Georgia Firebirds earn first victory

ALBANY — History was made at the Albany Civic Center on Saturday night.

After enduring an 86-0 loss in their first game, a nail biting defeat in the second and a coaching change in between, the Georgia Firebirds put it all together to beat the Savannah Steam 43-34.

The Firebirds trailed 28-14 at halftime, but the team stepped up to score 29 points in the second half.

“I went in at the half and told the guys I needed to see some urgency,” Firebirds coach Antwone Savage said. “We weren’t playing with urgency in the first half. We left a lot of points on the field and their were a lot of mistakes. The guys really listened at half time.”

Things looked grim early for the Firebirds. After getting to within one point early in the first, they fell behind 22-7 and the offense went cold.

The Firebirds defense answered with a sack and fumble recovery for a touchdown. It was one of two defense touchdowns scored by the defense.

Antwonis Cuts returned an interception for a touchdown in the second half to cut the score to 28-27.

“The guys really learned the offense and the defense,” Savage said. “They figured out how to do it the right way. When they do that, everything else just takes care of itself.”

Late in the third quarter, the Firebirds took a 34-28 lead when Isaiah Jupiter caught a touchdown pass from Marcus Brooks. The drive was set up by an interception at midfield by Antonio Bearden.

The touchdown was Jupiter’s second of the game. He also caught the Firebirds first touchdown.

“You can’t even explain what it’s like to win,” Jupiter said. “This is just the start. This is just the start to something great.”

The Steam cut the score to 43-34 with 3:40 left in the game, but the Firebirds ran the clock out on the final drive.

The win makes the Firebirds 1-2 on the year. The Firebirds travel to Myrtle Beach next Monday for a game against the Freedom.

They will also play the Freedom in their next home game which takes place on April 23.