Kick start: Rattlers look to take advantage of new Indoor Football League rules

The Indoor Football League wants to add excitement to the game by turning kickoffs into game-changers.

The "deuce," and the "live" goalposts this season become game-long strategies among the coaches directing their teams.

It helped the Rattlers beat Quad City 60-53 last week in Illinois where kicker Craig Peterson split the uprights on a kickoff that gave the Rattlers two points to give them a 51-46 lead in the final quarter.

If a team makes a deuce, not only does the kicking team get awarded two points, but the ball is spotted on the opposing team's 5-yard line.

Before this season, the deuce was in place only in the final minute of each half. Now it's in play the entire game.

The other change has to do with the goalposts.

There are still no nets in the IFL. That was an Arena Football League copyright since 1987, before that patent expired in recent years.

This year in the IFL, if the kickoff bounces off the goalpost, whether it's the cross bar or the two posts, it's a live ball for either team if the ball comes back into play. If the return team recovers and is tackled in the end zone, the rouge (two points) is in effect.

And the positive yardage rule in the last minute of games has been eliminated, which now allows a team to go into victory formation and keep the clock running.

"I think as a league, the owners wanted more excitement for the fans, more scoring," Rattlers coach and team president Kevin Guy said. "And that was a couple of things that they added. It's kind of interesting. All the new rules happened in our first game."

Recap: Rattlers win IFL season opener at Quad City 60-53

Oh, yeah, Rattlers defensive back Dillion Winfrey was thrust into return duties after Isaiah Huston suffered an injury on the opening kickoff at Quad City. Winfrey averaged 37 yards a return, bringing one back 51 yards for a touchdown and another that was close to a TD. He also had to try to play a kick off the upright. That was an adventure for a guy who hadn't really returned kickoffs since college and high school.

Quad City returned a touchdown off the live ball.

"Oh, man," Winfrey said. "That was my first time getting introduced to that. The goal is like in the middle of the end zone, so it was a little tricky. But I like challenges. It's kind of fun."

The Rattlers (1-0) will see what comes next on Sunday at 5 p.m. when they face the much-improved Bay Area Panthers, who are opening their season at home at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Panthers overhauled their roster after winning just one game last season. And, under new coaches, led by Darren Arbet, the former AFL championship coach from the San Jose SaberCats, are ranked No. 3 in the IFL coaches' poll with the Rattlers at No. 1.

Peterson, who was part of Northern Arizona's renovated team last year that won the IFL championship in the franchise's second year of existence, liked the challenge of trying to connect on a deuce.

He was 1 for 3 on deuces last week.

"It's the same mentality going into the game," Peterson said. "Going for the deuce, if the coach tells me to. Or kick it deep, or the squib, whatever it is that he calls I'm going to do.

"I love the deuce rule. It gives a little more value to kickers. If there's any way I can help the team get more points, I love that."

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Rattlers look to take advantage of new IFL rules