| Erie Explosion | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| General information | |||
| Founded | 2007 | ||
| Folded | 2015 | ||
| Headquartered | Erie Insurance Arena inErie,Pennsylvania | ||
| Colors | Black, Orange, White | ||
| Personnel | |||
| Owner | Bill Stafford | ||
| General manager | Shawn Liotta | ||
| Head coach | Shawn Liotta (2007–2008, 2010–2015) Steven G. Fulmar (2009) | ||
| Team history | |||
| |||
| Home fields | |||
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| League / conference affiliations | |||
American Indoor Football Association (2007–2010)
Southern Indoor Football League (2011)
Ultimate Indoor Football League (2012)
Continental Indoor Football League (2013–2014)
| |||
| Championships | |||
| League championships: 2 | |||
Division championships: 2
| |||
| Playoff appearances (7) | |||
| |||
TheErie Explosion was a professional Americanindoor football team based inErie, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2007 as thePittsburgh RiverRats, the Explosion played in theProfessional Indoor Football League, theUnited Indoor Football League, theSouthern Indoor Football League, theContinental Indoor Football League and theAmerican Indoor Football Association and operated continuously from 2007 to 2015.
The Explosion began play in 2007 as thePittsburgh RiverRats at theRostraver Ice Garden inBelle Vernon, Pennsylvania.[1]
The RiverRats played their first game atTupelo, Mississippi on February 3, 2007, losing 54–34 to theMississippi Mudcats.[2] Their first home game was on February 18, 2007, which they lost 35–28 to theReading Express. Pittsburgh won its first home game on March 4, 2007, defeating theDanville Demolition 47–21. On May 19, 2007, the RiverRats set an AIFA single-game record when they scored 86 points.[3]
On January 8, 2008, the RiverRats announced they would be relocating to Erie in time for the 2008 season, rebranding themselves as theErie RiverRats.[4] They replaced the city's previous AIFA team, theErie Freeze.[5]
In August, 2008, head coachShawn Liotta resigned as coach of the RiverRats and left to coach theWheeling Wildcats.[6] In September 2008, the RiverRats named Steven G. Folmar as the franchise's second head coach.[7] In December 2008, owner Jeff Hauser sold the team to a group of local businessmen, headed by Jeff Plyler, Bob Foltyn and Frank Herman.[8][9] The RiverRats had to replace many players on the roster, as most of the 2008 roster followed Liotta to Wheeling.[10] As a result of all the changes, the RiverRats struggled all season to score points, resulting inoffensive coordinator Paul Pennington's resignation after an 0–3 start.[11] After dropping to 0–7, the RiverRats got their first win of the season on a last second field goal by Joe Lindway.[12] The RiverRats ended up finishing with a 3–11 record, and missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.[13]
On September 8, 2009, the RiverRats announced that Liotta would return to Erie as the head coach for the 2010 season.[14] In December, it was announced that owner Jeff Hauser had sold a stake in the franchise to a local group that included Jeff Plyler (owner of Plyler Overhead Door of McKean, Pennsylvania) and Bill Stafford (owner of several Subway restaurant locations in Erie), among others.[15] The team remained in the AIFA, and the team adopted the corporate name "Erie Professional Football, Inc." in December 2009, in anticipation of a new franchise name to be announced in January 2010.[16]
Hauser maintained a smaller stake in the team, which immediately dropped the RiverRats name. On January 5, 2010, the team announced the four finalists of the name-the-team contest;Storm,Blizzard,Pulse, andPunishers. On January 14, 2010, the team was officially named theErie Storm via a press conference, in which the team logo and colors were also released.[17]
On May 5, 2010, thePainesville, Ohio-basedLake Erie College sued the team over the "Erie Storm" name because their athletic teams use the "Storm" moniker.[18] In July 2010, they dropped "Storm" in favor of "Erie Professional Football", which remains the name of the team's corporate entity.
On December 3, 2010, the team announced its newErie Explosion identity, albeit retaining the same color scheme as the Storm. The Explosion was also one of six AIFA teams which merged with theSouthern Indoor Football League (SIFL) prior to the 2011 season.[19]
On May 21, 2011, the Explosion set a single-game franchise record, including an indoor football record, for the most points scored in a 138–0 decisive win over theFayetteville Force. This result was due to the Force's ownership change, with second-string players taking the field.[20] This margin of victory is the third-highest in all of professional football, and the highest in over 100 years. Only the 1904Massillon Tigers (who won a game 148–0) and the 1904Watertown Red & Black club (who won a game 142–0) have had wider leads.
