2011 Northern Kentucky River Monsters season

The 2011 Northern Kentucky River Monsters season was the first season for the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) franchise. Announced as startup team for the newly formed Ultimate Indoor Football League in 2010, the team was purchased by Jill Chitwood from the UIFL in February 2011.[1] Just a week before the season began, team General Manager, Jared Lorenzen, relieved himself of his duties as general manager, and became the quarterback for the franchise.[2] In the River Monsters first ever game they defeated the Canton Cougars by a score of 63–41.[3] With a Week 9 win over the Saginaw Sting, the River Monsters had clinched a postseason berth in their first season,[4] clinching home field advantage throughout the playoffs.[5] After wrapping up the season, the UIFL had discovered that the River Monsters had been paying their players over the league's salary cap. The UIFL stripped the River Monsters of the #1 seed and made them the #4 seed, taking away the River Monster's chance to earn playoff money.[6] The River Monster now traveled to Saginaw, Michigan to play the Sting, where the Sting upset the River Monsters 48–47.[7] On June 6, 2011, it was announced that the UIFL and the River Monsters mutually agreed to part ways, leaving the team free to join another league. However, the UIFL had a lease agreement with the arena, which hampered the likelihood the River Monsters would play in Highland Heights in 2012. The team had been mentioned as a charter member Stadius Football Association, but that league never got off the ground.[8][9]

2011 Northern Kentucky River Monsters season
Head coach	Rodney Swinigan
Owner	Jill Chitwood
Home field	The Bank of Kentucky Center 500 Nunn Drive Highland Heights, KY 41099
Results
Record	11–3
League place	1st
Playoff finish	Lost Semifinals 37–38 (Sting)

Offseason

2011 draft board

Round	Selection	Player	Position
1	3	Sly Brumfield	WR/DB
2	9	George Frisch	OL
3	15	Jon D'Angelo	LB
4	21	Greg Johnston	DB

Schedule

Key:   Win   Tie   Loss   Bye

Regular season

Week	Day	Date	Opponent	Results		Location
				Score	Record
1	BYE
2	Friday	February 25	at Canton Cougars	W 63–41	1–0	Canton Memorial Civic Center
3	Saturday	March 5	at Johnstown Generals	W 62–49	2–0	Cambria County War Memorial Arena
4	Saturday	March 12	at Eastern Kentucky Drillers	L 33–60	2–1	Eastern Kentucky Expo Center
5	Friday	March 18	Johnstown Generals	W 79–21	3–1	The Bank of Kentucky Center
6	Monday	March 28	Canton Cougars	W 62–53	4–1	The Bank of Kentucky Center
7	Friday	April 1	Huntington Hammer	W 69–40	5–1	The Bank of Kentucky Center
8	Saturday	April 9	at Canton Cougars	W 78–55	6–1	Canton Memorial Civic Center
9	Saturday	April 16	Eastern Kentucky Drillers	W 59–42	7–1	The Bank of Kentucky Center
10	Friday	April 22	Saginaw Sting	W 64–56	8–1	The Bank of Kentucky Center
11	Saturday	April 30	at Huntington Hammer	W 44–23	9–1	Big Sandy Superstore Arena
12	Sunday	May 8	at Saginaw Sting	L 58–63	9–2	Dow Event Center
13	Saturday	May 14	Huntington Hammer	W 34–28	10–2	The Bank of Kentucky Center
14	Saturday	May 21	Eastern Kentucky Drillers	W 54–40	11–2	The Bank of Kentucky Center
15	Saturday	May 28	at Eastern Kentucky Drillers	L 43–44	11–3	Eastern Kentucky Expo Center

Postseason schedule

Round	Day	Date	Opponent	Results		Location
				Score	Record
Semifinals	Saturday	June 4	at Saginaw Sting	L 47–48	0–1	Dow Event Center

Standings

2011 UIFL standings[ref 1]
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
y-Northern Kentucky River Monsters[ref 2]	11	3	0	.786	569	417	L1
x-Saginaw Sting	10	4	0	.714	473	415	L2
x-Eastern Kentucky Drillers	8	6	0	.571	390	373	W1
x-Huntington Hammer	7	7	0	.500	377	328	W2
Johnstown Generals	6	8	0	.429	292	416	W2
Canton Cougars	1	13	0	.071	370	522	L10

1. http://www.theuifl.com/01/UIFLStats/confsked.htm
2. Although Northern Kentucky were awarded the season title, they entered the postseason as the 4 seed due to salary cap violations.

Final roster

2011 Northern Kentucky River Monsters roster
Quarterbacks 22 Jared Lorenzen Running backs  6 Maurice Douse Wide receivers 84 A. J. Allen 88 Antonie Bagwell  8 Willie Idlette  3 Ricardo Lenhart  5 Harry Lewis		Offensive linemen 63 Khalil El-Amin 72 George Frisch 77 Matt Rahn Defensive linemen 50 Darrell Brown 92 Curtis McGhee 52 Thomas McKenzie 99 Luke Scarborough		Linebackers  7 Jon D'Angelo 95 Wallace Morris 51 Santino Turnbow Defensive backs 12 Butch Abshire 16 Austin Goss 10 Brett Hamblen 21 Kenneth Joshen  2 Tez Morris 24 Jermaine Woods Kickers 28 Dustin Zink		Injured reserve Currently vacant Exempt list Currently vacant Practice squad Currently vacant Rookies in italics Roster updated March 29, 2011 24 Active, 0 Inactive, 0 PS

References

1. "Chitwood Assumes River Monsters Ownership". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 10, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
2. Richard Skinner (February 24, 2011). "Jared Lorenzen lured back to field". www.cincinnati.com. Gannett. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
3. "River Monsters defeat Cougars". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 25, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
4. "River Monsters Clinch Playoff Berth". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. April 24, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
5. "Northern Kentucky Torches Top-Scoring Defense, Clinches Home Field". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. May 22, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
6. "Northern Kentucky Penalized by UIFL is Eastern Kentucky's Gain". www.nationofblue.com. Nation of Blue LLC. May 24, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
7. Kyle Austin (June 3, 2011). "Saginaw Sting earn berth in Ultimate Bowl with 48-47 upset win over Northern Kentucky". www.mlive.com. MLive Media Group. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
8. "FireHawks joining new league". www.wane.com. WANE. June 30, 2011. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
9. Tom Davis (July 2, 2011). "Fire Wayne FireHawks to try again in new 2012 league". The News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2013.