By Toph Kopchak Director of AFL Coverage 

I've been a little busy this week, but still wanted to post something, so using a few databases and a system i've worked on for years, here are my "metric sims" Arena Football style.

BAL -9 80.7% to win
PHI -2 53.5% to win
WAS -6 70.7% to win

Using just Vegas Power Rankings alone, Baltimore is an eight point favorite, but no team has changed more than Columbus, plus they have the top metric defense. Washington gets an extra point in my mind because of their banner for last seasons title going up, plus they are playing solid ball. Vegas likes the 0-2 Valor and so do my sims.

Old habits die hard, especially when you're bringing back a team from the grave. 
Usually those old pitfalls would be why the team went extinct to begin with, but for the Orlando Predators, some things the team absolutely has to bring back for the history and the fans. For example, calling their field "the jungle". 
Problem is another franchise in the National Arena League already calls their home field that.
The Columbus Lions, a stable and consistent organization that has climbed up the ranks of indoor football to one of the more prolific leagues in the country, calls their arena "the jungle" too. The perfect place for a pride of lions, Columbus is the smallest market in the league. That hasn't stopped them from making last year's NAL championship game. 
In a dilemma that would make Guns N Roses fans feel right at home, the opportunity to raise the stakes was taken by ownership, resulting in the Jungle War rivalry.
​"We were in a Lions staff meeting going back and forth about the two jungles," said Joshua Blair, owner of the Lions. "Then we came up with the idea of having a trophy that determined bragging rights for the jungle."
For the Predators, they had to take the chance to defend their namesake.
"We were all for it," said Purvis Adamson, Director of Multimedia and Assistant General Manager. "Everyone in arena football, they know the Orlando Predators have the jungle."
In the first meeting between the two teams, it was the Predators that came out on top in a 42-40 victory in Orlando. It was the closest game in the NAL this season and the first game back since the original Predators folded.
"It was a historical moment. First year back, first year in the NAL and just to play the Columbus Lions made it more historical," Adamson said.
To celebrate the victory, the Predators brought home the Schwarzenegger Knife, a wooden recreation of the large knife used by his character in the movie Predator. It was presented to the team by NAL Commissioner Chris Siegfried after the game.

The idea to use the knife design as the rivalry trophy came from the Lions' front office staff. Social media coordinator Hayley Dukes suggested the design while manager Jared Goertzen hand carved the trophy. 
The rivalry trophy is the only one currently in the NAL, but it does have people on both sides wanting to keep it in their own jungle.
"Now we get a chance to play them in our home, the real jungle," said Lions defensive back Shattle Fenteng. "I'm excited about this matchup. The fans are going to see an exciting game and our defense is going to bring it."
For Orlando though, they have no long term plans of giving up the knife.
"I don't think were going to lose it," Adamson said. "We look forward to keeping it, if we lose it one game no big deal, because we’ll get it back and at the end of the season keep it."
The Predators and Lions will face off Saturday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in Columbus. The game will be broadcasted on the NAL YouTube page.

By James Chambers, Contributing Writer

The Wichita Force suffered a slaughter from the Salina Liberty a week ago Saturday. A game where Wichita would only score three points in the second half. Consequently, Wichita would go on to to lose that game with a score of 50-22. Plagued with defensive and offensive setbacks all season Wichita has lost four and won two games. Saturday Wichita played against the Enid Flying Aces, but this time they played at home. The game started slow with each team answering scores. First with Enid setting their pace, scoring the first TD. Wichita answered with a jet reverse that tied the game. Just when it looked like Wichita would hold Enid on third down, they managed to drop in a touchdown pass. Wichita answered with a drive that concluded with a five yard pass to Tomlinson. Even with that score, the first quarter ended with Wichita down seven with a score of 21-14. In the second quarter Wichita’s defense stepped up to hold Enid to just three points. Consequently by the end of the of the second quarter Wichita held a 31-24 lead. The defense of Wichita has been under question all season. Many fans question why the team did not try to sign Mckendrick Harper instead of allowing the Liberty to sign him. This quarter the defense started to prove they can compete, that they can hold teams without giving up the long ball. In fact the defense would end the half with an interception. Moreover allowing the team one touchdown advantage on Enid going into the locker room for the first half. The second half went on to hold surprises from Wichita. The first score of the second half Lindsay had a 33 yard scamper for pay dirt. The next possession, Hubener threw a nice touch pass right over the shoulder where Gill would make a spectacular catch jumping in the air and catching the pass while tumbling over the boundary for the touchdown. Ending the third quarter with a score of 37-27. Tomlinson caught a two yard toss from Hubener at the start of the fourth quarter after Wichita’s defense holding Enid to no score. Wichita once again held Enid to no first downs. Wichita immediately fumbled away the possession and Enid turned it into six points. Wichita put the game out of reach when they answered that score and left 45 seconds on the clock. Wichita immediately intercepted Enid and put the game away with a pick six. Wichita out played Enid, but Enid is an expansion team and has not won one game this season and holds a winless record. The true test in Wichita will be Saturday when they travel to Sioux City to take on the Bandits. The game will be very important for both teams because the Bandits are after their second win and Wichita looks to improve their record to three wins and four losses.

