La Crosse Spartans

Last updated
La Crosse Spartans
Established 2009
Folded 2011
Played in La Crosse Center
in La Crosse, Wisconsin
LaCrosseSpartans.com
La Crosse Spartans logo LaCrosseSpartans.PNG
La Crosse Spartans logo
League/conference affiliations
Indoor Football League (2010–2011)
  • United Conference (2010–2011)
    • Central North Division (2010)
    • Great Lakes Division (2011)
Team colorsGreen, black, white
            
CheerleadersLady Spartans
Personnel
Owner(s)Chris Kokalis
PresidentChris Kokalis
Head coach Kyle Moore-Brown
Team history
  • La Crosse Spartans (2010–2011)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The La Crosse Spartans were a professional indoor football team based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They were a member of the Great Lakes Division, of the United Conference of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They played their home games at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Contents

The team was founded in 2009, and was originally coached by former NFL player Gilbert Brown. [1] They were also coached by his brother Kyle Moore-Brown. [2]

History

On August 6, 2009, Chris Kokalis announced his intentions to start an IFL team in La Crosse for the 2010 season. [3] Former NFL player Gilbert Brown was announced as the head coach. [3] On August 27, the Spartans were conditionally approved as members of the IFL. Such condition is that the Spartans negotiate a successful arena lease. [4] On September 30, the Spartans got the formal go-ahead to play at the center. [5] The Spartans were the third indoor football team to call the La Crosse Center home, following the La Crosse River Rats and the La Crosse Night Train.

2010 season

The inaugural season for the La Crosse Spartans was a difficult one. The schedule had the Spartans start the season with 3 tough road games against some of the best teams in the IFL. They lost at both Wichita and Sioux Falls, who eventually played against each other for the United Conference finals. Just before halftime of the very first game the Spartans would lose their starting Quarterback to a knee injury, beginning a season where they would go through multiple Quarterbacks and Kickers, trying to find the right fit for the team. They finished the first half of the season 0-7. The Spartans earned their first victory against the Chicago Slaughter on April 30 in La Crosse. Their first road victory against at Chicago on June 12 . They finished the season 3-11.

2011 season

The second season of the La Crosse Spartans began February 19, 2011, in the IFL’s showcase game, the Kickoff Classic. La Crosse played seven regular season games at home over the course of February through early June. [6] Indoor football veteran Jose Jefferson joined the Spartans for the 2011 season as their Offensive Coordinator. [7]

After four games of the 2011 season it was announced that head coach Gilbert Brown would be taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons, and that his brother Kyle Moore-Brown would be switching from assistant coach to head coach of the Spartans. [2]

On April 30, 2011 the Spartans became one of the few teams in indoor football history to post a shutout, beating the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks 51-0.

On August 30, 2011, GM and co-owner Chris Kokalis announced the formation of the Cedar Rapids Titans, including former Spartans members Xzavie Jackson, Travis Miller and Mike Polaski. The Titans were listed as members of the Great Lakes division, along with the Green Bay Blizzard, Bloomington Extreme and Chicago Slaughter. The Spartans were not listed in this division. Kokalis said the Spartans franchise will "cease to exist", but also said that the team was up for sale. [8]

Season-by-season results

League ChampionsConference ChampionsDivision ChampionsWild Card BerthLeague Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
2010 2010 IFL UnitedCentral North4th3110
2011 2011 IFLUnitedGreat Lakes4th590
Totals8200All-time regular season record (2010–2011)
00-All-time postseason record (2010–2011)
8200All-time regular season and postseason record (2010–2011)

Final roster

La Crosse Spartans roster
Quarterbacks
  •  5Ryan Maiuri
  •  8Buddy Rivera

Running Backs

  •  3Hakeem Abdullah
  •  6LaRon Council

Wide Receivers

  •  7Phillip Ditto
  • 11Christopher Headd
  • 16Aaron Rhea
  • 18Emmanuel Spann
Offensive Linemen
  • 67Courtney Abbott
  • 70Juliene Adams
  • 73James Washington
  • 78Travis Miller

Defensive Linemen

  • 44Michael Ebanks
  •  4Bernard Faithful
  •  1 Xzavie Jackson
  • 56Jeremy Maddox
Linebackers
  •  9Joe Bevis

Defensive Backs

  • 20Jamil Abdullah
  •  2Walner Belleus
  • 21Kevis Buckley
  • 37George Carpenter
  • 13Tim Corrish
  • 26Richard Chambers

Kickers

  • 10Mike Polaski
  • 30Rubio Radamez
  • 10Jake Bauer
Injured Reserve
  • 31 Wes McDermott LB (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  •  9 Antonio O'Neal DL (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  • 83 Antonio Overstreet WR (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  • 24 Tommie Williams DB (IR) Injury icon 2.svg

Inactive

  • -- Larry Dibbles DL
  • -- James Dudley Jr. RB
  • -- Joe Manning DB
  • -- Jermaine Pruitt OL
  • -- Steve Smith RB
  • -- Antawan Walker WR
  • 36 Brandon White DB

Practice Squad

  • Currently vacant
  • Rookies in italics
  • Roster updated June 1, 2011
  • 25 Active, 11 Inactive, 0 PS

