The Johnstown Riverhawks was a professional
indoor American football
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...
team based out of
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, whi ...
. 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
The Cambria County War Memorial Arena is a 4,001-seat multi-purpose arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, that is managed by SMG Entertainment.
It was built in 1950, for the Johnstown Jets of the Eastern Hockey League. The arena was built on the si ...
.
History
Indoor Football League (1999–2000)
The Riverhawks began play in 1999 as the Topeka Knights of the original
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...
. 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 in the quarterfinal round before losing to the
Bismarck Blaze
The Bismarck Blaze were a professional indoor American football team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They were members of the original Indoor Football League founded in 1999 and began play in 2000. They competed in the Northern Division of the ...
in the semifinals.
Move to Tennessee (2001–2003)
After the season, they moved to
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
became the Tennessee ThunderCats, and moved to the
Indoor Professional Football League
The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner, ...
. 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 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, 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 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
The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...
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
The Johnstown Generals was a professional indoor American football, indoor football team that was based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Generals began play in 2011 as an expansion team as part of the original Ultimate Indoor Football League six. T ...
."
2001 Tennessee ThunderCats IPFL Schedule
Week 1 – Tennessee ThunderCats 52,
Trenton Lightning
The Trenton Lightning were an indoor professional football team founded in 2000 by owner/general manager, Phillip J. Subhan and local businessman, Kenneth Samu. The team started the 2001 season in the Indoor Professional Football League ( IPFL) ...
25
Week 2 – Tennessee ThunderCats 34,
St. Louis Renegades 28
Week 3 – Tennessee ThunderCats 42,
Boise Stallions
The Boise Stallions are a defunct indoor football team from Boise, Idaho. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They originally began as the Idaho Stallions. Throughout their three seasons, 20 year old Larry Sto ...
29
Week 4 – bye
Week 5 – Tennessee ThunderCats 39,
Trenton Lightning
The Trenton Lightning were an indoor professional football team founded in 2000 by owner/general manager, Phillip J. Subhan and local businessman, Kenneth Samu. The team started the 2001 season in the Indoor Professional Football League ( IPFL) ...
26
Week 6 – Tennessee ThunderCats 41,
Trenton Lightning
The Trenton Lightning were an indoor professional football team founded in 2000 by owner/general manager, Phillip J. Subhan and local businessman, Kenneth Samu. The team started the 2001 season in the Indoor Professional Football League ( IPFL) ...
24
Week 7 – Tennessee ThunderCats 40,
St. Louis Renegades 23
Week 8 –
Omaha Beef
The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston.
History First 13 se ...
72, Tennessee ThunderCats 50
Week 9 – Tennessee ThunderCats 47,
St. Louis Renegades 44
Week 10 –
Omaha Beef
The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston.
History First 13 se ...
56, Tennessee ThunderCats 29
Week 11 –
Omaha Beef
The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston.
History First 13 se ...
54, Tennessee ThunderCats 32
Week 12 –
Boise Stallions
The Boise Stallions are a defunct indoor football team from Boise, Idaho. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They originally began as the Idaho Stallions. Throughout their three seasons, 20 year old Larry Sto ...
40, Tennessee ThunderCats 38
Week 13 – Tennessee ThunderCats 61,
Omaha Beef
The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston.
History First 13 se ...
34
Week 14 – Tennessee ThunderCats 35,
St. Louis Renegades 10
Week 15 – bye
Week 16 – Tennessee ThunderCats 53,
Boise Stallions
The Boise Stallions are a defunct indoor football team from Boise, Idaho. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They originally began as the Idaho Stallions. Throughout their three seasons, 20 year old Larry Sto ...
9
Week 17 – bye
Week 18 – Tennessee ThunderCats vs.
Boise Stallions
The Boise Stallions are a defunct indoor football team from Boise, Idaho. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They originally began as the Idaho Stallions. Throughout their three seasons, 20 year old Larry Sto ...
– Cancelled
Week 19 – Tennessee ThunderCats 43,
St. Louis Renegades 27
IPFL Championship – Tennessee ThunderCats 47,
Omaha Beef
The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston.
History First 13 se ...
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 (
Omaha)
, -
, colspan="6" align="center" , Tennessee ThunderCats (NIFL)
, -
, 2002 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2nd AC Northern , , Won Round 1 (
Lake Charles)
Lost AC Quarterfinal (
Ohio Valley
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
)
, -
, 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)
, -
, 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 RiverhawksRiverhawks' 2005 StatsRiverhawks' 2006 Season & ResultsRiverhawks' 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