Quarterback Charles McCullum, receiver Andre Jordan and kick returner Jarvious Dunn each had great debuts for the Kent Predators in their first professional Indoor Football League game.
But the performances by the three players weren’t enough for the first-year Kent Predators on the road Feb. 28 against the Billings (Mont.) Outlaws, the defending league champion.
After a slow start, Billings dominated the second half en route to a 56-40 win against Kent in front of a crowd of 3,386 at Rimrock Auto Arena.
“Honestly, the boys played very well,” said Kent coach William McCarthy in a phone interview Monday. “We are a very young team and many of them have never played arena football.”
The Predators play March 8 at the Alaska Wild in Anchorage before making their home debut at 7:30 p.m. March 12 against the Fairbanks Grizzlies at the ShoWare Center.
McCullum, a former Stillman College (Ala.) quarterback, threw for 224 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 65 yards and another score on nine carries.
“Charles had a very good game at quarterback,” McCarthy said. “He had some nice runs and some nice passes.”
Kent led 20-13 in the first half before the Outlaws took over the game. Billings scored 43 consecutive points before the Predators scored three touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the game.
“I’m very proud of the way we played for an expansion team,” McCarthy said.
Jordan, a former Federal Way High School star, led the Predators with seven receptions for 107 yards. He had touchdown catches of 48 and 24 yards.
Dunn, who helped Tri-Cities win the National Indoor Football League title in 2005, had kick returns of 45, 35 and 32 yards for the Predators on the 50-yard field.
“He (Dunn) almost took two back for touchdowns,” McCarthy said. “He did real well.”
Other key contributors for Kent included receiver Eric Taylor with five catches for 73 yards and one touchdown and receiver Travis Poole with six receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Linebackers K.J. McCrae and Walner Leander led Kent with five tackles apiece.
“Our defense played very well, although we did have some breakdowns in coverage,” McCarthy said.
Billings quarterback Chris Dixon, the 2009 IFL Player of the Year, threw for 80 yards and four touchdowns. He rushed for 70 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries, including a 16-yard score early in the fourth quarter to give the Outlaws a 56-20 lead.
The Predators committed more than 20 penalties. They often gave Billings second chances with defensive penalties and the offense started to sputter with illegal procedure violations.
“A lot of it was the guys were excited to finally be on the field and get a chance to hit somebody,” McCarthy said of the numerous penalties. “We had some roughing-the-quarterback calls. It was unfortunate we had so many the first game, but now we know what we need to fix.”
McCarthy expects another tough challenge March 8 against the Alaska Wild. Fairbanks beat Alaska 29-28 in the opener for both teams Sunday.
“It’s going to be a hard trip for us,” he said. “They’ve got a good squad. They are kind of like us with a lot of guys who have never played in the league.”
The Predators fly out Sunday for the Monday-night game. That’s a little better schedule than the opener at Billings. The Kent team left by bus at about 10 p.m. Friday and arrived Saturday after about a 12-hour and 800-mile trip for the Sunday night game. They returned home right after the game, arriving back in town at about 10 a.m. Monday.
This will mark the first trip to Alaska for many of the Kent coaches and players.
“A lot of us have never been to Alaska,” McCarthy said. “I have never been there.”
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