Albany Firebirds Go Scorched Earth on Billings in a 39-7 Win

by Rod Villagomez

For the second time in as many weeks, the Albany Firebirds squared off against the Billings Outlaws. This week’s game gave home-field advantage to the Outlaws in a home-and-home series. Albany came away with a 62-24 win last week in front of its home crowd. 

The Week 6 rematch was more of the same as Albany came out with matching the intensity they had in their last meeting. The Outlaws struggled to find any rhythm on offense posting their lowest point total on the season. 

Albany has won both games of the series and improves to 5-0 on the year. Billings has dropped its second game of the season and is 2-2 in their 2025 campaign. 


FIERY START BY ALBANY

It didn’t take long for the Firebirds’ offense to pick up where they left off last week. Quarterback Sam Castronova connected with Duane Brown for an 18-yard touchdown on Albany’s opening possession. Henry Nell added the extra point and immediately connected on a deuce on the ensuing kickoff, putting his team up 9-0 early in the 1st quarter. 

Albany’s defense pounced quickly to add to the lead. Defensive back Derrick Jones picked off Braden Wingle’s first pass attempt at the 5-yard line and strolled in for a touchdown. Another successful Nell point after an attempt opened up a 16-0 Albany lead.

Billings answered back with a four-play scoring drive of their own, ending with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Wingle to Keith Nemasango. Dean Faithfull buried the extra point, cutting the lead to 16-7 halfway through the first quarter.  

Undaunted, the Firebirds marched right back down the field on a six-play, 49-yard drive, resulting in a rare big man touchdown for Brandon Nicholson. The offensive lineman found himself wide open for a 9-yard connection for the score. The score extended Albany’s lead to 23-7 in the waning minutes of the first quarter.

 


On their next drive, the Outlaws elected to try a 32-yard field goal on a 4th and long. However, Faithfull failed to knock it through, giving Albany possession at their 20-yard line with just over 12 minutes left in the half.

Firebirds Pour It On

What followed was a grinding 12-play drive that took the clock all the way down to 4:39 and was capped off by a second Duane Brown touchdown reception. This one came on a fourth-down attempt from the 3-yard line. Nell was true on the extra point, giving the Firebirds a commanding 30-7 lead. 

Wingle maneuvered his squad on a drive that stalled at the Albany 17-yard line. Instead of going for six points, Billings unsuccessfully attempted a field goa,l giving the Firebirds the ball back with 40 seconds left before halftime.   

The final drive of the half ended with some elevated heart rates as Albany managed to take it all the way down to the 2-yard line with four seconds remaining on the clock. However, with no timeouts at their disposal, the Firebirds were unable to get off another snap. Outlaws’ head coach Cedric Walker was visibly heated as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Luckily, his team avoided having to crawl out of a deeper hole as the first half drew to a close. 

First Half Analysis

One of the biggest stories of the first half was the hot start for the Firebirds, who looked like they did not miss a beat from the last time they took the field against the Outlaws. Castronova continued to look comfortable at the helm of his offense, and it showed in his first drive of the game. He finished the first half 13 of 16 for 91 yards and three touchdown passes. 

Albany also leaned on a defense that not only put up points of their own in the first quarter but held Billings to just 63 yards of total offense in the first half. 

Firebirds Stay Hot

The Outlaws seemed to have fixed whatever the disconnect was in the first thirty minutes of the game on a promising drive to start the second half. However, a botched play put Billings in a 2nd and goal situation from the Albany 21-yard line. Ultimately, the seven-minute drive ended with a sack on 4th and 15, sending Wingle retreating back to the 24-yard line.

Three plays later, Isaiah Scott spun his way into the endzone on a 9-yard touchdown strike. With Nell’s extra point, Albany widened the gap 37-7 halfway through the 3rd quarter.


With the Outlaws trying to find a spark, coach Walker turned the ball over to backup quarterback Danny Southwick on the second drive of the half for his team. Unfortunately, Southwick ran into the same resistance as Wingle, ending his drive by throwing an interception, giving Albany the ball on their 1-yard line early in the 4th quarter. 

Albany’s offense failed to capitalize on the ensuing drive. A touchdown pass to defensive lineman Jamall Hickbottom was wiped off the board by a penalty. The following play saw Brown cough up the ball into the end zone, resulting in a change of possession, giving Billings the ball back inside their 5-yard line. 

The Outlaws sputtered on the drive, suffering two costly penalties before surrendering a safety and sinking into a 39-7 deficit with just over five minutes to go in the game. 

With the game essentially in hand, the Firebirds turned the ball over to their backup Robert McCoy Jr., who was unable to put the exclamation point on the match, getting stuffed at the goal line on 4th down with one second remaining in the game.

The Albany Firebirds walked off the field with a 39-7 win at the final buzzer.


Key Players For Albany

No matter where he was on the field, Duane Brown was a magnet for the ball. The clutch wideout snared 9 of his team-high 13 targets while gaining 104 yards out of a possible 180 on the night for his team. On top of that, he was responsible for two of his team’s four offensive touchdowns. His performance earned him Real American Beer MVP honors. 

Key Players For Billings

In what was a disappointing day offensively, wide receiver Jevin Frett managed to salvage a productive outing, catching all four of his targets for a team-high 46 yards. He gained 24 of those yards on one of his team’s most productive drives before a missed field goal attempt ended any hopes of cashing in on his efforts.