The Johnstown Riverhawks was a professional indoor American football team based out of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. They were a charter member of the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

(AIFA). They played their home games at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.

History

Indoor Football League (1999–2000)

The Riverhawks began play in 1999 as the Topeka Knights of the original Indoor Football League. They missed the playoffs in their inaugural season, finishing third in the Northern Division at 6-6. During the second season, the team changed ownership and became the Topeka Kings. The team finished with a much better record, going 10-4 and winning the Western Conference, Southern Division championship. In the playoffs, they defeated the

Black Hills Machine Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

in the quarterfinal round before losing to the Bismarck Blaze in the semifinals.

Move to Tennessee (2001–2003)

After the season, they moved to Knoxville, Tennessee became the Tennessee ThunderCats, and moved to the Indoor Professional Football League. They would impressively win the league championship in their first year. After the IPFL folded, the ThunderCats moved to the NIFL. During their tenure in the league, they had decent success in 2002, but considerably less success as the Tennessee Riverhawks in 2003.

Beyond

In 2004, while they were the Greenville Riverhawks, their ownership folded after three games. The team itself moved to

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

and played their remaining games. Then, they were re-founded by Andrew Haines, owner of the Atlantic Indoor Football League. The team 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 Riverhawks won their first game of their second season on the road 21-14 against the

Steubenville Stampede The Steubenville Stampede was an indoor American football, indoor football franchise, most recently a member of the Continental Indoor Football League. They played their home games at the St. John Arena (Steubenville), St. John Arena in Steubenvi ...

, which made AIFL history by becoming 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 The Reading Express were a professional indoor football team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. They were most recently a member of the United Conference of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Express began play in 2006, as an expansion team of ...

at home. In the 2008 season, the Riverhawks ended their contract with the Johnstown War Memorial. AIFL owner Andrew Haines announced he was relaunching the defunct AIFL as the Ultimate Indoor Football League in the 2011 season (the AIFA is technically a separate league with different owners founded to avoid Haines's legal troubles), and would be bringing back Johnstown in the process. The revived team was to bear the name " Johnstown Generals."

2001 Tennessee ThunderCats IPFL Schedule

Week 1 – Tennessee ThunderCats 52, Trenton Lightning 25 Week 2 – Tennessee ThunderCats 34,

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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,

23 Week 8 – Omaha Beef 72, Tennessee ThunderCats 50 Week 9 – Tennessee ThunderCats 47,

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,

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,

27 IPFL Championship – Tennessee ThunderCats 47, Omaha Beef 38

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Topeka Knights (IFL) , - , 1999 , , 6 , , 6 , , 0 , , 3rd Northern , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Topeka Knights/Kings (IFL) , - , 2000 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 1st WC Southern , , Won Quarterfinal ( B.H. Machine)
Lost Semifinal ( Bismarck) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Tennessee ThunderCats (IPFL) , - , 2001 , , 11 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd League , , Won IPFL Championship (

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) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Tennessee ThunderCats (NIFL) , - , 2002 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd AC Northern , , Won Round 1 ( Lake Charles)
Lost AC Quarterfinal ( Ohio Valley) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Tennessee Riverhawks (NIFL) , - , 2003 , , 6 , , 8 , , 0 , , 5th AC Eastern , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Greenville Riverhawks (NIFL) , - , 2004 , , 0 , , 4 , , 0 , , 5th AC Eastern , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Johnstown Riverhawks (AIFL) , - , 2005 , , 6 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd League , , Lost League Semifinals (

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

) , - , 2006 , , 8 , , 5 , , 0 , , 5th Northern , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Johnstown Riverhawks (AIFA) , - , 2007 , , 6 , , 9 , , 0 , , 5th Northern , , -- , - , 2008 , , rowspan="1" colspan="5" style="text-align: center;" valign="middle" , ''Did Not Play'' , - !Totals , , 66 , , 51 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

2007 Season Schedule

References

External links

Official Site of the Johnstown Riverhawks

Riverhawks' 2005 Stats

Riverhawks' 2006 Season & Results

Riverhawks' 2007 Stats
{{Defunct Pennsylvania sports teams American Indoor Football Association teams American Indoor Football League teams Johnstown, Pennsylvania Defunct American football teams in Pennsylvania 2005 establishments in Pennsylvania 2008 disestablishments in Pennsylvania American football teams established in 2005 American football teams disestablished in 2008