Fayetteville Force (SIFL)

Fayetteville Guard
Founded	2003
League	AIFA (2008–2010) NIFL/Independent (2003–2007)
Team history	Fayetteville Guard (2005–2010) Myrtle Beach/Carolina Stingrays (2003–2004)
Based in	Fayetteville, North Carolina
Arena	Cumberland County Crown Coliseum
Colors	Black, green, brown, white;
Championships	0
Division titles	2

Fayetteville Force
	Established 2010; Folded 2011; Played in Fayetteville, North Carolina; at the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum
Helmet	Logo
League/conference affiliations
	Southern Indoor Football League (2011)
Team colors	Black, Green, Brown, White;
Personnel
Head coach	Demetrius Ross
Team history
	Fayetteville Force (2011);
Championships
	League championships (0);
	Conference championships (0);
	Division championships (0);
Home arena(s)
	Cumberland County Crown Coliseum (2011);

The Fayetteville Force is the former name of a professional indoor football team in the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL). They debuted in the SIFL following the SIFL/AIFA merger and played home games at the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum.

The Force set the record for the largest single-game losing margin and points allowed in the history of indoor football – in any league – following a 0 – 138 loss to the Erie Explosion on May 21, 2011.^[1]

The AIFA entered into an asset purchase agreement of selected assets of the Fayetteville Force from Fanteractive, LLC the Force's parent company but the AIFA did not purchase the corporation that was operating the Force. Under the agreement the AIFA retains the Force name, logo, likeness, playing equipment and the artificial turf. The AIFA guaranteed that it would play the remaining four Force games with the Southern Indoor Football League.^[2] On November 17, 2011, a new franchise was announced Cape Fear Heroes that began play in the 2012 season of part of a new AIF.^[3]

History

The Fayetteville Guard, began play in 2003 as the Myrtle Beach Stingrays' of the National Indoor Football League in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, compiling a 6-8 record in their inaugural season.

At the beginning of the 2004 season, the NIFL pulled the team out of Myrtle Beach, and the team almost folded. However, some local investors saved the team, playing as the Carolina Stingrays in the Florence Civic Center. They managed to finish 3-6 in their shortened season.

The following year, the team was purchased again and moved to Fayetteville to replace af2's Cape Fear Wildcats, who had moved to Albany, Georgia and are currently playing as the South Georgia Wildcats. The new team had originally been called the Fayetteville Heat, but later on changed their name to the Fayetteville Guard. The team started their season 0-5, but went 7-2 in their final nine regular season games, thus earning them a 7-7 record and a playoff berth. The team defeated the Dayton Warbirds in the first round, but lost to the Cincinnati Marshals in the divisional round.

The Guard did even better in 2006, posting a 13-1 record in the regular season, then defeating the Lakeland Thunderbolts and River City Rage en route to Indoor Bowl VI, where they would lose to the Billings Outlaws.

In August 2006, it was reported that the Guard were moving to the World Indoor Football League.^[4] However, the Guard denied these rumors by announcing that they were staying in the NIFL in a press conference two months later.

With to the merger of the AIFA and SIFL, a new Fayetteville based sports marketing group claimed the right to field a SIFL team from the Fayetteville market. The Guard did not return for the 2011 season, but a new team not affiliated with the Guard or its owners, called the Fayetteville Force, now represents the Cape Fear area. After a 3-0 start, the team collapsed and was sold to the remains of the AIFA, who put together a new team from scratch under the "Fayetteville Force" name. The "new" Fayetteville Force has yet to win a game and has the dubious distinction of having the most points scored on them in indoor football history and the worst margin of defeat for a professional football team in over 100 years, losing 138-0 to the Erie Explosion.^[1]

For the 2012 season, the assets of the Force were rebranded as the Cape Fear Heroes.

Defunct franchise season-by-season

Summary

Season	W	L	T	Finish	Playoff results
Myrtle Beach Stingrays (NIFL)
2003	6	8	0	3rd Atlantic Southern	--
Carolina Stingrays (NIFL)
2004	3	6	0	3rd Atlantic Southern	--
Fayetteville Guard (NIFL)
2005	7	7	0	3rd Atlantic Central	Won AC Quarterfinal (Dayton) Lost AC Divisional (Cincinnati)
2006	13	1	0	1st Atlantic Central	Won AC Semifinal (Lakeland) Won AC Championship (River City) Lost Indoor Bowl VI (Billings)
Fayetteville Guard (NIFL/Independent)
2007	12	0	0	1st Atlantic	Won Budweiser Indoor Football Championship Bowl (Wyoming)
Fayetteville Guard (AIFA)
2008	5	9	0	4th EC Eastern	--
2009	8	6	0	2nd Southern	Lost Divisional (Columbus)
2010	2	12	0	6th Eastern	--
Totals	59	52	0	(including playoffs)

