Peoria Scores A Conquest Over Albany
Steve Robinson
Monday May 31, 2004
But from Albany’s first possession, there was a sinking feeling among the 3,853 fans in attendance that head coach Bruce Cowdrey’s Pirates were sailing down the wrong path yet again, as on their first play from scrimmage, Albany quarterback D. Bryant hooked up with favorite receiver Tony Locke for a 30 yard score just 31 seconds into the contest.
The extra-point gave Albany a fast 7-0 lead, but somehow, the early score only seemed to strengthen Peoria’s desire to win.
Peoria knotted the game at 7-7 behind a 5-yard touchdown run by running back Casey Urlacher with 8:15 left in the first quarter, followed by kicker Louie Aguilar’s point-after.
Roughly 90 seconds later, at 6:47 in the first quarter, Pirates wide receiver/linebacker Lawrence Matthews picked off a Bryant pass, charging 12 yards for Peoria’s next score. Aguilar’s point-after put Peoria (3-5) up, 14-7.
Peoria turned a fourth-down encroachment flag against Albany (3-5) into a third score, getting the ball back and marching 14 yards on seven plays, going up 21-7 on an Urlacher 1-yard run following Aguilar’s PAT. Urlacher led a four-man rushing unit, taking 7 carries 18 yards, scoring twice.
Locke silenced the crowd on the next kickoff, returning it 57 yards for a score, cutting Peoria’s lead to 21-14.
One field goal each for both sides closed out the half, with Peoria still in command, 24-17.
New Pirates quarterback Talmadge Hill, fresh out of Ball State, made a brief, productive debut with 13:02 left in the third quarter, connecting on a 12-yard pass to receiver Lawrence Matthews, increasing Peoria’s lead to 31-17 following the point-after.
Before a scoreless fourth quarter for Albany, Bryant connected with Locke a second time for a 43-yard touchdown strike. The point-after gave the Pirates a 34-24 edge going into their last stanza.
Cowdrey said there really was nothing different about how his team operated, but, he said, “we just made plays that we haven’t made in the past. We stopped people defensively and made plays offensively.
“The new kids we added this week really made a big difference,” the five-season Pirates coach said, referring to newcomers lineman Joe Peters and fullback/linebacker Chris Robinson, acquired during the bye week last week.
“Hill is in the learning curve right now,” Cowdrey said of his new backup quarterback, who went 2-for-5 for 24 yards and one touchdown and one interception. “We gave him a taste (and) let him see how (af2) works. Now he knows what he has to work on this week.”
Lead quarterback Mike Souza was kept busy by Albany defenders, going 11-for-25 for 129 yards with one touchdown and one INT. He had to scramble occasionally, even rushing twice for three yards. He was sacked by Conquest defense three times.
Bryant was 14-for-35 for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Peoria’s defense hurried Bryant into throwing four INTs. As expected, Locke was his primary receiver, with four catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Locke had three kickoff returns totaling 91 yards.
“We saw that (Albany) was playing real well and that Locke was playing real well,” Souza said. “We felt that if we could get some pressure on (Bryant), try to make things happen like that, that we would have a good shot at a win. That was our game plan and it ended up working out for us.”
But the recovery was not perfect. Conquest defenders did not have to control three situations where Peoria receivers dropped three touchdown passes.
“I don’t think Albany’s play gave us any advantages and we didn’t help ourselves dropping (those three),” Cowdrey said. “I would just say we went out and slugged this one out and earned it.”
“We had to get this game (won),” Matthews said. “We had to. Man, we looked ourselves in the mirror (as a team). Everybody didn’t point fingers. We were pointing thumbs,” he said, as a means of explaining that collectively, the individuals on the team knew each to themselves they needed to improve play.
Steve Robinson, a freelance writer since 1984, has written about the Peoria Pirates since the Pirates were members of Indoor Football League, beginning in 1999. He covers the Pirates currently for the Bloomington IL Pantagraph.
