`Birds Lose a Heartbreaker
Steve Sgambelluri
Monday July 24, 2000
However, this time, there was at least one king. Bret Cooper.
The gutsy Orlando receiver made the game-winning catch as time expired to propel the Predators over the Firebirds 61-59 in front of 11,133 fans at Pepsi Arena.
Cooper ran a perfect “post” route and got between the Albany secondary. Orlando quarterback Connell Maynor zipped a tight spiral in Cooper’s direction and the speedy wide-out made a leaping catch as the buzzer sounded.
 Bret Cooper was the star of the afternoon, catching the game winner with :00 on the clock. Image courtesy of Drew Kennedy |
Early on, Orlando looked like they might run away with this one. The Predators led 20-0 after the first quarter and more so, leading 41-17 at halftime. However, the Firebirds made a valiant surge back into the contest.
With 12:39 left in the fourth quarter and after a Van Johnson 1-yard touchdown run, Albany trailed 55-37. On the ensuing kickoff, Albany place kicker Nelson Garner served up a near perfect kick, as the ball bounced off a side net and wildly scattered to the ground. Orlando bobbled the ball and Albany’s Evan Hlavacek smothered Cooper in the end zone for a safety, cutting Orlando’s lead to 55-39.
After Orlando went four and out on their next possession, Albany quarterback Mike Pawlawski’s pass to Quincy Jackson was unsuccessful on fourth down. Orlando took over and looked to be in good shape but when Predators kicker David Cool missed a field goal at point blank range, Pawlawksi found Jackson for a 32-yard touchdown and seconds later found Greg Hopkins for the two-point conversation. Albany then trailed 55-47.
And lighting then struck twice as Garner’s kickoff again bounced wildly off the top rail of the side net and fell smack into a flock of Firebirds on the Albany 3-yard line. Pawlawski then scored from three yards out on the very next play to pull Albany an inch closer, 55-53 with 2:07 remaining.
After Orlando failed to score again, Pawlawski found Hopkins down the left sideline for another Firebird score, Hopkins making a great catch in the process and all of a sudden Albany led for the first time all night, 59-55.
With 21.1 remaining, Orlando charged downfield and on third and ten, Cooper came away with the game winner at the horn.
“It’s a heartbreaker,” said Albany linemen Mark Valvo. “We consider ourselves to be among the best in the league and a loss 2 weeks in a row makes it tough.”
“It’s hard, but this is part of the sport,” said Albany head coach Mike Dailey. “We’re used to seeing games like that. For two weeks in a row now, we’ve been right there.”
Last week, Albany lost to the Iowa Barnstormers completing a three week road trip.
Albany falls to 9-5 overall with the loss. The defending Arenabowl champions fall to the #4 seed in the upcoming Arena playoffs and will face the highest seed still alive after the first round on Saturday, August 5, at the Pepsi Arena.
Dailey’s team will have a bye week this week as they look to prepare for defense of their title.
“I’m sure they can use some time off,” Dailey said. “It’ll be good to clear our heads.”
 Greg Hopkins was voted Albany player of the year by the fans. Image courtesy of Dave Williams |
“It’s a game of ups and downs,” Albany’s Carl Sacco said. “I think our best football hasn’t been seen yet.”
Pawlawski finished the night 21-of-35 for 311 yards and 7 touchdowns. Jackson led the receiving attack with 8 receptions for 154 yards and 3 touchdowns while Hopkins contributed 6 catches for 102 yards and 3 touchdowns as well.
However one reason why Orlando was successful may have been Albany’s inability to stop the Predators ground attack. Orlando ran the ball 16 times and picked up 42 yards in the process. And in arena football, that is impressive.
“It’s encouraging to know that we have the ability to crank it up when we need to,” Sacco said. “It’s also encouraging to know we have some things to work on.”
“We’ll go back and look at films,” Dailey said. “It was certainly a heck of a battle. I’m sure we know that we have to play a little smarter.”
Steve Sgambelluri was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
