Northwest Notes

| February 22, 2017 9:53 PM

Northern Lakes Legion team

to host fundraiser breakfast

RATHDRUM — The Northern Lakes Mountaineers American Legion baseball program has scheduled its third annual fundraiser breakfast for Sunday at O’Malley’s from 7:30 to 11 a.m.

The menu includes pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, juice and coffee.

Cost is $10 per plate — $5 per plate for veterans and current military, as well as Legion members and children under 5.

Information: [email protected], www.northernlakesalbaseball.weebly.com

Empire open second

season in IFL tonight

SPOKANE — One week later than most of the other league teams, the Spokane Empire open their second season in the Indoor Football League tonight, hosting the Green Bay Blizzard (1-0) at 7 p.m. at the Spokane Arena.

While Spokane opened the season with a bye week last week, Green Bay opened with a 46-13 victory at Cedar Rapids.

Green Bay will visit Spokane for the first time in its franchise history, though the two cities did clash twice as members of the af2 in 2006 and 2008.

In 2006, Spokane defeated Green Bay in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 57-34 to secure the franchise’s first ArenaCup Championship in their inaugural season. The two teams saw each other for the second time in Week 1 of the 2008 af2 season in Green Bay, a 64-48 victory for Spokane.

Blizzard quarterback Matt Behrendt, who was the co-leader for regular season touchdown passes in 2016 with 63, returns to Green Bay, along with starting running back Keshaudas Spence. In Week 1, Behrendt completed 14 of 25 passes for 192 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Spence carried the ball 11 times for 32 yards and two touchdowns.

The Empire opened training camp with nearly one-third of their roster returning from last season, led by quarterback Charles Dowdell, who last year earned Second Team All-IFL honors after passing for 2,738 yards and 63 touchdowns during the regular season.

In the last week, the Empire also added the top two IFL leaders in career receiving yards in Carl Sims and Bryan Pray. The two veterans have combined for nearly 10,000 total receiving yards during their IFL careers. Last season, Sims was a favorite target of Dowdell as he led Spokane with 71 receptions for 822 yards and 20 touchdowns.

The Empire also have two experienced playmakers in the backfield in the 2015 IFL Special Teams Player of the Year Mulku Kalokoh and the 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year Trevor Kennedy.