Copperheads will play for CPFL championship in first season

The SEMO Copperheads are an eclectic group of football players.

The team includes a 44-year-old former Marine who never has played football, a Notre Dame Regional High School graduate who played soccer in his prep days and at least 10 former college football players.

"I came out and joined the team and had a blast," said former Southeast Missouri State cornerback Eddie Calvin, who had a tryout with the St. Louis Rams and played arena football after his final season with the Redhawks in 2009. "I meshed with the guys instantly. Everybody was super cool, and I was like, 'I'm going to stick with it.' It's the most fun I've had playing football in I don't know how long."

The Copperheads have 32 players on the roster, and they've done more than just have fun during their first season in the 12-team Central Plains Football League. The first-year team won the six-team National Conference and will be playing the American Conference champion Junction City Force for the championship of the eight-man football league Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

The Copperheads, who already have won two playoff games, will take an 8-4 record into the league title game against the defending champions from Kansas.

"I haven't won this many games since high school. Going to SEMO during the rebuilding period, it wasn't the best situation as far as winning-wise," said Calvin, who has played quarterback through the first two playoff games after being one of the league's top receivers during the regular season.

It's been a pleasant surprise for Calvin, who was recruited to play by his roommate Corey Echols, the team's tailback who played college football at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill.

"This team is one of the greatest memories of my life," Calvin said. "It's way more than I expected. When I came out, it was like, 'These are just people that want to play and have fun.' But these are people that want to get it done."

The team was formed last June to compete in the CPFL, which essentially is an outdoor version of arena football. It is a pass-oriented, high-scoring brand of football played on a 50-yard field. The CPFL was founded in 2007 and its expansion in the 2011 season also included the local Jackson Apaches.

Copperheads coach David Hutchison, a former lineman at St. Vincent High School, was among the team's first members. The 2002 St. Vincent graduate, who started off as a center for the Copperheads, doubles as one of four co-owners.

The roster includes former Perryville High School players Chris Carey and Matt Tisher, Scott City graduates Hershell Hamilton and Justin Simmons, Jackson graduates Ian Fitzgerald, Dallas Proffer and Stetson Proffer, and a group of Central graduates highlighted by former all-state linebacker Jeremiah Dukes, a 2003 graduate. Other former Tigers are Hykeem Hammonds, Kadeem Hammonds, Christopher Huffman, Chase Johnson and Jason Mercer.

Johnson, who leads the league in passing yards, played quarterback for Central and played that position for the Copperheads during the regular season but has had to miss the two playoff games due to other obligations.

Dukes, who anchored the defense on three district champion teams at Central, wasn't sure about the Copperheads when he first was approached.

"When they came up with this, I thought it was a joke at first," Dukes said. "I got into it and I was like, 'Yep, this is what it is. This is what I'm going to be doing.'"

Dukes has flashed his old prep form as the team's safety. Dukes, who played one season of football at Joliet Junior College, was the CPFL's leading tackler during the regular season.

"He still has it," Calvin said. "He's flying around."

"I'm not in shape like I want to be, but as far as the game, I'm always in my helmet," Dukes said. "Every aspect of the game is still there. It's actually easier now 'cause the field ain't as big."

The team also includes Adam Ansberry, a Notre Dame graduate who is getting his first taste of football. He played soccer at Notre Dame, which does not field a football team.

Several other players from Southeast Missouri also play for the Copperheads, including Hayti graduate Tim Grissom, who led the league in receiving yards and touchdown receptions during the regular season.

And then there is the rare situation of Michael Keillor, who wears the No. 44 for a reason. It's his age.

Keillor is among a few Copperheads getting their first taste of organized football.

"It was just something he always wanted to do," Hutchison said. "He calls it his bucket-list item."

Keillor, a co-owner, took over at center to allow Hutchison to focus on coaching.

"Sometimes it's scary, but he's holding his own," Calvin said. "He's an ex-Marine, so he's tougher than nails."

Dukes added, "Man, I'd have to argue to say that he's probably the most conditioned person on the team. He's in shape. Besides all that, his work ethic is off the chain."

Hutchison, Keillor and the other two player/co-owners -- Tim Graham and Hamilton -- have provided money for expenses such as league dues, field rentals, practice equipment and concession stands. The players, who all are volunteers, provide their own equipment and transportation to games.

The season began in March, and Hutchison said the team has gotten better each week of the season, which the postseason run will attest.

The Copperheads split a pair of games with the Springfield Lightning during the regular season, then recently posted a lopsided win in the first round of the playoffs on their home field in Sikeston, Mo. The local squad then avenged a loss to the Missouri Mustangs of Excelsior Springs, Mo., winning 50-42 to win the National Conference title. The team will need to avenge another loss in the title game after suffering a 66-14 loss to Junction City in April.

"Every game we played it just seems like just gotten better," Hutchison said. "I know the other night I was looking at our game tape from the first game and our last game, looking and comparing, it's like two totally different teams how much better we are now as compared to where we were."