Looking into Saturday’s matchup against the Washington Valor, the Albany Empire were looking at gaining a small measure of revenge from last season’s playoff defeat.

The Empire defense made sure it would happen.

The Empire defense allowed no fourth down conversions and held the Valor to 3-for-7 in red zone attempts as their performance helped secure a 36-27 win over the Valor in front of 9,208 at the Times Union Center.

Empire QB Tommy Grady threw for 246 yards and five touchdowns to win Game MVP honors while his counterpart Valor QB Arvell Nelson was held to 250 yards and one touchdown, though he would run for three. Empire WR Malachi Jones won Offensive Player of the Game honors by leading all receivers with six receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

The robust defensive performance from Albany was bolstered by Jack LB Terrence Moore, who won Defensive Player of the Game honors with 5.5 tackles and an interception. One of those tackles came on fourth and goal when the Empire was already down 7-0: Nelson went to run and found himself surrounded by several Empire defenders before Moore tackled him for no gain.

“We anticipated it, but it was kinda hard with 800 lbs. of two guys pushing him in the back,” said Moore. “We were trying to push him the other way.”

The offense built off of the momentum created by the defense; the first Empire scoring drive took 4:16 capped by Grady’s 6-yard pass to WE Quintin Sims. The Valor responded with a drive that took nearly four minutes off of the board capped by Nelson’s first running touchdown as the Valor went up 14-7 after a conversion by Pat Clarke.

It took one play for the Empire to tie the score again as Grady found WR Malachi Jones for a 30-yard touchdown. Following a failed onside kick attempt, the Valor would start their second drive inside of Albany territory, but again, Moore foiled the drive with his second interception in as many weeks. Moore returned the ball to the Empire 20. Unfortunately for the Empire, the momentum swing would be short lived as Valor DB Svante Davenport intercepted a Grady pass.

The Valor looked to go back up before the half with another scoring drive and they got within the Empire 5-yard line again, but were flustered by the Empire’s secondary and Albany would get the ball back with less than two minutes remaining. Head coach Rob Keefe credited his young secondary for their fortitude.

“To be a DB in this league, you have to learn to be mentally tough,” said Keefe. “You’re constantly going to be thrown at. Even if you get an interception, they’re gonna come back to you.

“Younger players are only going to get better, so I’m glad they got the experience they did.”

After the Valor’s second turnover on downs, the Empire took only one play to take their second lead of the game as Grady found Jones sprinting down the sideline and Jones did the rest to give the Empire the lead right before halftime.

Albany furthered their lead to 28-14 on their first drive of the second half with Grady’s third touchdown pass of the game to FB Mykel Benson. The Valor fought right back with a drive that lasted nearly five minutes capped by Nelson’s third TD run to bring the Valor within seven again. The Empire responded with a long drive where the Valor made a stop to force Adrian Trevino’s first field goal attempt of the season, but that attempt was blocked by Valor DL Roderick Henderson.

The Valor used the blocked field goal to go on a drive ended by Nelson’s third rushing touchdown. However, Clarke’s conversion attempt hit the rebound net bar and the Empire remained in the lead with 8:15 remaining.

The Empire would seal the game on the following drive; on fourth down from midfield, Grady found WR DJ Stephens in stride on a post pattern for the final touchdown of the game. A two-point conversion pass from Grady to Benson increased the lead to 36-27. Another stop by the Empire defense on fourth down in the red zone closed out the game.

Odds and Ends: After an explosive debut, Valor WR Dezmon Epps was limited to 91 yards on five receptions, including the opening 33-yard touchdown… The field goal attempt by the Empire was only the second in team history. Kenny Spencer attempted his only field goal in Week 10 of 2018 against Baltimore, which was a miss… Benson’s touchdown reception in the third quarter was his first since July 29, 2017 as a member of the Philadelphia Soul, catching a touchdown from Luke Collis in a 70-21 victory over Baltimore.

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