→ More rosters

Attendance Statistics

Season By Season Average Attendance

YearAverage Attendance
20102574[ citation needed ]
20112280[ citation needed ]

Vs opponent

OpponentOVERALLHOMEAWAYPLYFF
Alaska Wild (1-0)(0-0)(1-0)(0-0)
Bloomington Extreme (0-5)(0-3)(0-2)(0-0)
Chicago Slaughter (2-2)(1-1)(1-1)(0-0)
Fairbanks Grizzlies (0-1)(0-0)(0-1)(0-0)
Green Bay Blizzard (0-4)(0-2)(0-2)(0-0)
Kent Predators (1-0)(1-0)(0-0)(0-0)
Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (2-0)(2-0)(0-0)(0-0)
Nebraska Danger (1-0)(1-0)(0-0)(0-0)
Omaha Beef (0-2)(0-1)(0-1)(0-0)
Richmond Revolution (1-1)(0-0)(1-1)(0-0)
Sioux City Bandits (0-1)(0-1)(0-0)(0-0)
Sioux Falls Storm (0-2)(0-0)(0-2)(0-0)
West Michigan ThunderHawks (0-1)(0-1)(0-0)(0-0)
Wichita Wild (0-1)(0-0)(0-1)(0-0)

Year-by-Year Leaders

Passing (Yards/Touchdowns/Completions) [9]

YearPlayerAttCompPctYdsTDIntQB RTGGP
2010 Buddy Rivera 1528556%8566863.47
2011 Buddy Rivera 1809653%978221281.013

Rushing (Yards/Attempts) [9]

YearPlayerAttYdsAvgLngTDGP
2010 Mark Bonds 923373.731128
2011 LaRon Council 1776403.6341314

Rushing (Touchdowns) [9]

YearPlayerAttYdsAvgLngTDGP
2010 Buddy Rivera 842863.426137
2011 LaRon Council 1776403.6341314

Receiving (Yards/Touchdowns) [9]

YearPlayerRecYdsAvgLngTDGP
2010 Antonio Overstreet 2943715.144612
2011 Christopher Headd 3336010.940713

Receiving (Receptions) [9]

YearPlayerRecYdsAvgLngTDGP
2010 Aaron Straiten 362386.64017
2011 Christopher Headd 3336010.940713

All Purpose (Yards) [9]

YearPlayerYdsTDGP
2010 Antonio Overstreet 1007912
2011 LaRon Council 10671814

All Purpose (Touchdowns) [9]

YearPlayerYdsTDGP
2010 Buddy Rivera 286137
2011 LaRon Council 10671814

Returns (Yards/Returns) [9]

YearPlayerRetYdsAvgLngTDGP
2010 Antonio Overstreet 3049716.650112
2011 Kevis Buckley 3758815.948114

Returns (Touchdowns) [9]

YearPlayerRetYdsAvgLngTDGP
2010 Antonio Overstreet 3049716.650112
2011* Kevis Buckley 3758815.948114
2011* LaRon Council 1320715.956114

Kicking (FG Percent) (minimum 10 attempts) [9]

YearPlayerFGMFGAFG%LngGP
2010 Jared Keating 31030%444
2011 Rubio Radamez 31127%473

Kicking (EP Percent) (minimum 10 attempts) [9]

YearPlayerEPMEPAEP%GP
2010 Jared Keating 111385%4
2011 Mike Polaski 324965%12

Tackles [9]

YearPlayerTacSoloAstGP
2010 Walner Belleus 69462313
2011 Joe Bevis 74363812

Sacks [9]

YearPlayerSacGP
2010 Xzavie Jackson 5.513
2011 Xzavie Jackson 12.514

Interceptions [9]

YearPlayerIntTDGP
2010 Darnell Terrell 7012
2011 Jamil Abdullah 9012


Awards and honors

2011

2010

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "La Crosse Spartans : Coaching Staff". La Crosse Spartans.
  2. 1 2 "Spartans' Brown to Take Leave of Absence". Our Sports Central.
  3. 1 2 "Professional Football to Return to La Crosse". WKBT. August 5, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Indoor Football League conditionally accepts new La Crosse Spartans team". WKBT. August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  5. ↑ "La Crosse Center Board OK's lease for indoor football team". La Crosse Tribune. October 1, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  6. ↑ "La Crosse Spartans : Schedule". La Crosse Spartans. Archived from the original on 2012-07-06.
  7. ↑ "Jose Jefferson to Lead Spartans' Offense". Our Sports Central. November 10, 2010. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
  8. ↑ http://lacrossetribune.com/news/article_f20b3458-d351-11e0-a092-001cc4c03286.html
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "goifl.com: Statistics". IFL. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  10. ↑ "2011 All-IFL Teams Announced". IFL. June 24, 2011. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Vidswap.com Week Five Players of the Week". IFL. March 22, 2011. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Vidswap.com Week Eleven Players of the Week". IFL. May 5, 2011. Archived from the original on May 6, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  13. ↑ "2010 IFL Awards". IFL. June 23, 2010. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  14. ↑ "2010 All-IFL Teams Announced". IFL. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Week 9 Vidswap.com Players of the Week Announced". IFL. April 28, 2010. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Vidswap.com Week Sixteen Players of the Week". IFL. June 16, 2010. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
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