“We’re going to recoup, lick our wounds tonight and get back on the bus tomorrow and then have exit physicals,” Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said. “The hard part is that somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose. This year we lost, we have to swallow the pill,” Dolezel said.

 

ArenaBowl 32 is Albany’s first Arena Football championship since 1999 when the Albany Firebirds won the title. The Firebirds moved to Indianapolis after the championship season and the city endured an Arena Football League drought that lasted until 2018. Albany did have an AF2 franchise from 2002-2009 but the former AFL minor league was never embraced by the city how the Firebirds and Empire have.

 

Albany’s loyal fan base showed up 12,042 strong to the Empire’s first ArenaBowl appearance. Rob Keefe took the Albany head coaching position when the Empire became a franchise in 2018 and the win and celebration that ensued had been on Keefe’s mind since last season’s unceremonious postseason loss.

 

 “We’re going to enjoy ourselves, I really firmly believed this was going to happen,” Keefe said. “I think sometimes when you don’t believe somethings going to happen, you’re in shock almost. No disrespect towards Philadelphia I just really believed this and envisioned it for 365 days. We’re going to have a great time tonight and embrace everyone that’s involved in this.”

 

“When we first got here everybody knew this was going to be something special. I’ve been doing this for quite some time now even at my young age and you know when to take a job and when not to take a job - I knew when to take this job. We wanted to pay homage as much as we could to the Firebirds and the legacy that they left behind here in Albany,” Keefe said.

 

The Soul jumped out on the Empire with a first drive 34-yard touchdown strike from Dan Raudabaugh to Darius Prince. After a James Romain forced fumble gave the Soul the ball back, Empire defensive back Maurice Leggett intercepted a Raudabaugh pass for a 54-yard touchdown, the longest interception return in ArenaBowl history. 

 

“It wasn’t our night,” Clint Dolezel said. “We had opportunities early in the half to try and go up by 14 and we threw a pick. In the red zone we were rough, they did a good job of stopping our run game and we’re usually pretty good with the run. The opportunities were there but they played hard and the crowd was with them. Hat’s off to them, they won the game,” Dolezel said. 

 

The AFL’s top red zone offense and defense met with Philly converting the highest percentage of red zone attempts, while Albany led the league in red zone defense. The Empire’s stingy defense prevailed holding Soul fullback Adrian Ferns to only one yard on five goal line attempts. 

“We’re at the one-yard line - we’ve got to be able to punch that in. We’re usually pretty good about that so if we had to do it over I’d do it the same way and I think we could get in. Tonight, we didn’t,” Dolezel said.

 

Empire jack linebacker Terrance Moore played a huge part for the stingy red zone defense finishing the game with seven total tackles. Moore also forced two fumbles including a turnover just one play after the Soul recovered an onside kick. 

 

In addition to his defensive play, Moore recovered an onside kick of his own, leaping over Soul defensive lineman Tommy Dover to successfully snag Adrian Trevino’s kick. Moore’s acrobatic recovery was recognized as the number one play on SportsCenter’s “Top 10 Plays.”

 

The Empire only held a one touchdown lead when Moore recovered the onside kick and they were able to score again before halftime when ArenaBowl MVP Tommy Grady hit Quentin Sims for his fourth touchdown of the half. 

 “At halftime the biggest thing was that we’d been in this position before,” Rob Keefe said. “There’s a big difference between playing to win and playing not to lose. When you play not to lose you start looking at the clock, you’re not as aggressive and you’re just trying get out of the game. I’m so proud that we didn’t stop because now they can be a champion for the rest of their life,” Keefe said.

Philadelphia entered the game an underdog, but the veteran core of the Soul had more ArenaBowl experience than Albany. Coach Dolezel and Dan Raudabaugh were appearing in their fifth ArenaBowl, while it was the fourth appearance for both defensive back James Romain and receiver Darius Reynolds.

 

Romain forced a fumble on the Empire’s first drive giving the Soul an extra possession to start the game. Romain and the defense had a solid night by Arena Football standards, holding the Empire to only 38 points offensively. 

 

Romain was involved in post play chatter during a majority of the contest, reaching a boiling point with an altercation after the score was already out of hand. Romain and Empire receiver DJ Stephens were the main instigators. Romain and Stephens have a history dating back to 2015 when the Soul traveled to face the LA KISS.    

 

“A few years ago, I smoked Stephens across the middle,” Romain said.  “He tried to catch a pass and I almost killed him. He tried to talk, and I said, ‘bro I almost killed you before, you almost went to the emergency room, luckily the doctors were on site.’ If the doctors weren’t on scene, they would’ve had to call the paramedics.”

 

“I told him that and at the end of the game he tried to hit me with a cheap shot. I threw him down, and he got up and tried to put his hands in my face, so I slammed him again. He tried to get up and I tried to knock his head off. Y’all winning but you’re not going to punk me. I’m from Far Rockaway New York and if you google that you’ll know exactly what I mean by that,” Romain said. 

 

Romain and the Soul will have to wait for their opportunity to get back at the Empire between the walls until next season. While the Empire celebrate their ArenaBowl title, Romain and the rest of the Soul organization will begin their preparations for the 2020 season.

 

“It’s always about the next play. The last play we ran Albany won the championship. Coming back next year we can’t dwell on that like ‘oh we lost the championship.’ That will hinder us from being as good as we can next season,” 

 

“I wish we had practice next week, but we don’t. We’ve got to sit out and wait another six months just to put the pads back on but next year we’re coming back strong,” Romain said.

 

Albany won’t be as pressed to start preparing for 2020 with a championship celebration planned for next Saturday in front of the Times Union Center. While the coaching staff will get back to work soon, the Empire faithful will continue to enjoy their city’s first ArenaBowl title in twenty years. 

 

“I can’t thank the fans enough,” Rob Keefe said. “This is a place where Arena Football works - you go to the grocery store, gas station, or any bar or restaurant here and they know who you are, they care about you. There are flags on every household and there’s banners on every car it’s an amazing experience. Our colors, orange and blue are indicative of the New York state flag.”

 

“For the fans to embrace us the way they have and how they came out and supported us tonight I’m so happy that they were a part of this. The fans one hundred percent are just as a part of this as I am,” Keefe 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.