Wolves carry momentum into first home game
The Manchester Wolves, who are coming off last weekend's 53-28 victory over the Green Bay Blizzard, will play their first home game of the 2009 season when they meet the Albany Firebirds in an arenafootball2 league East Division matchup Saturday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The victory over Green Bay improved Manchester's record to 1-1. The Firebirds are 0-3, but Manchester coach Danton Barto called that record deceiving.
"Albany has been getting better and better every game," Barto said. "They have been in every game they have played this year."
While the Wolves have a host of veterans who returned from last year's team that advanced to the American Conference title game, the Firebirds may be unrecognizable to af2 fans in the stands on Saturday night. Known as the Albany Conquest for the past seven years, the organization changed the team nickname and uniform colors, hired a first-year head coach in Tony Bowick, and cleaned house on both sides of the line. The Firebirds have very few holdovers from last season.
One of the newcomers is quarterback Adam Bednarik, a rookie who inherited the starting job midway through the first game of the season.
Kickoff for Saturday's game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
