PREDATORS TAKE ON GUNSLINGERS AFTER A NEEDED BYE WEEK
PREDATORS TAKE ON GUNSLINGERS AFTER A NEEDED BYE WEEK
The Predators look to get back to action after refocusing during the team’s bye week.
The Predators (1-3) will take on the San Antonio Gunslingers (0-3) this Saturday at the Amway Center for a rematch of the first game of the season, where the Predators won 44-36 in San Antonio.
While the Predators came out with a win, it did not come without a fight. The Predators started the game strong and went up 32-6 before halftime, but the Gunslingers found a way to get back into the game, which caused the Predators to slow down in the second half.
“it ‘s hard to beat anybody more than once and the first game was pretty close,” Orlando head coach Jeff Higgins said. “I expect a tough football game. ‘If you respect everybody and fear nobody,’ is the motto to go by and that’s just what we do.”
The Predators went into the bye week improving step-by-step each week, but went winless after their matchup with the Gunslingers in Week 1. Lineman Austin Regan said the team is looking sharp, and has seen improvement throughout the week, even after their close loss to the Carolina Cobras (5-0) at home on May 15.
“We just got to come in and do what we can do,” Regan said. “We lost by two points to the team with the best record in the league. We just have to come in, do our thing and we will come out on top.”
An area of the team that has seen continuous improvement is the skills group. Receiver Anthony Cruz said the skills players are battling every practice and hope to translate their intensity to gameday.
“Every week is a battle, it’s a competition,” Cruz said. “We are going against pros. Everybody is a pro. There’s no weak competition we are lining up against.”
When it comes to the rest of the season after the bye week, lineman De”Quan Murray said there is only one phrase on the team’s mind: undefeated.
“Don’t lose a game,” Murray said. “That’s the mindset after the bye week. No losses.”
The Predators will take on the Gunslingers on Saturday with kickoff taking place at 7p.m. ET. The game will be streamed via the NAL YouTube channel.