Albany beats the Soul, 57-48, on botched onside kick

The Soul did not look like the No. 2 defense in the Arena Football League for most of the game Saturday night.

The Albany Empire defense didn’t fare so well, either.

For much of the game at the Wells Fargo Center, it was an offensive chess match between the two unbeaten teams. Then, late in the fourth quarter, the game slipped away from the Soul on a bad onside kick, and they suffered their first loss of the season, 57-48.

“Bottom line is we didn’t play very well,” Soul coach Clint Dolezel said. “Defensively, we couldn’t get a stop when we needed one.”

The Empire (3-0) struck first, and then both teams took turns racing into the end zone. By halftime, the Empire had manged to score one more touchdown and led, 28-20.

The Soul’s biggest problem was that their secondary was a step behind the Empire receivers for most of the first half. On Albany’s third scoring play of the half, Malachi Jones went untouched into the end zone after catching a 43-yard pass from quarterback Tommy Grady.

The Soul’s trouble in the secondary continued into the second half. But their offense stepped up until they were hit with a devastating blow late in the fourth quarter.

As they did in the second quarter, the Soul (2-1) tried an onside kick, when they were trailing the Empire, 49-48. The attempt failed the first time, and it went wrong again in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 4-yard touchdown by Empire defensive back Arkeith Brown.

“We were just trying to gain a possession back,” Dolezel said. “It’s not [a play] that we practice often, that particular one. But they were actually giving it to us. We took advantage, and it was pretty decent kick. We just didn’t get the blocks.”

Darius Rosser, a rookie defensive lineman for the Soul, was injured midway in the fourth quarter with an apparent injury to his left leg. He did not return to action, and his status was not announced.

The Soul’s top receiver, Lonnie Outlaw, finished the game with nine receptions for 191 yards.