After falling behind by as many as 14 points, the Albany Empire knew that it would be a tough go to stay perfect. However, a questionable penalty and some Charm City hustle would be the end of the Empire’s perfect run as the Albany Empire fell to the Baltimore Brigade, 42-41, in front of 10,297 at the Times Union Center on Saturday night. Albany’s first loss of the season snaps their nine-game regular season winning streak going back to last season.

Malachi Jones’ second touchdown of the second half came at a cost as his celebration pushed the extra point attempt back ten yards and what would have been K Adrian Trevino’s game-tying PAT missed wide left.

“At the end of the day, I take full blame for it (the penalty),” said Jones. “I should have handed the ball to the ref and got back to the huddle. I take full responsibility for it.”

The Empire took the lead on their first possession as WR Quentin Sims found the end zone on a 30-yard pass play to put the Empire up 7-0. It was their only lead of the game as Baltimore answered quickly as QB Shane Boyd found ex-Empire WR Joe Hills for a 25-yard touchdown pass for Hills’ 99^th consecutive game with a receiving touchdown. The Brigade would get the ball back rather quickly as Empire QB Tommy Grady was hurried by another ex-Empire player, DL Darryl Cato-Bishop, and his pass fell short to be intercepted by DB Josh Victorian. This led to another Hills touchdown to put the Brigade up 14-7 going into the second quarter.

The teams traded touchdowns as the Empire attempted to keep up with Boyd and Hills as they would find each other two more times for touchdowns in the first half. The Empire’s fourth drive was halted after a failed fourth down attempt, but DL Joe Sykes’ stripped Boyd and the ball was recovered by Mack LB Jeramie Richardson. This gave the Empire one last chance to tie the game at the end of the half, but DB Joe Powell perfectly read Malachi Jones’ pattern and picked off Grady for the second time in the first half.

“It was a long game and we never felt we were out of it,” said Sykes. “We never got down, we never hung our heads, we always stick together.

“We can’t blame nobody. It was a whole team effort.”

The Brigade continued to build on their lead as Boyd found WR Brandon Collins for his first touchdown of the game to put the Brigade up, 35-21. The Empire would respond with Grady’s first touchdown to Jones to get back within seven, but Boyd’s second touchdown to Collins would put them back up 14. This would be the final time that the Brigade would score.

Grady’s 8-yard pass to FB Mykel Benson brought the Empire back within seven, 42-35. The Brigade started at their own two-yard line and proceeded to go on a LONG drive that took nearly 10 minutes off of the clock, but they would leave the field empty handed. K Lane Clark’s 20-yard attempt bounced off of the netting into the hands of DB Arkeith Brown, who scrambled and lateralled to DB Tevin Homer, who managed to run the kick back for 32 yards before fumbling. After it was determined that the Brigade committed a kick interference penalty, the ball was spotted at the Albany 10-yard line.

This gave the Empire offense a chance to tie the score and Grady found Jones streaking down the middle of the field for what seemed to be the game-tying touchdown. However, an official called Jones for an unsportsmanlike penalty after Jones sat on the top of the wall with fans in celebration of his touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, the Empire attempted their fourth onside kickoff the game, which looked to be recovered by Trevino. The officials came together and decided that the onside kick was actually recovered by Joe Hills. This call was challenged by coach Rob Keefe as it appeared that Hills did not have full possession of the ball when he hit the ground, which dislodged the ball that was recovered by Trevino. The ruling on the field, however, stood.

The Brigade had the chance to put the game on ice after getting the ball back, but Brown came up with a spectacular interception of Boyd and streaked down the sideline. However, Boyd caught up to Brown and stripped him. FB Rory Nixon recovered the fumble. Keefe would challenge this call as it appeared Brown was tackled along the wall before the fumble. The officials reviewed and the call stood, which cost the Empire their second timeout.

“I shouldn’t have challenged that last challenge, so that’s on me,” said Keefe. “I thought we could regain possession. We though he (Brown) had hit the wall before he fumbled it.

“To get an interception like that, what a great, awesome high and then BOOM -- come right back down to a low.”

Odds and Ends: As a result of falling behind, the Empire needed to attempt onside kicks to get back into the game. They attempted four times and succeeded on none… DB Cheatham Norrils, playing in his second game, led all defensive participants in total tackles with 6.5… The Empire’s defense remains a stalwart in the Red Zone. The Brigade offense only succeeded on 2-of-4 chances, which brings their efficiency rate to 55.8%.

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