The Albany Empire were outscored 44-13 in the second half and lost 79-34 at the Jacksonville Sharks on Saturday night.
The Empire (1-4) scored once in the third quarter on a kickoff return by Maurice Leggett and once in the fourth on a 3-yard rush by Malcom McCoy.
Jacksonville (3-2) scored on all 10 drives, with the Albany defense unable to get a single stop.
“It was a poor performance all the way around. Coaching, playing. Everything wasn’t very good,” Albany coach Tom Menas said.
Menas, who won back-to-back titles in Albany, may have coached his last game with the Empire. Owner Antonio Brown seemed to indicate a change was imminent, tweeting “New coach new trainer new players Who wanna Win?????” during the fourth quarter.
Menas said he hadn’t yet spoken with Brown immediately following the game.
“Whatever decisions get made tomorrow, I’m good with. We’ll live with them, and we’ll move forward one way or the other,” Menas said.
Former Empire quarterback Sam Castronova made the most of playing the team that suspended and released him, completing 23 of his 26 passes for 282 yards and five touchdowns passing and a rushing for a touchdown before being pulled for the backup in the fourth quarter with the Sharks up 72-34. His first incompletion came with 14 seconds left in the first half.
National Arena League veteran Jonathan Bane, making his first start with the Empire, was 15-for-26 for 177 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions.
By the end of the first quarter, the Sharks had already built a two-score lead on rushing touchdowns from Brian Smith, assisted by an Empire fumbled snap.
Bane started the second quarter with a touchdown pass to Daquan Patten, scrambling on 4th and 6 before finding the rookie wide receiver, and the Empire closed within…
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