Outlaws poised to make championship run

Christopher Shelton-newspress

Last year, a championship was snatched away in the final minute-and-a-half of the game, and this season, the Outlaws want it back.

Stillwater’s semi-professional football team had just scored to lead by a point with 1:24 left in the Oklahoma Metro Football League championship game. The Oklahoma City Gunners returned the next kickoff for a 73-yard touchdown to win, 27-21.

“That sucked because we were pretty confident we were going to beat that team,” tight end and defensive end James Kappel said. “Scoring three touchdowns in seven minutes just to lose on a kickoff return was pretty heartbreaking, but we’re poised for this year.”

The Outlaws had tryouts on Nov. 15 and will begin practice Dec. 6. They will also have their quarterback camp on Dec. 6-7. About half of the 40-man roster will be returning players from last season.

“It’s looking good,” coach Karey Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of the same guys back, so learning the offense and defense isn’t going to be that hard. We actually did four seven-on-sevens this fall where we got some of the new guys in and started teaching them the offense and defense.

“The team is picking it up really well. Having those guys who have been there before really helps in teaching the new guys. Most of these guys are athletes who played high school or college ball, so they’re pretty sharp and pick it up real quick.”

The Outlaws, kicking off their second season with the league, were formed last December as the first semi-pro football team in Stillwater. As the only new team to the league last year, they weren’t paid much mind by the rest of the teams — until the Outlaws hit the field.

“Everybody thought we were going to be like the little sister that everyone would just annihilate, but we only lost two games all year,” said Kappel, 24, an assistant coach at Perry High. “We pretty much rolled everybody we played.”

With a bad taste in their mouths from the championship they nearly claimed, the Outlaws are looking forward to showing the league what they can do with that successful first year under their belts.

“For a first-year team, we did real well,” said Matthew Jones, Outlaws owner, general manager and assistant coach. “Very rarely do you see a first-year team come out and make it that far. I think that’s because we’ve had some great coaches, a lot of experienced coaches.

“Some of these teams are very young as far as coaches, or they don’t have as many. But Stillwater’s got some pretty great coaching talent to pull from. That’s what really helped us out last year and is going to help again this year.”

Coaching talent isn’t all the Outlaws are pulling from Stillwater. Kappel estimated that about half the team are Oklahoma State students. If you aren’t on the Cowboys’ roster, the only other OSU option is intramural flag football, but for some, that doesn’t cut it.

“I played flag football in college, and it was fun but never really filled that desire to get physical with pads and everything,” Kappel said.

League rules mandate that semi-pro players must be at least 18 years old but doesn’t place a cap on how old players can be. Karey Jones said even a 45-year-old Shawnee lawyer played in the league last season.

As long as one can handle the physical demands of the game and is old enough to vote, he can play. The Outlaws have already held tryouts but are still taking players. For more information, visit www.stillwateroutlaws.com or call Matthew Jones at (405) 880-1744.

Text Only