Amateur to Professional Developmental Football League

Waynesboro, MS – South Mississippi Raiders make their way into the regular season ranked #19 in the Amateur to Professional Developmental Football League (APDFL). Having opted to play their initial season in 2018 in a local league, they will look to make the transition in 2019 to a broader level of play. With that, they will face additional challenges and they seem to be embracing those challenges with open arms. Raiders owner, Shane Loper, took time to discuss the state of the Raiders and what he predicts for the Raiders first season as members of the APDFL.

Writer: The Raiders had a pretty good season last year. How do you expect that to transition to the APDFL?
Loper: We are looking forward to being members of the league. We have every intention to take the league by storm while surprising a lot of people with a couple of big upsets.
Writer: Which games on your schedule stands out to you?
Loper: The first game of the season (Tri-City Savages) stands out as we are somewhat of a rivalry with one another. We are also looking forward to the April, 27th matchup against the Mississippi Dynasty. We have heard a lot of buzz around their team and organization and we just want to see how we compete with the top level competition.
Writer: Where are the Southern Mississippi Raiders located?
Loper: Our team is made up of mostly players from the Waynesboro area with only a few exceptions. One of those exceptions, QB Mike Wim, is from Michigan and he brings a lot to a dominant offensive attack.

Loper ended the conversation by saying, “ the Raiders are a team that’s full of talent. We just need to gel together and once we do we will be one of the forces to be reckoned with.” If that’s the case, let it be known that the National Conference has officially been put on notice.