Cavalry start over with AIFA debut

By DAVID BUCK
Star-Tribune staff writer

The Wyoming Cavalry have two things going against them going into today's season opener -- new teams and new rules. against the Utah Saints today.

The Cavs will make their American Indoor Football Association debut on the road against the Utah Saints, and they're not certain exactly what kind of challenge they'll get.

Wyoming played a team from Utah last year, and the teams are coached by the same person, so Cavs coach Dan Maciejczak has some idea of what the Saints might do.

Knowing a coach, however, doesn't mean he will be able to predict everything the team does.

"There is no film, so all I do, we watch other teams' films that I can get a hold of and guess," Maciejczak said. "This first game, it's going to be a lot of flying by the seat of pants and making adjustments from series to series."

Like the Saints, the two other teams in Wyoming's Conference, the New Mexico Wildcats and Arizona Adrenaline are expansion franchises. Those teams make up the first-year Western Conference of the American Indoor Football Association.

With so little to work off, the Cavs are basically focusing on themselves.

"You go in with a lot of your plain Jane stuff -- stuff you know that will work regardless of what they do," Strand said. "We just have to be ready to adjust to what they decide to do to us as the game goes on."

Besides adjusting to new teams, the Cavs must also adjust to new rules.

The AIFA has a few different rules than the National Indoor Football League, the team's old league.

Some of the new rules include:

- Two defensive linebackers must initially be positioned in the defensive box and cannot leave the box until the ball is snapped.

- Only the quarterback and one running back are allowed in the offensive box at the snap, and up to two players may go in forward motion before the snap. No motion player may be in the box at the time of the snap.

- Any loose ball that hits off the dasher boards is in play and a live ball.

- One point will be awarded to the kicking team if the kicker, on any kickoff, can kick the ball through the uprights.

"We are going to be a little of trial and error in the beginning until we can find out what works for us and what doesn't," Maciejczak said.

The team went over the rules before their first practice and Maciejczak said the league does a good job of answering questions.

His team hasn't had quite as much success so far.

"We have a lot of veteran guys, so I think for some of them it's a little different because they have to break some old habits from the old league that we are not allowed to have anymore," Maciejczak said. "The new guys we have, it seems like it's an advantage to them because they don't have any bad habits because they are coming straight out of college."

The new rules should impact the defense more, though it will throw some kinks into the offense.

It figures to affect the running game most, which could get James Jones in more open space on the outside.

"With having to keep J.J. (Jones) in the backfield that limits his ability to catch passes a little bit," Strand said. "But we are still going to try to sneak him out of the backfield as much as we can because he's such a good athlete."

One positive from the changes is more scoring. Maciejczak said he expect to see more scoring on both sides of the ball, which is something fans should enjoy.

For today the rules and team are new.

"We don't know what to expect for sure with the new teams and everything and different rules," Strand said. "It will be interesting to see how we adjust to them."

If the adjustments don't work today, the Cavs have five more chances against Utah to get them right.

Contact sports reporter David Buck at (307) 266-0596 or david.buck@trib.

Cavalry Tracker

WHAT: Cavs at Utah Saints, 7 p.m. today.

RADIO: Radio webcast of the game at http://www.wyomingcavalry.com

NEW TEAM: The Saints are a new franchise, like the rest of the Cavs' expansion division.

NEW RULES: The American Indoor Football League, the Cavs new league, has some new rules that limit offensive and defensive formations. The balls is now alive when fumbled against a wall, and teams get one point for kicking the ball through the uprights on kickoffs.

HE SAID IT: "We don't know what to expect for sure with the new teams and everything and different rules. It will be interesting to see how we adjust to them." -- Wyoming quarterback Matt Strand.