Written by Chris Mabry

Last night, the Texas Revolution battled the Beef in Omaha, Nebraska. Both these teams are at the top of their respective conferences. The Revolution are sitting at a comfortable position in the South Conference. The Omaha Beef are sitting at 2-1 with the Salina Liberty breathing down their necks. 

Throughout the night, the Texas Revolution had major problems. First, the Revs were without a kicker so after each touchdown they would go for a 2-point conversion and instead of kicking a field goal, they would go for it on fourth down. Texas would go for it on fourth down five times and on two of those occasions the Revolution turned it over on downs and the Revolution also threw 2 interceptions in the game. However, they did have four touchdowns in the game. 

Revolution quarterback Robert Kent completed 61 percent 245 yards, 4 TD's, 2 INT. Dominique Carson is the leading rusher for the Revolution. He had 3 rush attempts for 7 yards.  Finally, leading in the receiving category, Dominique Carson . He caught the ball from Robert Kent 8 times for 100 yards and also caught one for a touchdown. 

As for the Omaha Beef, they virtually had a flawless game They only had one turn over on downs and only completed one field goal. The rest of the drives resulted in . a touchdown. Derrick Bernard, the Beef quarterback completed 58 percent of his passes for 98 yards, and 2 touchdowns. He did end the game with no interceptions. Bernard also became your leading rusher. He carried the ball 93 times on 8 rushing attempts. Finally, Antonio Bray is the leading receiver for the Omaha Beef. Bray caught the ball 5 teams for 52 yards and even scored a touchdown in the game.  

Both these teams will face each other on Monday, May 13 at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Make sure to come out to the game if you're in Texas or make sure to watch the game on Pluto TV. You can watch the game on your smart tv, computer, or cell phone. 

​By Rob Disario

And just like that, the Massachusetts Pirates are back on their A-game. With the aid of last minute pickups: Lashard Durr, Jokobi Smith and Ishmael Zamora, Coach Payton and his previously shipwrecked buccaneers topped the expansion Orlando Predators. The highlight of Saturday's match-up was the Pirate defense who left the Florida team scoreless after the first half. Predator offensive line couldn't hold back the onslaught of pressure and quarterback Kyle Israel spent the game either on his back or on the run. 

In an exclusive AFT interview, I asked Mass Pirates head coach Anthony Payton what he did differently to prepare for tonight's win. “You have to understand,” he said. “Carolina is the best team in the league...I have 18 new guys, coming from the outdoor game, they needed to adjust.” Payton went on to say the return of snapper Thomas Claiborne made a big difference in the pass protection. 

I asked Coach Payton about Devonn Brown not playing tonight, “He’s banged up” he offered. “They ran him at the CFL tryout and he came back all banged up!” When asked whether Brown would dress for next week’s match-up against the sharks he said, “I don’t know...we’ll see how he does at practice." 

Coach Payton took his share of digital hits this week after two painful losses to the Cobras. But in extraordinary fashion, he kept himself and his players focused to not only finish with a win, but outscore the Predators four to one. The Jacksonville Sharks visit Worcester for week 4 match-up on Saturday, May 4 kickoff at 8:20pm.     

