The Johnstown Riverhawks was a professional indoor American football team based out of Johnstown, Pennsylvania . A charter member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA), it played its home games at Cambria County War Memorial Arena .
13-675: The Riverhawks began play in 1999 as the Topeka Knights of the original Indoor Football League . The team missed the playoffs during its inaugural season, finishing third in the Northern Division at 6-6. During its second season, the team changed ownership and became the Topeka Kings . It finished with a much better record, going 10-4 and winning the Western Conference, Southern Division championship. During
26-617: A 44–34 victory and a trip to Peoria for the IFL Gold Cup Championship. The Bombers won, 63–60. The following year was very similar. After a mediocre 6–4 start, the Bombers won their final four games by large margins. After being routed 40–16 by Peoria, the Bombers took their frustrations out on LaCrosse to get the four game streak started, 62–26. The Bombers' actually got a home playoff game this time around and they took advantage of it, crushing Dayton, 64–23. Their bid for
39-1962: The Lincoln Lightning and Peoria Pirates , as well as many players, became a part of their developmental ("farm") league, the AF2 . The Wichita Warlords were rebranded the Wichita Stealth. Other teams resurfaced with new names in the Indoor Professional Football League (which consisted of the remnants of the PIFL that Ecklund left in 1999) and the National Indoor Football League . North Division 1. y- Peoria Pirates , 11-1 2. x- Green Bay Bombers , 9-3 3. Madison Mad Dogs , 6-6 4. Duluth-Superior Lumberjacks , 1-11 South Division 1. y- Lincoln Lightning , 7-5 2. x- Dayton Skyhawks , 6-6 3. Topeka Knights , 6-6 4. Steel Valley Smash , 2-10 Northern Division 1. z- Peoria Pirates (14-0) 2. x- Green Bay Bombers (10-4) 3. x- Madison Mad Dogs (8-6) 4. Minnesota Purple Rage (5-9) 5. Duluth-Superior Lumberjacks (2-12) 6. La Crosse River Rats (2-12) Southern Division 1. y- Steel Valley Smash (9-5) 2. x- Erie Invaders (6-8) 3. x- Dayton Skyhawks (6-8) 4. Johnstown Jackals (3-11) 5. Flint Flames (2-12) Northern Division 1. z- Bismarck Blaze (11-3) 2. x- Black Hills Machine (10-4) 3. x- Casper Cavalry (9-5) 4. Billings Thunderbolts (8-6) 5. Fargo Freeze (1-13) Southern Division 1. y- Topeka Knights/Kings (10-4) 2. x- Lincoln Lightning (10-4) 3. x- Sioux City Attack (9-5) 4. Sioux Falls Cobras (8-6) 5. Wichita Warlords (4-10) Green Bay Bombers Indoor Football League (1999–2000) The Green Bay Bombers
52-709: The NIFL . During its tenure in the league, the team had a degree of success in 2002, but considerably less as the Tennessee Riverhawks in 2003. In 2004, while it was the Greenville Riverhawks , this team's ownership folded after three games, and moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania , where it played its remaining games. It was subsequently re-founded by Andrew Haines, owner of the Atlantic Indoor Football League. The team
65-495: The 1999 IFL season and by Bud Keyes for the remainder of the 1999 and 2000 IFL seasons. The Bombers played four preseason Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) games in 1998. Losing only once: The Green Bay Bombers tied with their sister team, Madison Mad Dogs , for the second best record in the PIFL with a 10–4 record. In the playoffs, the Bombers had to travel to Madison in the first round. They lost 19–46. Keary Ecklund took his Bombers and Mad Dogs teams and defected from
78-500: The PIFL to form the Indoor Football League (IFL). In 1999, the team finished with the second best record in the league at 9–3. The start of the season was not pretty, as the team lost two of their first three games, both loses to Peoria. The week before the playoffs, the Bombers beat Duluth, 52–15. Despite the great regular season record, the team was forced to travel to Lincoln in the playoffs. The Bombers brought back
91-787: The lowest scoring game in the league's then two-year existence. On March 26, 2006, the Riverhawks lost the AIFL's very first overtime game 41-38 against the Reading Express at home. In the 2008 season, the Riverhawks ended its contract with the Johnstown War Memorial. AIFL owner Andrew Haines announced he was relaunching the defunct AIFL as the Ultimate Indoor Football League during the 2011 season and would be bringing back Johnstown in
104-718: The playoffs, it defeated the Black Hills Machine during the quarterfinal round before losing to the Bismarck Blaze in the semifinals. After the season, the team moved to Knoxville, Tennessee , became the Tennessee ThunderCats , and moved to the Indoor Professional Football League . It then won the league championship during its first year. After the IPFL folded, the ThunderCats moved to
117-1259: The process. The revived team was to bear the name " Johnstown Generals ." Week 1 – Tennessee ThunderCats 52, Trenton Lightning 25 Week 2 – Tennessee ThunderCats 34, St. Louis Renegades 28 Week 3 – Tennessee ThunderCats 42, Boise Stallions 29 Week 4 – bye Week 5 – Tennessee ThunderCats 39, Trenton Lightning 26 Week 6 – Tennessee ThunderCats 41, Trenton Lightning 24 Week 7 – Tennessee ThunderCats 40, St. Louis Renegades 23 Week 8 – Omaha Beef 72, Tennessee ThunderCats 50 Week 9 – Tennessee ThunderCats 47, St. Louis Renegades 44 Week 10 – Omaha Beef 56, Tennessee ThunderCats 29 Week 11 – Omaha Beef 54, Tennessee ThunderCats 32 Week 12 – Boise Stallions 40, Tennessee ThunderCats 38 Week 13 – Tennessee ThunderCats 61, Omaha Beef 34 Week 14 – Tennessee ThunderCats 35, St. Louis Renegades 10 Week 15 – bye Week 16 – Tennessee ThunderCats 53, Boise Stallions 9 Week 17 – bye Week 18 – Tennessee ThunderCats vs. Boise Stallions – Cancelled Week 19 – Tennessee ThunderCats 43, St. Louis Renegades 27 IPFL Championship – Tennessee ThunderCats 47, Omaha Beef 38 Indoor Football League (1999%E2%80%932000) The Indoor Football League ( IFL ) began in 1999 as an offshoot of
130-531: The troubled Professional Indoor Football League . Keary Ecklund , the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs , left the PIFL after its first, financially troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an "entity league"; teams were owned by the league and franchised out to management groups. NFL Hall-of-Famer Kellen Winslow was brought in as commissioner. The league
143-646: Was an indoor football team that played in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998, and in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 1999 and 2000. The Bombers franchise was owned by Keary Ecklund. The team office was based in Neenah, Wisconsin , and played their games at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena . The Bombers were coached by Mario Russo for the 1998 PIFL season and part of
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#1732791546047156-578: Was purchased by Brian Schwelling of Atlanta, Georgia in February 2005. Schwelling operated the team successfully until September of that same year when it was sold to Michael Dawson. Schwelling was successful in bringing the Riverhawks to the semifinal game in the team's inaugural season. On March 4, 2006, the team won its first game of its second season on the road 21-14 against the Steubenville Stampede , which made AIFL history by becoming
169-681: Was successful enough for a major expansion in 2000. Expansion was done regionally to cut down on travel expenses. Hence, the majority of the teams were in the Midwest . Their championship game was known as the Gold Cup. Midway through the 2000 season, the Topeka Knights changed management and nicknames and became the Kings. After the season, the entire league was purchased by the Arena Football League 's Orlando Predators . Two teams,
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