If you’re into smashmouth ground-pounding, this sport isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you favor a 45-42 shootout à la Bills vs. Oilers back in the heydays of Jim Kelly and Warren Moon, you’ve come to the right place.

The Albany Conquest certainly put on such a show at the Pepsi Arena Saturday. There were blocked kicks. There were diving safeties tipping away passes at the last second. There were one-hand catches. There were plays off the net. There were ... wait, plays off the net?

Yes, indeed. To produce the fast-paced high-scoring blitz that is arena football, its creators tweaked the rules a bit. The clock doesn’t stop for little things like incomplete passes. Touchbacks come out to the five-yard line. The goalposts are much closer together. And there are nets stretched across the ends of the field—balls off the nets are still in play, which makes missed field goals much more interesting.

Most notably, though, the field is smaller—only 50 yards between end zones—and the teams are much smaller: eight men on the field and only 19 on the roster, which means that many athletes play both offense and defense.

One such player is former RPI standout Matt Vittengl, who had an outstanding game for the Conquest. In his usual position of linebacker, he had several tackles and a forced fumble. He blocked two kicks on special teams and scored an offensive touchdown as a fullback, helping Albany to a 34-28 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers and a 3-0 record.

Many of the Conquest players are, like Vittengl, from local or regional schools. Union, SUNY-Albany, Colgate, and Hobart are all represented. This helps bring the fans into the game on a personal level—cheers for individual players were common.