PER AMERICAN ARENA LEAGUE (AAL): On Saturday morning AAL CEO, Tony Zefiretto announced, "It is with a heavy heart to share; late last night, AA President, Jack Bowman passed away." For most of the last seven months, Jack was confined to a hospital bed as he battled to recover from a variety of illnesses. He fought to the very end.
Elected into the Minor League Football Hall of Fame in 2002, Jack is an "Icon" within the arena/indoor football industry. He will always be remembered for his commitment to the sport and as a friend to the tens of thousands of people he touched.
All future American Arena League Championships will be played for the Jack Bowman Trophy.

By Toph Kopchak Director of AFL Coverage.

We survived the offseason! With a new world of gaming, I thought I would list a "Who To Watch For" in Week 1.

WAS @ BAL Friday 7 ET NBC Sports Washington and Monumental Sports

"Superman" Joe Hills ($9,600) will get to show off his skills right away to his new Baltimore fans on opening night. The highest priced player on Draft Kings is a favorite to watch, but this week's steal could be on the other team. Valor Quarterback Arvell Nelson ($9,400) has the best legs among AFL QB's and scored over 6 more FPPG (fantasy points per game) than Hills last season, and also earned Arena Bowl MVP last season.

AC @ PHI Saturday 3:30 ET NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus and Monumental Sports

Dan Raudabaugh ($8,200) is not even priced with the top half of the QB's, something that will not bug this vet too much, but still how? I see good value here, especially if you pair him with one of the league's best rising receivers Darius Prince ($8,400). Aaron Wascha ($7,400) being banged up gives Prince more value.

COL @ ALB Saturday 7 ET WNYA My4 Albany, WSYX 6.2 Columbus and Monumental Sports

​Tommy Grady ($9,200) has lots of value, but the Destroyers did load up on defense and with Hills no longer there it may take a couple drives to figure out a "Brigade" type defense first style, but it's sure tempting to double up with Malachi Jones ($8,800) who took AFL Rookie of The Year last season. Jones also had a look by former Destroyers QB and current Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy and also in Atlanta in the AAF. Cheaper than former Empire wideout Joe Hills, plus he scored more than him last season, plus having a quality FB in Mykel Benson ($4,400) will still free him up inside the 5 this season. However, his price and recent history makes him iffy for Saturday night.
​

By Rob Disario
​
Three former Mass Pirates have joined forces on the AFL expansion team Atlantic City Blackjacks. In an age of expanding arena football leagues and teams it’s difficult to keep track of our favorite players. When the 2019 Mass Pirates roster was released I noted three of my top picks were suspiciously absent. I began my search and found Nick Haag, Cornelius Lewis and Kiante Northington in New Jersey. It’s unclear why they moved to the Garden State AFL team, but one may surmise its a bigger opportunity to play. 

After the inaugural 2018 season, Pirate linebacker Nick Haag made a brief, off-season stop at the Carolina Cobras before signing with Atlantic City. Unfortunately for the Cobras, star wide receiver Tyron Laughinghouse also made the move to the Blackjacks. 

Defensive Back Kiante Northington, who wore number 13 for the Pirates was the defensive lucky charm in 2018 with 12 interceptions for 136 yards with one resulting in a pick-six. The DB lead the team with 55 unassisted tackles and 17 assisted. Just a phenomenal all around defensive player. 

Cornelius Lewis was a force on the front line. The loss of the veteran offensive lineman was felt in the Pirates first two games where QB Sean Brackett suffered from a lack of protection being forced out of the pocket on most plays against the Cobras. During the 2018 season, Cornelius Lewis played in 11 games with one reception for 17 yards and a touchdown. Not too shabby.

​Many would contend playing in the once defunct AFL is a step in the right direction for these three former Pirates. Others would argue the money hemorrhaging AFL is one bad season away from closing its doors (...again). But, I think we’d all agree football fans are rooting for Haag, Lewis, Northington and the sport in general to succeed.  

The Atlantic City Blackjacks are the latest in expansion teams of the Arena Football League. Their 2019 season is due to kick off Saturday April 27, 2019 in Philadelphia while the NAL Pirates play their third game at home against the former AFL team, Orlando Predators.