American Professional Football League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| American Professional Football League | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sport | Indoor football |
| Founded | 2003 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country(ies) |  United States |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Kansas Koyotes |
| Official website | APFL |
The American Professional Football League (APFL) is an indoor football league based in the midwestern United States that began play in 2003. The league's flagship team is the Kansas Koyotes, who have captured the first four league championships and weren't beaten in the league's first three seasons. They were finally beaten by the Wichita Aviators in the 2006 season opener. [1]
Contents |
[edit] League Membership
These are the teams participating in the 2008 season(year team began league play in parenthesis):
[edit] North Division
- Iowa Blackhawks (2004) [2]
- Kansas Koyotes (2003) [3]
- Missouri Minutemen (2003) [4]
- Nebraska Extreme (2007). [5]
- Springfield Wolfpack (2007) [6]
[edit] South Division
- Beaumont Drillers (2008)
- Conroe Storm (2007) [7]
- Florida Scorpions (2008)
- Texas Regulators (2007) [8]
- Wichita Falls Diablos (2008)
[edit] 2009 Expansion
[edit] Former Teams
- St. Joseph Explorers (2003)
- Chilicothe Lumberjacks (2003, never played)
- Texas Thunder (2004)
- Wisconsin Locomotives (2004, never played)
- Colorado Stars (2004, never played)[9]
- Nebraska Bears (2005)
- Kansas/St. Joseph Storm (2005)² [10]
- Wichita Aviators (2005-2006) [11]
- Nebraska Wildcats (2006)1
Team info here taken from articles listed on Topeka Capitol Journal Koyotes articles
Teams confirmed also from Koyote's www site: 2003 Schedule 2004 Schedule 2005 Schedule
1. These teams only played road games and a reduced schedule.
2. St. Joseph Storm was suspended from the league before the 2006 season began. Kansas City Thunderstorm and Columbia Outlaws played in their place.
[edit] League Champions
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Semi-finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003[12] | Kansas Koyotes | Missouri Minutemen | None (championship only playoff game held) |
| 2004[13] | Kansas Koyotes | Missouri Minutemen | Iowa Blackhawks |
| 2005[14] | Kansas Koyotes | Iowa Blackhawks | Wichita Aviators |
| 2006[15] | Kansas Koyotes | Wichita Aviators | Iowa Blackhawks |
| 2007[16] | Kansas Koyotes | Iowa Blackhawks | Conroe Storm |
[edit] 2007 Season Synopsis
In 2007, the APFL had their most competitive season ever. The addition of the Conroe Storm added another competitive opponent, and their were far more competitive games than previous years. Iowa finally beat Kansas winning 50-32 in Council Bluffs. Conroe won games over both the Iowa and Kansas clubs at their home as well. Even the new Omaha team gave the Koyotes a run for their money losing in the last two minutes of the game 45-33. At seasons end, Iowa, Conroe and Kansas had qualified for the playoffs. Iowa traveled to Conroe for the semifinal round and defeated the Storm in a back and forth contest 32-26. The following week Iowa traveled to Kansas for a spirited Championship game. The halftime score was tight, 20-15. However, the Koyotes pulled away in the second half lead by their staunch defense shutting out the Blackhawks in the second half. The final score was 39-15.
[edit] 2008 Season Preview
With 4 new teams added to the league for 2008, including two more Texas teams (Wichita Falls and Beaumont) and a team in Sarasota, Florida, the APFL continues to move toward improving both on and off the field. Two of the new additions to the league are far from rookies to indoor football coming over from the defunct NIFL.
[edit] Interleague Play
The APFL has been one of few leagues in which it's teams have been actively involved in interleague games and scrimmages. In 2005 and 2006 the Missouri Minutemen played against the River City Rage, then playing in the NIFL, losing both contests. Before the 2006 season, the Iowa Blackhawks played a scrimmage for charity against the Omaha Beef of the UIF. In 2007, the Beaumont Drillers of the NIFL played in several exhibitions with the Conroe Storm after both teams schedules had been affected by teams folding. Some games counted towards the Beaumont Drillers' NIFL record, and other games counted towards the Conroe Storm's APFL (as forfeits, because the other team didn't show up).
[edit] External links
- APFL Homepage
- http://www.indoorfootballfan.com, APFL has a strong presence on the message board here
- Topeka Capital Journal Koyotes Articles
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