Schedule and results 2005–2010

2005

Date	Opponent	Result	Att.	Record
Regular season
March 26	at River City	L, 46-43	3,892	0-1
April 2	Odessa	L, 52-46	2,991	0-2
April 9	at Cincinnati	L, 57-54	4,208	0-3
April 16	Rome	L, 60-57	2,828	0-4
April 23	at Montgomery	L, 35-20	3,965	0-5
April 30	Montgomery	W, 64-21	N/A	1-5
May 8	at Rome	L, 48-45 (OT)	1,250	1-6
May 13	at Kissimmee	W, 47-34	1,102	2-6
May 21	River City	W, 60-51	N/A	3-6
May 28	Cincinnati	W, 48-34	1,634	4-6
June 4	Kissimmee	W, 55-14	2,600	5-6
June 11	Daytona Beach	W, 41-37	4,012	6-6
June 18	at SW Louisiana	L, 53-38	4,012	6-7
June 25	Miami	W, 62-2	3,012	7-7
First Round
July 9	Dayton	W, 78-63	2,180	8-7
Divisional Round
July 16	Cincinnati	L, 70-69	3,443	8-8

2006

Date	Opponent	Result	Att.	Record
Regular season
March 25	at Montgomery	W, 44-7	2,144	1-0
April 1	at Osceola	W, 58-55	1,897	2-0
April 9	at Florida	W, 44-41	N/A	3-0
April 14	at Greensboro	W, 45-26	3,218	4-0
April 22	Osceola	W, 54-51	3,200	5-0
April 29	at Lakeland	L, 60-41	2,697	5-1
May 4	at Charleston	W, 62-44	1,800	6-1
May 13	Cincinnati	W, 70-26	2,097	7-1
May 20	Palm Beach	W, 59-20	2,000	8-1
May 27	Palm Beach	W, 70-0	4,185	9-1
June 3	Tennessee	W, 78-14	2,645	10-1
June 10	Greensboro	W, 58-40	1,563	11-1
June 17	Charleston	W, 74-14	1,241	12-1
June 24	Montgomery	W, 68-14	2,385	13-1
Divisional Round
July 16	Lakeland	W, 44-18	3,129	14-1
Conference Championship
July 22	at RiverCity	W, 72-70 (OT)	3,223	15-1
Indoor Bowl VI
July 28	at Billings	L, 59-44	7,934	15-2

2007

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
Regular season
March 31	Columbia	W, 69-18	1-0
April 14	The Marshals	W, 77-14	2-0
April 20	at Greensboro	W, 60-28	3-0
April 28	at The Marshals	W, 59-28	4-0
May 5	Atlanta	W, 64-22	5-0
May 26	at Columbia	W, 34-24	6-0
June 2	Greensboro	W, 68-28	7-0
June 9	The Marshals	W, 91-6	8-0
June 23	Columbia	W, 108-0	9-0
June 30	at Greensboro	W, 63-24	10-0
July 7	Greensboro	W, 47-0	11-0
July 14	Wyoming	W, 48-34	12-0
Divisional Round

2008

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
Regular season
March 22	at Mississippi	L, 34 – 82	0-1
March 30	Augusta	L, 14 – 47	0-2
April 13	Florence	L, 38 – 39	0-3
April 19	at Columbus	L, 16 – 75	0-4
April 26	at Carolina	W, 19 – 18	1-4
May 3	at Huntington	W, 34 – 26	2-4
May 10	Augusta	W, 56 – 43	3-4
May 17	at Reading	L, 24 – 51	3-5
May 23	at Canton	L, 22 – 34	3-6
May 30	at Florence	L, 6 – 50	3-7
June 7	Huntington	W, 51 – 21	4-7
June 14	Florida	W, 48 – 34	5-7
June 21	Columbus	L, 58 – 59	5-8
June 28	Florida	L, 41 – 43	5-9

2009

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
Regular season
March 21	at South Carolina	W, 39 – 18	1-0
March 28	Carolina	W, 58 – 32	2-0
April 4	at Florence	L, 49 – 50	2-1
April 11	at D.C.	W, 56 – 18	3-1
April 18	South Carolina	L, 48 – 53	3-2
April 25	Columbus	W, 41 – 37	4-2
May 2	Erie	W, 58 – 28	5-2
May 9	at Reading	L, 50 – 63	5-3
May 23	at South Carolina	W, 46 – 34	6-3
May 30	Reading	W, 57 – 53	7-3
June 6	Florence	W, 59 – 27	8-3
June 13	at Columbus	L, 43 – 61	8-4
June 20	at Carolina	L, 40 – 45	8-5
June 20	Columbus	L, 25 – 44	8-6

2010

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
Regular season
March 21	at Baltimore	L, 0 – 59	0-1
March 27	New Jersey	W, 75 – 15	1-1
April 3	at Richmond	L, 39 – 55	1-2
April 10	at Harrisburg	L, 21 – 49	1-3
April 17	at New Jersey	W, 37 – 19	2-3
April 24	Baltimore	L, 19 – 91	2-4
May 1	Reading	L, 33 – 62	2-5
May 8	at Richmond	L, 28 – 55	2-6
May 13	Baltimore	L, 34 – 63	2-7
May 22	at Erie	L, 52 – 55	2-8
May 29	Harrisburg	L, 28 – 64	2-9
June 12	at Reading	L, 48 – 49	2-10
June 19	Erie	L, 58 – 65	2-11
June 26	Richmond	L, 33 – 56	2-12

