St. Paul, MN – The Renegades pre-season wasn’t what many would say, in the semi-pro realm, very pretty when you look at the final score.  In fact, it was 65 – 0 in favor of the St. Paul Pioneers (#6).  If you were to look at the social media in certain circles you would see mocking of the Renegades loss to the #6 team in the Nation, the Pioneers.  But, in other circles, a deeper look is made of the games and it is in the details.

Anthony Carpenter, one of the first players in Renegades history, and season sack record holder with 23 has a positive outlook for this team, and it was amplified to him after the loss on Friday (April 29th).  “I saw lots of potential in this team” Carpenter said.  Carpenter, being with the team for six years, knew what the team was in for walking into Seafoam Stadium.  After the game, Carpenter was all smiles.  “Now we just fix the little things and we are set.  Our offense was inches from putting up 3-4 TD’s tonight” he said.  Carpenter last took the field three season ago, and helped Head Coach Brett Weaver win the team’s first Division Championship.  And now, he’s back to take the team one step further…the Premier Bowl!

Jake Hutt, the team’s Defensive Coordinator, shared Carpenter’s reaction to the preseason loss.  “Defense really stepped up in the 2nd half.” Coach Hutt said after the game.  With 20+ players not in attendance due to conflicts in scheduling, the Renegades were very short handed with only 27 players against the Pioneers full roster of 55.  Coach Hutt saw a great deal in his defense.  “We found out a lot about our new players and our team in general.”  “When guys came off the field of play, everyone came off wanting to fix their mistakes and asked lots of questions. I’m so proud of the guys!”

The Renegades start the regular season on May 7th when they travel back to the Twin Cities to take on the Sabercats at North St. Paul High School with a 6PM kickoff. The Sabercats have played two preseason games with losses to the River City Rough Riders on the 23rd, and the Midwest Outlaws on the 30th.