​If the Albany Firebirds want to defend their Arena Football One title, they’ll likely have to do it on the road. The Firebirds headed into Saturday’s regular-season finale at MVP Arena with a shot at seizing the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage for the playoffs, but Nashville’s Kats had other plans. Despite Albany’s rally from an early 19-point hole and multiple comeback attempts in the second half, Nashville managed to squeeze out a 57-54 win, clinching the top seed.
To secure the No. 1 seed, Albany (9-3) would have needed a victory by 10 points or more to win the head-to-head point differential tiebreaker over Nashville (11-1). Firebirds head coach Damon Ware acknowledged that while he hoped to flip the script against Nashville, he was content with earning the No. 2 seed and earning two straight byes to rest a depleted squad ahead of the postseason. “We’ve been beat up all year,” Ware said. “We’ve had more season-ending injuries this year than we’ve had in the last five combined. We need those two weeks off. We will get close to being healthy, and you will see our team come the semifinals.”
For the second consecutive week, there was no Sam Castronova in the lineup for Albany, with Joshua Kulka starting at quarterback against a Nashville team that featured Kulka’s older brother, Tyler, under center. When asked about Castronova’s inactivity, a status linked to a personal matter he shared publicly last week, Ware kept his response private. “I keep those things in house,” he said. “It’s not really for public consumption, but, obviously, there were things that went on. There were things that needed to happen. Ultimately, I am very, very confident in Josh. I would have no problem starting him in any game that I coach.”
Special teams continued to be a decisive factor, as it had been in Nashville’s earlier 78-69 win over Albany in Clarksville, Tenn. Nashville kicker Kyle Kaplan was perfect on all seven extra-point attempts and four successful two-point conversions, while Albany’s Brent Reis— their third different kicker this season—struggled with dropkick extra points and did not notch a single deuce. “We’ve changed kickers so many times,” Ware said, “and it just seems to be the same result every time. There’s a lot of frustration with the kicking.”
Albany fell behind early, down 18-0 less than 10 minutes into the game and 27-8 after the first quarter. The Firebirds battled back in the second and third quarters to climb back into contention, but they could not finish the job. After Albany tied the game at 48-48 with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter, Reis’ kickoff skid under the crossbar gave Nashville the ball at the 20-yard line. Tyler Kulka connected with Charles Hall IV for a 30-yard touchdown on the very next play, restoring Nashville’s lead, and Kaplan knocked in his fourth deuce of the game, further widening the gap. The end result left Albany with a painful, close defeat and a season that has them eyeing a hard road through the playoffs.