All American Rundown Part 3

Boring. It is the only efficient way to explain the entire weekend of American Indoor Football League games. We had a game every night of the weekend starting on Friday, and outside of half of the first quarter of North Michigan-West Michigan only got the displeasure of watching senseless murder ball. Yes, it was basically a league wide tune up, but nothing of value can be found from a total deficit of 183-17 (the winner’s total to losers’ totals).

We had moments of pure bliss that are only comparable to those you see in weekday MAC matchups you see during College football season, and even got to play a game of “guess that turf” at the hands of Wyoming. We can’t complain too much, the greatest show on turf is back, and it is just starting to get good, without further explanation lets get into our past week breakdowns:

Table of Contents

- 0.0.1 Week 3 Breakdowns:

1 American Indoor Football League Games

Week 3 Breakdowns:

(TT): Travel Team

(SP): Semi Pro

(DT): Developmental Team

American Indoor Football League Games

North Michigan @ West Michigan

North Michigan 17

West Michigan 62

This game didn’t look anything like most of us hoped American Indoor Football league play would. North Michigan showed up with major player equipment issues. Problems including several off-color helmets and uniforms from a local semi-pro squad. West Michigan QB Alex Carder did however, come back to earth throwing multiple interceptions in this game, giving us all hope for the Cedar Rapids game next week.

Overall it was painfully obvious that the Muskies didn’t have a full staff of players. They had early fight, very sticky DBs, and a QB that could stretch the field. The issues? Well the OL couldn’t hold, it was nearly impossible to read through progressions and make a well-timed throw. If the Muskies could have given themselves just two more seconds per play to pass the ball this would have been a much better game.

The secondary didn’t fare well either, at least seven different completions, including three of the touchdowns, all came from DBs and LBs watching the QB instead of playing coverage. This allowed Carder the ability to fake the run, pump fake, and then drop dime after dime. The Silver lining? It was the closest first half of the AIF season so far, the Ironmen were only up 25 at half. Though this was yet another week of senseless murderer ball from a franchise that sports a Mid-Level NAL roster playing against teams of mostly AAL2 call-ups.

We hate to see North Michigan go, but looking back on the way the Muskies were handled, and the standard the league is trying to uphold, it was best for everyone involved outside of the players and coaches that lose an opportunity.

CNY @ Wyoming

Wyoming Cavalry 56

CNY Blue Devils 0 (DT)

Boy did we get this one wrong, not only that.. this was the most entertaining mindless blowout we have ever seen! Anyone watching noticed a couple of things out the gate. Outside of the well-made home uniforms and patchwork field it would seem Wyoming came prepared. Despite two early interceptions and an early rotation at the QB position the game was never in question. Out of the gate, the size difference and relative discipline for the Cavalry were unexpected, but welcomed.

Early on in the first half we saw game clock issues, but after multiple stops in action, it was resolved to the relief of a fairly full Cam-Plex. While the Cavalry won’t get the pleasure of playing a lower-level opponent missing almost all of its offensive line every game, they will be competitive in 2026. Coming out of the half we saw a very worn-down CNY push as hard as they could to finish a game that saw multiple injuries, and more bad snaps than positive yardage. Only so much can be said about a 56-0 blowout.

A lot can be said about the on-field setup, and even more about the owner, Dom Monterro, who suited up as a defensive lineman. It was hard to watch and obvious from the get that he was better served staying on the sideline and helping guide the team. The ejection of Montero late in the third quarter after an on-field fight only drove that line of thinking. Hopefully, we see him take less time occupying a roster spot and more on the equipment and presentation of the Cavalry as the season progresses.

MidWest @ Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids 65

MidWest Raptors 0 (SP)

This fight with the league owner was a black mark on the American Indoor Football League in 2026, and just days after the North Michigan Muskies were removed from the league marking strike two. Can the American Indoor Football League finish out the season in better fashion than it has begun?

Outside of West Michigan, this may very well be the most “Put-Together” of the American Indoor Football League franchises. If you can look past the horrid camera work by a local comedian (with a limit on his streaming capacity) things seem above board. The Titans are positioned to be one of the best franchises in the league under Kranz. In a very similar fashion to the Wyoming game, this one didn’t start or end in a competitive fashion. Midwest was very obviously not a pro team, but did give three quarters of passionate football, followed by an entire fourth quarter of accusing Kranz of “running it up”.

It’s difficult to draw much out of this lopsided victory, but we did find a few things interesting., It was very apparent that the Titans had a bit more team cohesion than we normally get this early in the season, especially on defense. The defense is what won the first quarter, scoring 12 of the first 19 points enroute to a chippy second quarter. That was followed by an end-over-end bounce on a squib kick ending up in a Titans recovery. Overall it seemed like nothing could go wrong for Cedar Rapids!

So much so that we saw a post-touchdown marriage proposal after they went up 31-0. The ballhawking defense snagged six total interceptions, three by the same player. In the end, it was what we see in college football, a lower level blow out en route to what could be the biggest game of the year. Let’s just hope the next home game sees better camera work and we don’t miss the last four minutes of the game again. If you watched the NAL last year it was somehow worse than what we got out of Idaho. 65-0, a score we won’t see again this year, and definitely not from our next AIF match up below!

Week 5 Preview:

2-28-26

Cedar Rapids Titans (-6.5) @

West Michigan Ironmen

This game is as good as the American Indoor Football League can be in 2026. The two most well-constructed rosters, facilities, and coaching staffs that the league has will meet in Muskegon and it won’t be anything like the past week’s games. Of all the on-field matchups it will most likely come down to Alex Carder and how he manages a very sticky secondary for the Titans. As we saw early against the Muskies, Carder isn’t immune to off target throw and interceptions. If he can’t clear it up it may be a long game. Cedar Rapids managed 6 picks, 3 for a pick-6 in game one.

We shouldn’t see as many, but do expect an early lead for Cedar Rapids off turnovers. The biggest advantage for the Ironmen will come at the line of scrimmage. The Ironmen sport bowling balls up front against a Titans OL that showed cracks in the first half against Midwest. If the game is close under the one-minute warning both have subpar kicking games, but I would trust West Michigan inside the 20! We don’t think it will be close enough to matter, the Ironmen will get down early and be fighting to get back into it late.

Side note: if you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the “Micro-Deuce” live we are certain you’ll find the half field (non-counted) deuce as entertaining as the rest of us have!

Prediction:

Cedar Rapids 51

West Michigan 42

American Indoor Football League Power Rankings

1. Cedar Rapids

2. West Michigan

3. Wyoming

4. Pennsylvania

Non Playing Leagues

AAL

Games Start April 18th

AAL2

Games start league-wide the First Week of April

If you’re a die-hard fan of the indoor game your just happy to see the game you love back in action. sure it wasn’t perfect but we have word from American Indoor Football League leadership that things will in fact be getting fix league wide. We even had a chance to sit down with Terrence Foster, the American Indoor Football League commissioner, and we will be coming out with a rundown on how the league will be functioning from this point forward!

We didn’t cover the Muskies folding much in this article because of the extensive coverage that will come with the article that’s coming out on the American Indoor Football League from the Foster Interview! Keep checking back in as we get closer to the AAL and AAL2 seasons.

Don’t forget to tune into Around the Football World from Shady Sports every Saturday at 7 AM Central for everything Indoor and ArenaFootball! Next week may even see a higher-up from American Indoor Football come on as a guest, but you’ll just have to tune in to listen!

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