Inside the Numbers: Albany vs. Pioneers
Michael Balakier
Thursday May 1, 2003
What’s at Stake?
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers collide with the Albany Conquest in the first of three meetings this season between these Northeast division rivals. The Pioneers are hoping to use the momentum gained from their first win of the season, last week against Rochester, 58-35, to help them conquer the Conquest. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (1-3) currently sits in third place in the Northeast division. The Albany Conquest are coming off their bye week after losing to the Mohegan Wolves 52-45 in Uncasville, CT. With a win this week, the Conquest (2-1) will be able gain some distance over the Pioneers in the standings.
Positional Match-Ups
Quarterback
The skinny: The Pioneers’ Chris Boden is coming off game MVP honors in last week’s match up with Rochester. Boden went 23-35 for 346 yards and 5 touchdowns. Boden also threw one interception, which just happened to be the Pioneers’ first offensive play of the game. So far this season, Boden has completed 56.8% of his passes for 897 yards and 15 TDs. Boden, who is averaging 224.2 yards per game, has a passer rating of 91.32. The Conquest are led by returning quarterback Ryan Vena, who helped the Conquest win the Northeast Division last season. Against the Wolves two weeks ago, Vena went 23-39 for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns, while also rushing for a touchdown. On the year, Vena has completed 63% of his passes for 530 yards and 9 TDs, while compiling a passer rating of 104.45.
Hidden stat: While the Pioneers have played their best football in the second and fourth quarters, the Conquest have played a balanced game of football so far this season. Albany has scored 33 points in the first, second, and fourth quarters of their games this year, while scoring 36 points in the third quarter. The Conquest also have scored 45 points in each of their three games this season.
Advantage: Bust. This week’s game should pose an interesting match-up, as the Pioneers have the better offense, but the Conquest boast one of the league’s best defenses. While the Conquest may be able to contain Boden and the Pioneers’ passing game; the contest may be determined by how well Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s pass defense, which ranks in the mid-level of the af2, can contain Vena and Albany’s passing game, which ranks dead last in the league.
Fullback
The skinny: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Elly Salamo and Kevin Nagle each scored a touchdown on the ground last week against the Brigade. Nagle finished with five yards on two attempts while Salamo had 13 yards on two attempts. On the year, Salamo is the Pioneers leading rusher, averaging 19.2 yards per game and just under five yards per carry. Salamo ranks fourth in the league in rushing. Quarterback Ryan Vena was the lone rusher for the Conquest in their game against Mohegan. Vena ran the ball a total of five times for seven yards and one touchdown. On the year, Vena has rushed the ball 19 times for 58 yards and 4 TDs.
Hidden stat: Vena ranks sixth in the league in rushing, with four touchdowns, and averages three yards per rush.
Advantage: Having your quarterback as the team’s leading rusher may be working for the Conquest at the moment, but it can’t be the way Albany head coach Pete Costanza envisioned his ground game this year.
Wide receivers
The skinny: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Cosmo DeMatteo, who returned to the lineup against the Brigade last week after missing a game with a sore knee, hauled in a team high 10 receptions for 116 yards and 3 touchdowns. DeMatteo could have had more receptions, and possibly touchdowns, had he been able to hold onto the ball on some of his attempts (He says it was the butter on his hands). Regardless, DeMatteo and Terrel Johnson, who had 6 receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown, helped lead the Pioneers to victory. QB/WR Kelvin Robinson also had a reception touchdown for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. On the year, Johnson has 21 receptions for 288 yards and 3 TDs while DeMatteo has 19 receptions for 253 yards and 8 TDs. Albany’s receiving corps is led by Cory Hill, who finished first in the league last year in receptions, receiving yards/game, and reception touchdowns. Against the Wolves, Hill hauled in half of the team’s receptions, 12, for 131 yards and 2 TDs. Adriel Linyear also contributed by scoring two touchdowns on three receptions. So far this season, Hill has caught 25 passes for 209 yards and 4 TDs.
Hidden stat: 16 different players have caught passes for the Pioneers this year, while half of the team’s 80 receptions have been caught by Terrell Johnson (21) and Cosmo DeMatteo (19).
Advantage: Bust. DeMatteo and Hill just may cancel each other out, pending that DeMatteo opts not to use his butter/margarine solution on his hands this week. With that in mind, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Terrell Johnson and Albany’s Phil Taylor may be the deciding factors in this week’s game. I’ll go out on a limb here, but whichever one hauls in more receptions will lead his team to victory.
Kick returns
The skinny: The Pioneers’ used Cosmo DeMatteo and Harry Brunson last week against Rochester on kick returns, with each taking one return apiece. Opio Gary remains Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top returner, despite being on the long-term injured reserve list. After Gary and the recently cut Murle Sango, Kelvin Robinson leads the team in kick returns, averaging 13 yards/return on four returns. Albany’s Corey Hill returned a kickoff 51 yards for a touchdown against the Wolves in their last game. Hill finished the game with four returns for 123 yards. On the year, Hill has handled 12 of the team’s 17 returns for 323 yards. He is averaging 26.9 yards/return.
Hidden stat: The Conquest rank 12th in the league in kickoff returns, averaging 20.4 yards/return, while the Pioneers ranks 24th, averaging 13.9 yards/return.
Advantage: Last week, Rochester’s Derek Baker returned a kickoff 50 yards for a touchdown, and there is a very strong possibility that Hill can do the same this week for the Conquest. (Note to Jimmy Kibble: Be ready for another touchdown saving tackle or two this week. Thankfully he tackles better than Jimmy Kimmel.)
Kickers
The skinny: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Jimmy Kibble is coming off his best performance of his arena football career, going 3-3 on field goals and 7-7 on extra points. Kibble currently sits tied for 3rd in the league in scoring (kick), 5th in the league in field goals, and 9th in extra points with 14. Albany’s Chris Drennan went 1-3 against the Wolves, connecting from 23 yards. On the year, he is 3-8 on field goals and 12-19 on PATs.
Hidden stat: Kibble leads the league in PAT percentage with 93.3%.
Advantage: After last week’s game, the pressure may be on Kibble to deliver a repeat performance, excluding the football getting stuck in the scoreboard. However, although Kibble may not be able to deliver an encore, he should still be good for a field goal if presented the opportunity, not to mention a scoreboard or two. The only question that remains is whether Kibble conquered the First Union Arena yet? Something tells me that if the arena has anything to say about it, the building will be seeking vengeance his week.
What to Expect
Albany enters Saturday night’s game with the worst pass offense in the af2. Adding to the irony, is that fact the Mohegan Wolves rank just above the Conquest in passing offense, which means that both the division leaders in the Northeast have the league’s two worst passing games. However, the Conquest make up for that by having the league’s second best pass defense. Meanwhile, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton played a marvelous offensive game last week against the Brigade, scoring on ten consecutive possessions. Nevertheless, it’s difficult to overlook the Conquest passing game because at any given time it has the ability to explode, and it will only be a matter of time until their passing game gets in sync and begins to move up the ranks in the af2.
Prediction: Everyone knows the old saying about football: “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” Although true to this year’s Super Bowl winner, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it won’t hold true this week. Pioneers win, 45-38.
Michael Balakier first discovered a knack for writing during his senior year in high school while reporting for his school`s newspaper. Aside from being an Arenaball fan, Michael is an avid Syracuse University athletics follower, which poses a problem for him, as he attends the University of Pittsburgh. Michael plans on using what he has learned through his Arenafan experience to remain as impartial as he can during future Syracuse/Pitt events. Michael also serves as co-Editor of the af2 section of Arenafan Online.