The Explosion finished the season with a 9–4 record, winning the Northeast Division, but were defeated 68–43 by theAlbany Panthers in the first round of the playoffs.[21] Despite the playoff loss, DiMichele was named SIFL MVP, finishing the season with 91 touchdown passes.[22]
On August 25, 2011, the Explosion left the SIFL and joined theUnited Indoor Football League. The change reunited Erie with Andrew Haines, who founded the city's previous indoor football team, theErie Freeze.[23] (The Explosion's departure came two weeks before the SIFL broke up into theLone Star Football League and theProfessional Indoor Football League, neither of which included Pennsylvania in its territory). Erie was tasked with replacing MVP quarterback DiMichele, who had signed with theArena Football League'sPhiladelphia Soul.[24] The job fell on the shoulders of rookie Colton Hansen.[24] In the second game of the season, Hansen struggled in a loss to theJohnstown Generals, and he was replaced by A. J. McKenna.[25] McKenna led the Explosion to an 8–3 regular-season record, losing the top seed in the UIFL North during the last game of the season.[26] While still securing a home playoff game, the Tullio Arena had begun a 45-million-dollar renovation, which forced the Explosion to find a new place to host the game. The Explosion announced that they would play atErie Cathedral Prep's Dollinger Field.[27] The Explosion trailed going into the fourth quarter against theMarion Blue Racers, but McKenna ignited the Erie offense to 22 points in the final stanza to advance to the UIFL North Conference final.[28]
The Explosion faced theCincinnati Commandos, who had only lost two games all season, one of which was to Erie. The Commandos defeated the Explosion 62–40 to advance to theUltimate Bowl.[29]
The Explosion left the UIFL after the 2012 season. The team remained idle for about a month, while fielding offers to join four different leagues. Owner Bill Stafford ultimately decided to join theContinental Indoor Football League (CIFL).[30] Liotta needed to replace McKenna, who had left Erie for theSaginaw Sting (also of the CIFL).[31] Liotta chose rookie Aaron Smetanka to lead the Explosion offense, and he did not disappoint.[32] The Explosion finished with an undefeated regular season record of 10-0 securing the 2013 CIFL regular season championship and the #1 seed in the leagues playoff format.[33] The Explosion hosted theKentucky Xtreme in a league Semi-Final game May 5, 2013. They defeated the Xtreme 55–6. The Explosion defense held the leagues number 1 offense to 1 first down in the first half. The Xtreme did not score until 13 minutes remained in the game. The defensive charge was led by Ricardo Kemp who had 2 interceptions in the game.[34] The Erie Explosion hosted the CIFL championship game on Mothers Day, May 12, 2013, where they beat the Sting, 37–36, to win the 2013CIFL Championship Game. The 2013 CIFL Championship is the Erie Explosion's first championship, as well as the city of Erie's first championship in any league of indoor football.[35]
In June, 2013, the Explosion agreed to terms with the CIFL to return for the 2014 season.[36] The team eventually won a second straight championship over theMarion Blue Racers.
With the partial collapse of the CIFL in the 2014 season and the exodus of several of its teams toX-League Indoor Football the following offseason, the Explosion were left without a league to play in. On October 13, 2014, the Explosion announced they would be joining theProfessional Indoor Football League (PIFL).[37] The team experienced a reversal of fortune upon joining the PIFL, losing all but one of their league games in their first season in the league.
On August 23, 2015, the Explosion announced that they would rejoin the revived CIFL, which was to be a member of theIndoor Football Alliance.[38] However, the league disbanded on November 4, leaving it uncertain where the Explosion would play in 2016; the Alliance announced it would continue as a six-team league in and of itself, with theCape Fear Heroes, Explosion,Buffalo Lightning,Atlanta Sharks and two expansion teams playing in the circuit. On January 18, 2016, the Explosion announced they would not participate in a 2016 season, citing an inability to secure medical staff for the upcoming season.[39]WICU-TV reported that theLake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine had pulled its sponsorship of the team after a high number of injuries in the 2015 season.[40] With the suspension, 2016 was the first season since 2004 that no indoor football team played in Erie. Professional football has not returned to the city since.
Shawn Liotta went on to become a key figure in the development ofFan Controlled Football, along with his high school coaching.
SeeCategory:Erie Explosion players
The following is a list of all Pittsburgh/Erie players who won league awards
| Season | Player | Position | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Adam DiMichele | QB | SIFL MVP |
| 2011 | Kevin Concepcion | WR | SIFL Offensive Player of the Year |
| 2012 | A. J. McKenna | QB | UIFL Offensive Player of the Year |
| 2013 | Kwaheem Smith | DB | CIFL Defensive Player of the Year |
| 2014 | Aaron Smentanka | QB | CIFL Offensive Player of the Year |
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Shawn Liotta | 2007–2008 2010–2015 | 62 | 34 | 0 | .646 | 5 | 5 | 2012 UIFL North Coach of the Year 2013 CIFL Coach of the Year |
| Steven G. Fulmar | 2009 | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 0 | 0 | |
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2007 | 2007 | AIFA | Northern | 4th | 7 | 7 | 0 | Lost Quarterfinals (Express) 24–32 | |||
| 2008 | 2008 | AIFA | Eastern | North | 2nd | 10 | 4 | 0 | Lost Divisional Playoffs (Express) 57–67 | ||
| 2009 | 2009 | AIFA | North | 5th | 3 | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 2010 | 2010 | AIFA | Eastern | 3rd | 8 | 6 | 0 | Lost Eastern Division Playoff (Stampede) 48–52 | |||
| 2011 | 2011 | SIFL | Eastern | Northeast | 1st | 9 | 3 | 0 | Lost Round 1 (Panthers) 43–68 | ||
| 2012 | 2012 | UIFL | North | 2nd | 8 | 3 | Won North Conference Quarterfinals (Blue Racers) 56–47 Lost North Conference Championship (Commandos) 42–60 | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | CIFL | 1st | 10 | 0 | Won Semifinals (Xtreme) 55–6 WonCIFL Championship Game (Sting) 37–36 | |||||
| 2014 | 2014 | CIFL | North | 2nd | 8 | 2 | 0 | Won North Division Championship (Sting) 46–15 WonCIFL Championship Game (Blue Racers) 38–26 | |||
| 2015 | 2015 | PIFL | 7th | 2 | 9 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 65 | 45 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2007–2015) | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | - | All-time postseason record (2007–2015) | ||||||||
| 70 | 50 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2007–2015) | ||||||||
