Poor special teams play cost the Albany Metro Mallers their first loss of the season.
Tyrone Burke’s long kickoff return set up Dewayne Gordon’s 1-yard touchdown run with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter to give the Syracuse Shock a 32-26 Empire Football League victory over the Metro Mallers Saturday at Christian Brothers Academy.
Albany (2-1 league, 3-1 overall) tied the game at 26 on quarterback CJ Tarver’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Domo Henderson, but Syracuse blocked Kelly Palmer’s extra point attempt — Palmer’s second miss of the night. Burke then took the ensuing kickoff and raced to Albany’s 3-yard line before David Lumpkin caught him for a touchdown-saving tackle.
From there, it took Gordon three attempts to cover the yards necessary to put the Shock ahead.
`Our special teams did not play well tonight,` said Albany coach Tom Manny. `I’ll tell you this much. When we get together Tuesday for practice, that’s the first thing we’re going to work on.`
Syracuse grabbed a 6-0 lead on quarterback TJ Sheard’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Burke late in the first quarter. It was the first six points allowed by Albany’s defense all season.
Syracuse caught a break early in the second quarter when a botched snap on an Albany punt and an unsportsmanlike penalty after the play ended gave the Shock the ball on the Mallers’ 7-yard line. Gordon scored on the next play from scrimmage, and Sherard added a two-point conversion pass to give Syracuse a 14-0 lead.
`The bottom line is we made too many mental errors in the first half,` said Manny.
Tarver ignited Albany’s offense late in the second quarter. He completed a fourth-down pass to Sean Singleton at midfield and added a 20-yard run to move the ball inside Syracuse’s 30-yard line. Three plays later, Tarver completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ish Green to trim the Shock’s lead to 14-7.
Syracuse used the final two minutes of the first half to put together one more scoring drive. Sheard completed several passes during the series, including a 5-yard touchdown strike to Burke as time expired. The two-point conversion failed, though, which left the Shock with a 20-7 halftime lead.
Albany started the second half strong with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Tarver to Henderson. Palmer’s extra point sailed through to trim Syracuse’s advantage to 20-14 four minutes into the third quarter.
The Metro Mallers threatened to tie the score on their next offensive series, but the drive stalled on Syracuse’s 11-yard line. That proved costly as Gordon took the ensuing handoff from Sheard, slipped through several Albany tacklers and took off on an 89-yard touchdown run to give Syracuse a 26-14 lead.
`He’s a tough cookie,` Manny said of Gordon. `You blink once, and you’ve got a problem.`
Albany’s defense made a big play midway through the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-goal from Albany’s 12-yard line, Sheard’s pass was tipped in the end zone and caught by Donald Murdock Jr. for his second interception of the night. Murdock then ran the ball back to Albany’s 5-yard line before being tackled.
The Mallers were nearly pinned deep in their own territory, but Tarver got them out of there and into the end zone with one play. Tarver scrambled under heavy pressure and threw a pass to Green near the sideline. Green stopped himself before crossing the line and outran the Syracuse defense for a 91-yard touchdown. Palmer missed the extra point, though, which left Albany with a 26-20 deficit with 6:07 left.
Another Mallers interception gave them the ball at Syracuse’s 28-yard line one minute later. On third-and-seven, Tarver rolled right and connected with Henderson on the tying touchdown.
Following Gordon’s go-ahead scoring run, Albany had one more chance to tie the game. Tarver drove the Mallers to Syracuse’s 15-yard line in three plays, but his next three passes fell incomplete and his fourth-down throw was intercepted at the Shock’s 3-yard line with 23.4 seconds left.
Albany returns to action Aug. 11 when it hosts the Plattsburgh North Stars at CBA.
