Firebirds Firing On All Cylinders - Defeat Tritons 100-12

The Albany Firebirds headed to Texas to take on the Corpus Christi Tritons on Friday night. The Firebirds set the game off on the right foot. Literally, on the right foot of Henry Nell, who scored a deuce on the opening kickoff to take a 2-0 lead. That was just the beginning for Nell and the Firebirds.

Albany's Perfect First Half

It didn't take long to see how this game was going to go. Two plays in, Mike Lee forced a fumble, and the Firebirs took over on offense. Darius Townsend had two nice catches on the following drive before Desmond Maxwell ran the ball in for a touchdown. Nell followed that score with a deuce as well.

The Tritons fumbled the next snap, with the Firebirds recovering. Robert McCoy came in for Sam Castranova and threw a touchdown to Duane Brown. It was a really nice catch by Brown, who held on while being tackled. The extra point attempt was bobbled, and McCoy hit Nell for two points. Nell missed the defender covering him. Nell followed that with a deuce as well. 

The Firebirds' defense held the Tritons on the next drive, and McCoy came in and threw another touchdown pass, this one to Darius Townsend. The Firebirds took a 27-0 lead quickly. Following that, Ezekiel Rose got pressure from the middle and strip-sacked Kyle Cool of the Tritons. The ball was recovered by Drew Singletary for a touchdown.

It was 35-0 just 11 minutes into the game. The Tritons showed some life after a big catch by Josiah King took them down to the 12-yard line. However, Kyle Cool's pass was tipped on fourth down, and Albany took over on downs.

The Firebirds drove down the field, and McCoy pitched the ball to Trevon Shorts for a touchdown from the one-yard line. Henry Nell completed the two-point conversion with his second drop-kick.

Despite the score being 43-0, Kyle Cool showed incredible toughness after taking hit after hit. He was slow to get up several times in the second quarter, but he continued to get up and continued hanging in the pocket and taking shots. Despite the blowout, he should hold his head up with the toughness he showed. Unfortunately, he did end up leaving the game injured. 

The Firebirds went into the locker room with a 79-0 lead.

Slower Second Half

The second half was slower as far as scoring went. Lakeith Murray came in for an injured Kyle Cool. They got on the board with a minute left in the third quarter with a Murray touchdown pass to Moe Strong. One of the Tritons players proposed right after the touchdown. No worries, she said yes. 

The celebration may have been short-lived as Marquel Wade returned the following kickoff for a touchdown. The lead had advanced to 93-12. The Firebirds ended up scoring once more, extending their lead to 100-12.

Albany's Stars

Even with Albany not playing starting quarterback Sam Castranova for the majority of the game, plenty of their players stood out. McCoy threw six touchdown passes. Trevon Shorts ran for two touchdowns. Daren Townsend (1), Duane Brown (3), Marquel Wade (2), and Jamall Hickbottom (1) all had receiving touchdowns. 

Henry Nell had an incredible game. He had five deuces, two extra points, six two-point drop kick points, and a two-point conversion catch.