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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“Charles had a very good game at quarterback,” McCarthy said. “He had some nice runs and some nice passes.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“I’m very proud of the way we played for an expansion team,” McCarthy said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“He (Dunn) almost took two back for touchdowns,” McCarthy said. “He did real well.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Linebackers K.J. McCrae and Walner Leander led Kent with five tackles apiece.<\/p>\n
“Our defense played very well, although we did have some breakdowns in coverage,” McCarthy said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
McCarthy expects another tough challenge March 8 against the Alaska Wild. Fairbanks beat Alaska 29-28 in the opener for both teams Sunday.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
This will mark the first trip to Alaska for many of the Kent coaches and players.<\/p>\n
“A lot of us have never been to Alaska,” McCarthy said. “I have never been there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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