PREDATORS JUST MISS PLAYOFFS IN ’07; LOOKING FOR NEW ADDITIONS TO HELP THEM OVER THE HUMP AND INTO 2008 PLAYOFFS

Team Preview by: David Sire

Pocatello – This team is absolutely the most difficult team for me to evaluate. Their roster shows 54 players this year. Of these 54, 24 are rookies and another 9 have played for only 1 year. Putting it another way, over 60 % of their players have 1 year or less experience in the RMFL!!!! However, the remainder of the team is composed of talented and experienced players and leaders. How will this team gel? Will the new players become frustrated and quit? Many of these new additions have college experience. Will they be able to provide immediate results for a team that finished 7^th in offense and 5^th in defense last year? I will be listing their projected starters below. But with this kind of team makeup, the starting lineup is probably changing before, during, and after every practice.

One of the Predators new additions include DB/RB Na'Jai Rankin (Idaho State and 3 time all Big Sky). Oh, and you might want to be careful about mouthing off to this guy. He is also a professional cage fighter. Other new defensive additions include Atari Callen (Idaho State and All Big Sky), Zac Rice (University of Nebraska-Carney and a nationally ranked wrestler at UN-C), Scott Jossis (ISU), Mike Colleran (ISU). Their new offensive addition is Shaun Ellsworth, Firth HS. Shaun was a three-year starter at Firth and three time All State pick. He led the area in rushing yards and tackles his junior and senior seasons, and led Firth to three straight state titles. Offsetting these gains are losses of Jeff May (DB/UB), Kelly Nebeker (DB/WR), Eric Hancock (OL/DL) and Johnny Fisher (DB).

On offense (subject to change), the Predators O-line will consist of Dan Crabtree, Darrell Cunningham, Scott Cates/Jake Blair, Jake Chandler, and an old worn out has been (or never was) Travis Hobson. The tight end position will come down to Justin Story or Caleb Lowder. The Predators will use a number of wide receivers, but will probably be starting Bruce Minnett and Brandon Peebler. The backfield will feature returning quarterback Jordan Peterson and running backs Mark Anthony and Shaun Ellsworth.

On defense, the Predators D-line will start newcomer Zac Rice, Berto Hernandez, Casey Nielsen, and Erik Hillary/Junior Florez. At linebacker, they will have Kaleb Moir, newcomer Mike Colleran/Luke Sprague, Greg Hillary, and Jason Durham. The secondary will consist of Cameron Hicks, veteran Troy Sutton, and newcomer Scott Jossis.

If the Predators are able to come together as a smoothly oiled machine, how long will it take to reach that point? It could be a rough start for the Predators as they host the Shock and Da Bears and travel to the Blaze in their first three games. With an 8 game regular season and 11 teams, each team will not have 2 teams on their schedule. This works to the Predators favor in that they do not play the Wolverines this year. Their playoff hopes may come down to the last game of the regular season when they face their rivals from just up the interstate playing on the Mustangs home field. Time will tell on whether all the new additions to their team will push them up to the top of the field as legitimate contenders; or watch them slide to the bottom like most expansion teams.

OVERALL RANKING: 7th