Kats Win AF1 Arena Crown Championship!

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Kats captured the AF1 Arena Crown championship with a 59-53 win over the Albany Firebirds before a sell-out crown of 4,066 at F&M Bank Arena.

On the final play of the game, Nashville’s Roderick Perry stopped Albany quarterback Sam Castranova short of the goal line on a quarterback sneak to secure the win for the Kats.

Nashville had re-taken the lead on the first play after the 1-minute warning when Tyler Kulka threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Malik Honeycutt with 55 seconds remaining. Kyle Kaplan missed the extra point.

The Kats attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff to save time on the clock in case of an Albany score. The Firebirds recovered the ball at the 10.

Castranova threw a short pass to Duane Brown and ran twice, forcing the Kats to use their remaining two timeouts.

On fourth down, Castranova attempted to leap over the line from the 1 but was pushed back by Perry.

Kulka, the AF1 Player of the Year, threw four of his seven touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as Nashville erased a Firebirds 36-33 advantage. Kulka completed 25-of-32 passes for 348 yards.

Honeycutt, Kendyl Williams and Jordan Gandy each caught two touchdown passes. Williams had 114 yards receiving.

Albany took advantage of two Nashville turnovers to re-take the lead in the third quarter.

Travion Mosby recovered a Jordan Gandy fumble at the Firebirds 10 and returned it to near midfield. Sam Castranova capped a 4-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Darien Townsend.

Castranova finished the game completing 25-of-44 passes for 305 yards and six touchdowns.

On the following drive, Markus Smith intercepted a Tyler Kulka pass in the end zone to end another Kats drive.

The Firebirds defense did not allow Nashville to score in the third quarter.

Nashville’s defense finally got another stop, taking possession at their own 21 with 12:42 left in the game.

The Kats defense pitched a shutout in the first quarter after Albany kicked a deuce to take a 2-0 lead to start the game.

Nashville’s defense forced a 4-and-out from the Firebirds 2 on Albany’s first possession.

On its second possession, Albany drove to the Kats 11 before the defense tightened up and forced an incomplete pass on fourth down.

Perry had two pass break-ups on the opening drive. He finished with four tackles, three for losses.

The Kats offense scored on all three of their first quarter possessions and led 23-2 after the first quarter.

Tyler Kulka accounted for all three touchdowns in the quarter, throwing two touchdowns to Jordan Gandy sandwiched around his 7-yard bootleg for a score.

B.K. Smith hauled in a 30-yard pass for a touchdown in the second quarter, the Kats’ only TD in the quarter.

Kyle Kaplan kicked a 37-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the quarter to give Nashville a 33-22 halftime advantage.

Albany made a game of it in the second quarter, stopping the Kats on downs twice while scoring three touchdowns. Roderick Perry blocked two extra points in the quarter.

KATS KAPTAIN: Major General David Gardener, the Commanding General of the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, was the Kats Kaptain before the Arena Crown championship game on Saturday.