Force season-by-season

Summary

Season	W	L	T	Finish	Playoff results
Fayetteville Force (SIFL)
2011	3	9	0	3rd EC Mid-Atlantic	--
Totals				(including playoffs)

2011

Date	Opponent	Result	Record
Regular season
March 18	Carolina	W, 44 – 39	1-0
March 27	Harrisburg	W, 75 – 66	2-0
April 3	at Trenton	W, 56 – 53	3-0
April 9	Columbus	L, 29 – 28	3-1
April 16	at Richmond	L 43 – 61	3-2
April 23	Albany	L 40 – 43	3-3
April 29	Trenton	L 41 – 69	3-4
May 7	at Columbus	L 32 – 81	3-5
May 21	at Erie	L 0 – 138	3-6
May 29	at Carolina	L 22 – 84	3-7
June 4	at Alabama	L 12 – 92	3-8
June 11	Richmond	L 66 – 88	3-9

2011 opening roster

Due to contractual issues that arose between the previous owner and his players and coaches at the time the AIFA was unable to take over those contracts, so on a two-day notice before the Erie away game the AIFA had to assemble a team of available players. These players were selected from a group of former indoor players and rookies who were available at the time. The AIFA selected as head coach Matt Steeple, a veteran indoor coach from a rival league (IFL) for the balance of the 2011 season. The roster listed below is how it appeared at the start of the season.


Player	Position	Height	Weight	College	Pro Experience	Player	Position	Height	Weight	College	Pro Experience
Lamar Little	QB	5' 11	200 lbs.	Virginia Union	1	Jon (Jay) Autry	QB	6' 0	240 lbs.	Fayetteville State	R
Dante Williams	QB	6'	210 lbs.	Samford	1	Chris Johnson	RB	5' 9	215 lbs.		1
Jay Jackson	WR	5' 8	160 lbs.	Fayetteville State	5	Chris Schubert	WR	5' 9	190 lbs.		1
Prentice Quince	WR	5' 10	160 lbs.	Tallahassee CC	3	Corey McDowell	WR	6' 1	187 lbs.		5
Walter Ford	WR/R	5' 9	200 lbs.	Virginia Tech	7	Tymere Zimmerman	WR/QB	6' 4	225 lbs.	Newberry College	4
Armar Waton	DB	5' 11	190 lbs.	Duquesne	5	Deleon Raynor	DB	5' 10	190 lbs.	NC Central	6
Jerome Mann	DB	6'	190 lbs.	Saint Paul's College	1	JR Hair	DB	6' 1	190 lbs.	Greensboro College	3
Roger Williams	DB	5'11	195 lbs.	Bowling Green	3	Marquiz Ruffin	DB/Jack	6' 1	205 lbs.	NC A&T	R
Marcus Hicks	Jack	6'	230 lbs.	Catawba College	4	Quinton Smith	Jack	6'	210 lbs.	Samford	R
Preston Hines	LB	6' 4	260 lbs.	Norfolk State	1	Dontre Brown	DL	6' 1	280 lbs.	East Carolina	6
Ken Brown	DL/OL	6' 3	270 lbs.		5	Quincy Malloy	DL	5' 11	270 lbs.	Methodist University	7
Antonio Dingle	DL	6' 4	290 lbs.	Virginia	10	Jamaal Williams	OL	6' 2	325 lbs.	Benedict College	1
Theodric Watson	OL	6' 5	300 lbs.	South Florida		Brandon Newton	OL	6' 2	315 lbs.	Hofstra
Troy Benett	OL	6' 4	355 lbs.	Southeastern		Derek Scott	K	5' 6	200 lbs.	Tennessee Tech

References

1 2 Go Erie article
↑ Letter to the Fans Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Cape Fear Heroes website
↑

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[goerie-1] 1 2 Go Erie article

[2] Letter to the Fans Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.

[3] Cape Fear Heroes website

[4] ↑

Southern Indoor Football League
Teams	Abilene Ruff Riders Alabama Hammers Albany Panthers Augusta Colts Augusta Mavericks Austin Turfcats Carolina Speed Columbus Lions Corpus Christi Hammerheads Erie Explosion Fayetteville Force Florida Kings Greenville Force Harrisburg Stampede Houma Conquerors Houston Lightning Houston Stallions Lafayette Wildcatters Laredo Rattlesnakes Louisiana Swashbucklers Mobile Bay Tarpons Richmond Raiders Rio Grande Valley Magic Texas Hurricanes Trenton Steel
Arenas	American Bank Center Bojangles' Coliseum Cajundome Columbus Civic Center Cumberland County Crown Coliseum Erie Insurance Arena Gray Civic Center Mitchell Center Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center Richmond Coliseum State Farm Arena Sudduth Coliseum Sun National Bank Center Taylor County Expo Center Von Braun Center
Seasons	2009 2010 2011