It won’t take long for the Kent Predators to find out how well they can compete in the professional Indoor Football League.
The Predators open the season Feb. 28 at the Billings (Mont.) Outlaws, the defending league champion and a franchise that has played in several indoor leagues over the last nine years.
The second-year Indoor Football League just awarded a team in December to Kent.
“It’s a blessing and curse at the same time,” Kent coach William McCarthy said about the season opener. “The blessing is we’re going to find out right away what our team is capable of doing.
“The curse is, it’s the first game of the season and you’re going against a team that’s been together for quite some time and they’ve been around and know how to play the game.”
Billings quarterback Chris Dixon threw 69 touchdown passes last year with just seven interceptions. Receiver James Walton had 34 touchdown receptions. Both players return this season as the Outlaws try to defend their title.
“We’re going against an established team and franchise,” McCarthy said after a Thursday practice at Wilson Playfields on the East Hill. “They all know each other and what they’re going to do.”
The Predators opened their two-week training camp Feb. 14 with 45 players. McCarthy cut 10 players, but still has other players coming in to join the team. Kent must cut down to a 30-man roster for the 14-game season, including seven games at the ShoWare Center.
The additional players are expected to include Manase Hopoi, who played defensive end at the University of Washington from 2002 to 2005.
“We’re looking pretty good,” McCarthy said. “A lot of the local talent is doing very well. It’s nice to have local kids who can play the game. The out-of-state guys we bring in are bigger names, but some of the local kids are just as good if not better.”
Receiver Andre Piper-Jordan is a local player who has excelled at training camp. Piper-Jordan, a 2003 graduate of Federal Way High School, shined in football, baseball and basketball for the Eagles.
Piper-Jordan spent four years as an outfielder in the minor league system of the Oakland Athletics before the team released him. He has spent the last two years playing semipro football for the Puget Sound Titans and the Renton Ravens.
“I can’t wait, I’m stoked for it,” Piper-Jordan said after Thursday’s practice as he looks toward the season opener. “The first game I wish was a home game, but it’s on the road.”
The Predators will start three receivers, three linemen, a running back and a quarterback for the eight-on-eight games.
The three quarterbacks contending for the starting spot include Charles McCullum, who played at Stillman College in Alabama; Greg Mangan, a 2009 graduate of Oberlin (Ohio) College; and Brandon Peterson, a former Central Kitsap High School quarterback who has played semipro and a bit of arena football.
“Charles is a runner and a thrower,” McCarthy said. “Peterson has experience from arena football and Greg has a great arm and put up lot of records at college.”
Whichever quarterback earns the starting spot, McCarthy knows the Predators need to score a lot of points in a game played on a 50-yard field.
“A typical score is 55-50 and whoever has the ball last wins,” said McCarthy, an assistant coach last year with the El Paso Generals of the Indoor Football League. “You might get up to 70 or 80 points.”
The quarterbacks have impressed Piper-Jordan so far at training camp.
“They look real good,” Piper-Jordan said. “If you don’t turn your head around fast enough, you’ll get one in the ribs.”
If the speed of the players helps wins game, Piper-Jordan said the Predators should do well.
“We’ve got a lot of speed out here,” he said. “Speed kills, so that will be good in this league, I hope. I haven’t played in this league.”
After the Billings game, the Predators play March 8 at the Alaska Wild in Anchorage before their home debut March 12 against Fairbanks at the ShoWare Center.
“I can’t wait,” Piper-Jordan said about playing in Kent. “The whole time I’ve been waiting for that first catch and take it all the way to the house.”
For more information, go to www.kentpredators.com or www.goifl.com.
Who: Kent Predators, Indoor Football League
When: Opener, Feb. 28 at Billings
Home: ShoWare Center, debut March 12 vs. Fairbanks
Rules: 8-on-8 players; field 50 yards long
Web site: www.kentpredators.com
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