NASHVILLE HEADS TO BILLINGS FOR CLASH WITH OUTLAWS

The Nashville Kats hit the road for its lone Western trip to meet the Billings Outlaws on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. CT. Greg Pogue and Nick Guerriero will have the call on 102.5 and 106.3 FM The Game, with the pregame show starting 30 minutes before kickoff.

MACHO MAN: This week, former Arena Football League MVP Randy Hippeard joined the Nashville Kats, coming out of retirement after his last game with the Atlantic City Blackjacks in 2019.

The Stafford, Virginia quarterback played 10 years of professional football, including one season (2009-10) for the Winterthur Warriors of Nationalliga A (American football) in Switzerland. Hippeard returned to the U.S. and played for the Columbus Lions and Knoxville NightHawks of the Professional Indoor Football League (2012, 2013).

He followed those two seasons with seven in the AFL, playing for Tampa Bay (2013, 2014, 2017), Orlando (2015, 2016), Baltimore (2018), and Atlantic City (2019).

In 2017 Hippeard was named AFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, All-AFL First Team, and passing yards leader. Hippeard has thrown for 15,185 yards, 323 touchdowns, and 49 interceptions in his AFL career.

WE’LL BE BACK: After Saturday’s contest, the Nashville Kats will take the next two weeks off before returning to Nashville Municipal Auditorium on June 29 against SW Kansas at 4:30 p.m.

IRVIN RETURNS: Marquise Irvin returned against Albany after missing the last two games with an injury. He finished with four catches for 34 yards and one touchdown.

WILL’ING THE WAY: Milton Williams III led the team with 12 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Albany last Saturday.

QB INFIRMARY: Kats quarterbacks Dalton Oliver and Ramone Atkins have sustained injuries in the past two weeks. Oliver was knocked out of the Orlando loss and Atkins went down last game against Albany. Despite the injuries, both quarterbacks relieved each other and finished the games strongly. Oliver replaced Atkins late in the second quarter and was responsible for all three Kats touchdowns vs Albany.

PRICKED BY A ROSE: Ezekiel Rose had one of his top performances last week with seven tackles (four solo, three assisted), one sack, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble. Rose leads the team with three sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, one blocked kick, one safety, and is tied for the lead in fumble recoveries with two.

BRING BACK AFL RED ZONE ON TV: The Nashville Kats scored on 5-of-6 red zone opportunities against Albany and kept possession of the ball for 12 of 15 fourth-quarter minutes.

FLAG DAY: Nashville kept its composure against Albany with only four infractions for 33 yards, while the Firebirds, despite the outcome, played undisciplined and nearly threw the game away with 16 penalties totaling 128 yards.