Posted 2:00 am Saturday, March 06, 2010
East Texas Drillers Ready For Season
By CHRIS PARRY
Staff Writer
Shawn Warren thought his football career was over.
Staff Writer
Shawn Warren thought his football career was over.
An Arp standout who graduated in 2002, Warren played three years for Northern State University in South Dakota, enjoyed a short stint with the Texas Copperheads of Arena Football 2 and was on the practice squad last year for the Shreveport Battle Wings.
He can finally play the game he loves closer to home.
The East Texas Drillers will play their first-ever Independent Indoor Football Alliance league (IIFA) game on March 14 against the North Texas Crunch. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at The Oil Palace in Tyler.
"I thought I was hanging up the shoulder pads and then all of a sudden God presented an opportunity to play at home and work also, so it all worked out for the best," said Warren, one of three players introduced to local media Friday afternoon at the St. Louis Rib Factory.
"Arena Ball is more about the atmosphere … As long was can get the fans in there and can get a good atmosphere going, we can make it unbelievable for East Texas."
Roger Viser is Driller head coach and franchise owner. A former defensive coordinator for the Katy Ruff Riders of the Intense Football League, Viser wanted his own team. Tyler provided the right place to make that dream come to fruition.
"Tyler is the spot I wanted to be at. It's football friendly and I thought it was a good fit," said Viser, who added his goal is to win an IIFA title in their inaugural season.
"It's the same flavor that the Arena teams have; just at a little lower level. We plan to have (former) college players; a couple NFL players that didn't make the draft and/or got cut from the team will be here with us also."
The IIFA is entering is fifth year and is comprised of the North Texas Crunch (Southlake), Oklahoma Titans (Ardmore, Okla.), Southlake Pirates, Texas Krush (The Colony), Texas Wranglers (Allen), Arlington Aviators, Missouri City Blitz and the Drillers.
Games are held every Sunday with the playoffs beginning July 3. The best two teams then meet in Alliance Bowl III on July 10 at place still to be determined.
"I think East Texas needs this," said Laci Swinney, dance team director for the Derrick Dolls, the Drillers cheerleaders. "It's fast paced, high scoring; it's not like regular football. It's constant, constant … if you don't care for regular football where it's kind of slow, there's constant flags, low scoring, this is a totally different ball game."
For Dontay Richardson, a former Longview Lobo, the Drillers gave him a chance to move back to Texas.
"I've been playing the last two years with the Fairbanks Grizzlies (Alaska)," he said. "Coming from Longview, we were born and bred to play smash-mouth football and arena is the equivalent of that. It's a smaller field, a lot of high-powered offense and big hits, so it's going to be great."
