Chupacabras open practice with new players, coaches 

After a year-long break, indoor football is only a few weeks away from returning to Albuquerque.

The New Mexico Chupacabras, the area’s latest Indoor Football League (IFL) franchise, opened practice Friday with new head coach Kyle-Moore Brown and 41 players vying for a roster spot ahead of the team’s March 22 season opener. 

Formerly known as the Duke City Gladiators, the franchise was rebranded last summer after local businessmen Bob Pitre and Mark Feitz purchased the team from Gina Prieskorn-Thomas. The team did not participate in last year’s March-July IFL schedule, opting to go dormant while the franchise changed owners.

A longtime IFL player and coach, Moore-Brown takes over after four seasons with the Vegas Knight Hawks. The two-time ArenaBowl champion said he was initially “nervous” when he was approached by Pitre and Feitz about coaching the Chupacabras, only to come around and accept the position. 

“I’ve been a head coach before in a different league,” he said Friday. “But I wanted to make sure that the place that I would come (to) will represent the entire league and represent the place that I wanted to play in.” 

While the Chupacabras had 41 players at Friday’s practice, that number will steadily decrease in the coming weeks: Moore-Brown said the team needs to get to 29 players ahead of its season opener at Tingley Coliseum, the “hard, difficult side” of setting his roster. 

“Because each coach and myself have to evaluate this talent, and everybody we brought here can make a football team and hopes that they can make this football team,” he added. “But again, some of these guys won’t be here. 

“And I hope we’re doing this team and this community some justice by choosing the right guys that can represent us all.” 

And while no player is a lock to make it, it seems the Chupacabras have a frontrunner to start at quarterback in Ja’rome Johnson. A Bowie State University graduate, Johnson was named the IFL MVP in 2024 after passing for 43 touchdowns and rushing for 37 with the Knight Hawks. 

Moore-Brown said he expects the 6-foot, 180-pound Johnson to serve as one of the team’s leaders entering his fourth season in the IFL. 

“I watch his development and his growth and I’m just pleased that he chose me to follow,” he added. “He’s an exciting player to watch and I’m glad he’s apart of (the team).” 

“We’re trying to win,” Johnson said of his role as one of the team’s leaders. “We can still laugh and joke, but when it’s time to be serious, be serious. I’m not gonna be an uptight guy all the time, but I am gonna stay on top of you, make sure you’re doing your job.” 

The Chupacabras also have one player with New Mexico ties: Donovan Porterie. The 6-4, 216-pound quarterback played for the Lobos from 2006-09, throwing for 6,756 yards, 33 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. 

Porterie previously played for the Gladiators in his lengthy indoor football career. 

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.