ALBANY — Another tumultuous week, another Albany Empire loss.
The Empire (1-5) extended their losing streak to five games with a 49-27 loss to the Fayetteville Mustangs (3-3) Saturday night at MVP Arena. Albany trailed for most of the game, leading only briefly in the third quarter.
“I think guys can be proud of how they played, how hard they played. I think it’s a situation now where we got to go two or three steps back and evaluate, watch film and try to figure out where we stand as a team and how we can move forward,” coach Pete Porcelli said.
Albany started the week without a head coach; Porcelli, an assistant coach at La Salle and former Albany Firebird, agreed to take the job Monday afternoon.
Tuesday, quarterback Jonathan Bane asked for his release. To replace Bane, the Empire re-signed Roland Rivers III, a former Division II star who played for Albany in a three-point loss to West Texas on May 6.
Empire majority owner Antonio Brown, a former NFL All-Pro wide receiver, had said repeatedly that he would take the field against Fayetteville for his first professional football appearance in over a year. But come Saturday, Brown was left off the active roster because, Porcelli said, his physical paperwork wasn’t filed with the league in time.
“It’s been a tough process, I’m going to be honest with you, but it’s like, we still got to go. We still got to roll with the punches,” said defensive back Brian Foy Jr.
The Empire trailed 20-7 before their third-quarter rally. Facing fourth and four at Fayetteville’s 11-yard line, Rivers pitched the ball to Kerry Starks, who joined Albany in a trade from Jacksonville this week, for a first down.
On the next play, Rivers threw his only passing touchdown of the game to tight end Bryant Nolan Jr., getting Albany within six.
Foy tackled Fayetteville receiver Kendrick Ings in the end zone on the kick off, resulting in a one-point safety for the Empire. Then Albany’s defense forced a turnover when defensive back Maurice Leggett ripped the ball out of Ings’ hands on a short passing route. The referees initially ruled that Ings was down before losing possession, but Porcelli successfully challenged the call.
Starks converted the stop into a touchdown with a 10-yard run, giving Albany a 21-20 lead despite a failed two-point conversion attempt.
“We gave up some plays. We took a lead in the third quarter, we looked like we were in the driver’s seat, and then, again, we had a breakdown,” Porcelli said.
Quarterback Rakeem Cato threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Christian Russell on Fayetteville’s next possession, and the Mustangs controlled the game from there.
“I wish I could have done more for our team, and come out with a win. We had a little run in the third quarter, and just too many mistakes. We’re handing off the ball, we got to throw the ball. It’s arena football, you got to throw the ball, you got to score,” said Albany wide receiver Fabian Guerra.
Guerra had five catches for 39 yards, a two-yard rushing touchdown and 114 kick return yards. Rivers was 14-for-23 for 96 yards and one touchdown. Albany had nearly as much success running the ball, with Starks and Rivers combining for 65 rushing yards on 13 attempts.
Cato was 20-for-33 for 214 yards and six touchdowns, three to Ings.
Turnovers were a factor in the loss — Rivers threw two interceptions and fumbled, and Starks had two fumbles — as were penalties. Even on the Empire’s first scoring drive of the third quarter, a holding penalty negated about 20 yards of Guerra’s return, and a false start later in the drive pushed Albany out of Fayetteville territory and back to midfield.
“It’s just a lot of little things we got to fix, little discipline errors. At this point, we just need everybody to just buy in so we can try to get this thing together as a group and turn it around,” wide receiver Nikolas Brassell said.
The Empire have a bye next week and travel to the Orlando Predators on June 9.