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CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS. Last year they were the Puget Sound Invaders, but this season they are the Tacoma Invaders. As members of the Cascade Football League, the Invaders think they have the pieces to win a championship.

Semi-pro football invades Tacoma

By Ben Miller

If you want to be the best, you have to play the best. That is the thinking of Tacoma Invaders coach Theo Hall. That is why the Invaders will open their season against the South Sound Shockers March 29 at Curtis High School.

The Shockers have lost just two games in the last four years, and that is a level of competition that Hall wants to see his own team reach this season. “I feel that if we want to be considered one of the best, why not play the best. We have to see what we can muster up.”’

Hall, in his first season as the head coach of the Invaders, is confident that his team has the talent to compete on the gridiron this season. With four players returning who were named semi-pro football All-Americans last year, the Invaders should be up to the task of competing for a championship.

“I think we are the dark horse out of everybody,” Hall said. “People got a glimpse of what we can do last year but they haven’t seen what we can do this year. We are an unseen and unheard football team.”

Members of the Cascade Football League, the Invaders were one game away from playing for the championship last season. But this year, with a new coach and a new home location – last year, the team was called the Puget Sound Invaders – the Invaders are ready to make the championship their own.

Hall said his team’s strength will be in how it plays defensively. The team’s secondary is strong and features a pair of guys returning who Hall expects to make big waves against opposing quarterbacks.

He called strong safety Brandon Irving the team’s best hitter, while cornerback Joe Jordan is one of the returning All-Americans who can shut down the opponent’s best wide receiver.

“He got quite a few picks last year and nobody could throw to his side last year,” Hall said.

Offensively, the Invaders will use a smash mouth, balanced attack against their opponents. Using a running back rotation that can throw out four quality backs with different attributes and a quarterback, who Hall said knows how to make good decisions, the Invaders expect to be a tough match up for any opposing defense.

“I think it’s going to be key for us is having consistency and implementing and playing our game,” Hall said, before noting that the way to do that is with good execution.

At tight end and wide receiver, the Invaders return a pair of All-Americans in Steve Kendall and Tony Grote that should help propel their passing attack. Grote also plays on the defensive line.

“Tony is 6-5 and a half, 300-something pounds and very, very fast,” Hall said. “He’s got good hands and he can go both ways.”

While the season will not really kick into gear until the beginning of May, fans can get a chance to see the Invaders in action against the Shockers March 29.

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