched its lead to 20-3 on two more Vena TD tosses, Speed Head Coach Richard Davis replaced starting quarterback Roy Johnson with newly acquired QB Wes Counts early in the second quarter. Counts gave the Speed some reason for hope when he connected with WR Marcus Richardson on his first pass, a quick hitch that Richardson ran down the right sideline for a 48 yard TD. But Albany quickly answered on a one yard touchdown run by fullback Matt Vittengl for a 26-10 lead with 5:26 remaining in the first half. Only a stellar defensive stop by the Speed at the end of the first half prevented the deficit from being worse at the break.
Still down by only two scores at the half, the Speed possessed the ball for over six minutes to start the third quarter when disaster struck. Counts fumbled the exchange from center and Albany’s LB Adriel Linyear recovered and rumbled 20 yards for a Conquest TD and a 33-10 lead with 8:25 remaining in the third quarter. In the two ensuing Speed possessions, fumbles by the Richmond quarterbacks led to two more Albany scores with the Conquest advantage ballooning to 45-10 on Ron Perry’s one yard touchdown run with 12:47 left in the game. White’s 47 yard field goal for Richmond midway through the fourth quarter ended the scoring.
The Speed clearly missed injured QB Joel Gordon, as Johnson and Counts were only a combined 14-31 for 150 yards with three fumbles. The Conquest put heavy pressure on Richmond’s quarterbacks all night long, registering three sacks and forcing a number of other hurries. With Holland out, the Speed’s primary receiving threats of Jeff Townsley and Kevin Harvey, who both torched the Conquest at Pepsi Arena last June, could muster but a combined three catches for 30 yards and no touchdowns under tight coverage from Stuart and DS Elijah Beamon
While OS Corey Hill managed only three catches for 12 yard for Albany, Taylor stepped up with five catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Vena had another solid night for the Conquest, going 13-18 for 163 yards and four touchdowns.
One of the few bright spots for Richmond was the kicking of White. In his first game, White, nicknamed “Joe Millionaire” by his teammates, scored seven of the Speed’s 13 points on two field goals and the conversion after Richmond’s lone TD. White also just barely missed a 49 yard attempt late in the fourth quarter, that kick clanging off the right upright. Richardson also was solid for the Speed, catching six balls for 79 yards and Richmond’s only touchdown.
In post-game comments on the Speed’s radio broadcast, Davis vowed that, “I’m going to get this football team fixed.” Richmond’s coach drew parallels between this game and a similar lopsided road loss to Tennessee Valley 56-14 in the third week of the 2001 season. That season, the Speed went back to Tennessee Valley in the American Conference title game, and beat the Vipers to advance to the 2001 Arena Cup.
Albany moves on to a Northeast Division showdown at unbeaten Mohegan on Friday night. The Speed have a bye week to use to regroup before playing host to the Atlantic Division co-leaders, the Norfolk Nighthawks, on April 26. Expect a number of changes with the Speed over the next two weeks. As Davis said in wrapping up his post-game comments, “Thank gosh for the bye week.”
David Chappell is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has closely followed local sports in Richmond and vicinity for over thirty years, and Arena Football 2 since its inception. David currently writes extensively for a website that he co-founded which documents professional wrestling in Virginia and surrounding areas from 1974-1986. A former elected prosecutor, David is currently a practicing attorney in a large downtown Richmond law firm.
