The Albany Empire started their 2018 campaign by losing their first two games. On Saturday night, they made sure that it would not happen in 2019.

QB Tommy Grady threw for four touchdowns and the Empire defense forced three turnovers as they romped to a 35-19 victory over the Columbus Destroyers in front of 11,682 at the Times Union Center. The Empire defense also sacked Destroyer starting QB Danny Southwick twice; the first by DL Joe Sykes and the second by Mac LB Jeramie Richardson.

“It’s a luxury to have a defense… that they (the offense) don’t have the pressure all the time to score, score,” said Empire head coach Rob Keefe. “We want to score on every single possession, but if we don’t, it’s okay, (we) don’t panic. We’re gonna take care of our business, too.”

And did they ever: following a turnover on downs after failing to score on a drive that saw them take eight minutes off the clock, the Empire defense took only two plays to get the ball back. Jack LB Terence Moore intercepted Southwick at the five-yard line. On the sole play of the next possession, Grady found WR Quentin Sims in the back-left corner of the end zone and after K Adrian Trevino’s PAT, the Empire went up 14-6.

On Columbus’ next possession, they would drive to get within the Empire two-yard line, but an offsides penalty set the Destroyers back to the Empire 12 and Sykes would collect his first sack of the season on fourth and 11. That play swung the momentum in favor of Albany for the remainder of the game. Grady found WR Malachi Jones three plays in for his first touchdown of the season to increase the lead to 21-6 going into halftime.

“The o-lineman, I just wanted to run him over,” said Sykes. “I just ran to his inside shoulder to kill to the quarterback.

“You gotta have a game plan. They throw the ball so quick, you’re not gonna get there. That’s what I was trying to tell the younger linemen: be patient and let the man come to you.”

The Empire didn’t stop their momentum in the third quarter on either side of the ball: another long drive was topped by another Grady-to-Sims touchdown pass as they furthered their lead to 28-6. Southwick’s struggles continued as he fumbled on the first play from scrimmage in the Destroyers’ third quarter and threw his second interception to DB Arkeith Brown. Again, it took only one play for Albany to capitalize as Grady threw a 16-yard pass to WR Christian Briggs. Trevino’s PAT increased the lead to 35-6.

After that series, Destroyer head coach Matthew Sauk replaced Southwick with rookie QB Grant Russell, who made a memorable debut with his first completion being a 29-yard TD pass to WR Jenson Stoshak. A Chris Peterson conversion shrunk the Empire’s lead to 35-13.

Russell would add a six-yard touchdown run later in the game, but the result was a foregone conclusion. To cap the game off, Empire DB Brad Muhammad, one of three rookies in the secondary, intercepted Russell to stop a two-point conversion.

Odds and Ends: Sykes not only had a great game on the field, but also off the field as he proposed to his girlfriend during a media timeout. She said yes, if you’re scoring at home… FB Mykel Benson opened scoring for the Empire with a six-yard scamper to give the Empire the lead… Albany played the possession game for a good chunk of the game, holding the ball for 9:12 in the second quarter and 11:14 in the third quarter… Jones lead all receivers with 11 receptions for 94 yards for the Empire. Anthony Amos had seven receptions for 98 yards for Columbus. 

Ryan McCarthy has been an on-and-off Internet columnist and blogger since 1997. He has been an avid follower of Arena Football since 1990 when the Albany Firebirds were established. Ryan currently attends Regent University, where he is pursuing his Bachelors degree in Communications with a Journalism concentration. He anticipates graduating toward the end of 2019. You can follow Ryan on Twitter at @rwhoisryanmcc