Desperados win season opener in Arena Football League (Photo By John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)
The Arena Football League and its Dallas franchise, the Desperados, kicked off their season this weekend.
Arena Football is a miniaturized version of the traditional game with which most sports fans are familiar. From the size of the playing field to the number of players on each squad, the only thing not scaled down in these games is the score and the action.
An AFL field is 85 feet wide, 50 yards long with 8-yard end zones on either side. There are no out of bounds; a padded wall 48 inches tall flanks each sideline.
In addition to the shorter field, AFL goal posts are 9 feet wide with a 15-foot high crossbar. A net on either side of the goal post protects the fans seated on either end zone, and balls can be played off the net.
These adjustments creates a game that focuses on passing, as well as produces many chances to rack up points.
Each team have eight players on the field. Most players play both ways.
Another unique aspect of the AFL is that punting is illegal. On fourth down, the offense has to attempt a first down or score.
The Desperados are owned by the Jerry Jones family and the Dallas Cowboys.
The Desperados took on the Kansas City Brigade in the teams’ first meeting. The Brigade is in its first season after a unusual turn of events.
The roster of the Brigade is chock full of players from the New Orleans VooDoo, but unlike many of the professional sports teams from the Hurricane-stricken area, this was not a simple change of address.
KC Arena Sports and Entertainment was in the process of starting an expansion team that was set to play during the 2007 season. The AFL asked the team to start playing a season early and has pulled many of the players from the New Orleans squad to fill their ranks.
In Sunday’s game, at the American Airlines Center, 11-year veteran quarterback Clint Dolezel was 25-of-35 for 270 yards and six touchdowns and also ran for an additional touchdown to lead the Desperados to a 58-44 victory over the Brigade.
Wide receiver Will Pettis had two interceptions and a touchdown for Dallas.
Head Coach Will McClay said, “Pettis is the best football player in this league-he always comes up and makes the play-if we continue to do that with Will and everybody else, we got a chance.”
The Desperados did not outperform the Brigade. Kansas City had more passing yards, more first downs and fewer fumbles, but Dallas was able to make big plays and control the scoreboard.
Dolezel, who had to make some in-game adjustments because of a new rule that starts the 35-second play clock the moment the ball is set by the official, said he began calling the plays on the field because there was not enough time to consult with the coaches before each play. Nevertheless, Dolezel was pleased his new squad’s performance.
“Pettis is just a fireball, I’m still trying to get used to him, he just runs and plays so hard, its nice to have guys like him.”
Dolezel was also pleased with backup wide receiver and linebacker Dialleo Burks.
“Dialleo played great and stepped up when [Jason] Shelly went down the first two series. He played almost every snap in the fourth quarter, both sides, and that’s hard to do.”
The Desperados will go on a two-game road trip first to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Blaze Saturday and then to Ohio to take on the Columbus Destroyers on Feb. 11 before returning to Dallas to play the Austin Wranglers on Feb. 17.
Desperados win season opener in Arena Football League (Photo By John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)
Desperados win season opener in Arena Football League (Photo By John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)
