“I think the final score really wasn’t indicative of how close of a game it was but in all fairness they outplayed us,” Blackjacks head coach Ron James said. “We have to get better at what we do in all three phases of the game because all three phases were culpable. The turnovers we had on offense, the turnovers we had on special teams, the inability to stop their offense. Those three factors led to the score,” 

 

“It was a back and forth game, we thought it was going to be a one possession game and we played it that way going into the half. We figured that at some point in the third or fourth quarter things would turn our way and it happened to turn the other way,” James said.

 

Albany finished up their third consecutive game on the road against Atlantic City and will head back to the Times Union Center next weekend. The three-win road trip cemented Albany in the league's top spot with everyone else still at least two games behind them.

 

Tommy Grady played another very sound and efficient game against Atlantic City finding his superstar target Malachi Jones 12 times for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jones and Grady have continued what they started last year not only being undefeated, but also both leading their respective position groups statistically.

 

While Philly and Baltimore haven’t played yet, Grady leads the league with 28 touchdowns, 1,280 yards, a 71.7% completion percentage, and a 129.6 quarterback rating. Jones leads all receivers with 45 receptions, 635 yards and 11 touchdowns. Soul wide receiver Darius Prince has 8 touchdowns and could have a solid day tomorrow, but other than that Jones is safely in the lead for receptions and yards.

 

The Jones and Grady connection is what Blackjacks quarterback Randy Hippeard and Lamark Brown would love to have emulated tonight, but the Blackjacks leading receiver was out for most of the game after catching two passes early. On the TV broadcast of the game it was said that Brown had a right hamstring injury.

 

Randy Hippeard also played through some pain in the second half after taking an awkward hit to the leg during the third quarter. On a different play after the play that caused the discomfort to his leg, Hippeard was hit by Empire defensive lineman Harold Brantley, and as sometimes happens after the hit Brantley lingered over top of Hippeard for an extra second or two longer than necessary.

 

Hippeard took offense to Brantley spending an extra few seconds admiring the work he’d just put in, which was Hippeard on the ground after the hit. Instead of mildly walking off the taunt from Brantley like many quarterbacks would’ve, Hippeard grabbed Brantley by the back of the legs and used a move straight out of the WWE slamming Brantley into the ground, ranking highly in the category of the most badass moments in arena football quarterback history.

 

Even in the NFL and college football the exchange in general that happens when a defensive lineman stands over top of a quarterback on the ground is just awkward. I played quarterback in high school and college and took more than a few sacks that led to uncomfortable long lingers by some large defensive lineman who’d just turned our offenses 3rd and 23 into a 4th and 30.

 

I’d never feel “intimidated” by this though because: you’d already sacked me, what’s the point of hanging out awkwardly overtop of me after the fact? Before tonight I didn’t know it, but those extra seconds over top of a quarterback after a sack leaves defensive lineman exposed to a Randy Hippeard suplex. The film of Hippeard’s technique on the slam should really be shown to young quarterbacks across the country.    

 

I have to admit though before Hippeard slammed him I was enjoying Brantley’s taunt, being a Philadelphia sports fan it reminded me some of Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue in the NBA Finals in 2001. It’s just that Tye Lue didn’t grab AI’s foot and slam him to the ground, ala Blackjacks quarterback/WWE superstar Randy Hippeard.

 

I’ll be following along closely to see how Brantley’s post QB hit/sack celebration game progresses over the course of the season, have to imagine after tonight’s slam the linger and stare down will leave his repertoire of moves.

 

The game ended miserably, with the thirty second timing rules never being announced or enforced on the game. The game finished, but then it was argued that the thirty second timing rules were never enforced. The teams had to come back on the field with an entire thirty seconds on the clock.

 

Albany ran an offensive series and took a shot towards the end zone but couldn’t convert on fourth down. Then the Blackjacks got the ball, but the exchange between Randy Hippeard and Ray McNeal was fumbled and Joe Sykes picked it up and scored a touchdown. Once again, the game was thought to be over, but the Empire had to kick the ball off to the Blackjacks for one last play in what was a sloppy display by the officials.

 

Another interesting note is that the touchdown by Joe Sykes changed the outcome of the games for betters who chose the over, with the touchdown putting the points total above the games betting line for the over.

 

The loss at home was disappointing but not devastating for the Blackjacks. For as much as they wanted to go out and give the Empire their first loss, there’s still a long season ahead and someone from the Baltimore and Philadelphia game will lose tomorrow and fall to 2-3 as well.

 

Atlantic City will wrap up their three game homestand next weekend versus the Baltimore Brigade. The Blackjacks beat the Brigade last weekend at Boardwalk Hall and will look to get their second win in three weeks against them.   

 

“We’re going to have to go back and look at how we played them last time and tweak a few things,” coach James said. “Depending their outcome against the Philadelphia Soul it’s going to tell us where we’re at in that whole pile of teams that are in that 3-2, 2-3 ballpark. It’s still early in the season, we’ll hit the halfway mark after next week,”

 

“The adjustments are pretty simple for Baltimore, we have to get better at what we do, we have to be a lot more fluid on offense and we have to eliminate the turnovers. I think we’ll have a great game plan for Baltimore and our players will be energized to play here again and to face them again, it’s just being simple and sound in everything we do,” James said. 

Harrison Brown is a college student who has been covering Arena Football since he was 12 years old and has been with ArenaFan since 2014. Harrison was a captain of the varsity football team during his senior year of high school and went on to play one season of Division III football in Massachusetts. Harrison has worked for two indoor football teams, in 2018 he was the Director of Player Personnel for the Jersey Flight and in 2016 he was the Color Commentator for the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets. You can follow Harrison on twitter @HarryBrownRusso.