LA KISS vs. Orlando Predators: 4 Things to Watch

The LA KISS seek to get back above .500 and win their third straight home game for the first time in franchise history on Sunday when they take on the Orlando Predators at the Honda Center. Here are four of the major storylines to watch during the Week 10 contest.

LA KISS quarterback Pete Thomas will get his second career AFL starts this week. He is filling in for Nathan Stanley, who suffered an injury in the second quarter of the Week 8 loss against the Arizona Rattlers. Last week, the rookie from North Carolina State played exceptionally well in his first start. He completed 16 of 26 pass attempts for 223 yards and six touchdowns in the LA KISS’ 54-42 victory over the Portland Steel. So far this season, Thomas has thrown 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions, while completing 31 of 57 pass attempts for 459 yards. Look for Thomas to continue his excellent play this week as faces his toughest challenge of his young career, the 7-2 Orlando Predators.

The LA KISS have struggled to penetrate the pocket and pressure the quarterback this season. Through the first eight games, the LA KISS have only recorded six sacks, three of which were in the Week 4 matchup against the Predators. Furthermore, the LA KISS failed to reach the quarterback and register a sack in five out of the eight games this season.

This past week, the LA KISS made two key acquisitions on the defensive line. They were assigned four-year NFL veteran Dontay Moch and acquired Mike Lewis via a trade from Orlando. Moch, who was selected by the Bengals in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft, was most recently on the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons. Lewis, a six year AFL veteran, is currently second on the AFL’s all-time sacks leaderboard and is just four away from Sam Hernandez’s record of 57.5. Both players look to add speed and agility to the LA KISS’ defensive line in the second half of the season.

“Captain” Morgan is on the verge of surpassing another career milestone this week, which would add to his already storied career. Morgan needs just five more receptions to crack into the top-10 of the AFL’s all-time reception leaderboard. The LA KISS wide receiver has already added to his impressive resume this season. In Week 1 he became the seventh player in AFL history to record 250 career receiving touchdowns.

Additionally, he moved into seventh place in League history in both career receiving touchdowns and receiving yards in Week 8 and 9, respectively.

There is no doubt that special teams played a huge factor in last week’s win against the Steel. Late in the fourth quarter, the LA KISS were down one point when Jamil Merrell was able to recover an errant kickoff in the endzone for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Joey Cejudo found the iron of the netting, which sent the ball all the way back to the 20-yardline. Fredrick Obi recovered the bar-ball and the LA KISS had complete control of the game. Additionally, Justin Wilson sparked the kick return unit; he totaled 61 kick return yards on three returns and his 37-yard return in the third quarter was the longest kick return of the 2016 LA KISS season. If LA KISS win the special teams battle this week, they will be well on their way to securing their third straight home victory.