2014 Marion Blue Racers season

The 2014 Marion Blue Racers season was the fourth season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise.

2014 Marion Blue Racers season
Head coach	Marc Huddleston (fired March 6: 3-1 record) LaMonte Coleman (interim)
General manager	LaMonte Coleman
Owner	LaMonte and Shavonne Coleman
Home field	Veterans Memorial Coliseum 220 East Fairground Street Marion, OH 43302
Results
Record	8–2
Division place	1st
Playoff finish	Won South Division Championship (River Monsters) 56-40 Lost CIFL Championship Game (Explosion) 26–38

In May 2013, the Blue Racers announced that they were leaving the CIFL again, this time to join the Xtreme Indoor Football League.[1] The league was supposed to be run by Blue Racers owner LaMonte Coleman. However in August 2013, the Blue Racers re-signed with the CIFL to a multi-year contract. Coleman has hired Marc Huddleston as the 2014 Head Coach and Director of Football Operations. After a 5–1 start, the Blue Racers announced that Coleman would be taking over as the team's head coach. The Blue Racers recovered from a down season in 2013, by winning the CIFL's new South Division title, clinching them home-field advantage in the South Division playoffs.[2] The Blue Racers faced off against the Northern Kentucky River Monsters in the South Division title game and won 56–40.[3] With the win over Northern Kentucky, the Blue Racers clinched their second berth in the CIFL Championship Game. After three quarters of play, the Blue Racers were tied at 26 with the Erie Explosion in the 2014 CIFL Championship Game when Aaron Smentanka found Evan Twombly for a score. After Marion turned over the ball on downs, Richard Stokes scored again for the Explosion, which turned out to be the final score of the game, making the score 38–26.[4]

Roster

2014 Marion Blue Racers roster
Quarterbacks  9 Chris Wallace Offensive backs 22 Chris Brooks Wide Receivers 80 Gerald Byrd 33 Seth Steven  1 Mike Tatum		Offensive Linemen -- Bobby Gay -- J. T. Haynes 75 Robert Price 77 Kris Stafford Defensive Linemen 99 Mike Cross 88 Will Haase 11 Thomas McKenzie 55 Joshua Montgomery		Linebackers 27 Gaines Burnett 28 Korrion Wade Defensive backs  7 Dante Barnes -- Chris Crayton 21 Bryceson Lawrence  4 E. J. Underwood 25 Steve Witherspoon -- Chad Woodfork Kickers 34 Josh Berkshire		Injured reserve Currently vacant Exempt list Currently vacant Practice squad Currently vacant Rookies in italics Roster updated April 5, 2014 22 Active, 0 Inactive, 0 PS

Schedule

Regular season

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Game site
				Final score	Team record
1	Bye
2	February 9	4:00 P.M. EST	Kentucky Xtreme	W 69-13	1-0	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
3	February 16	2:00 P.M. EST	at Erie Explosion	L 23-43	1-1	Erie Insurance Arena
4	February 23	4:00 P.M. EST	Dayton Sharks	W 50-41	2-1	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
5	March 2	4:00 P.M. EST	Northern Kentucky River Monsters	W 27-20	3-1	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
6	March 9	4:00 P.M. EST	Erie Explosion	W 22-21	4-1	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
7	Bye
8	March 21	7:30 p.m. EST	at Bluegrass Warhorses	W 52-28	5-1	Alltech Arena
9	Bye
10	April 5	7:30 P.M. EST	at Dayton Sharks	W 46-36	6-1	Hara Arena
11	April 12	7:30 p.m. EST	at Saginaw Sting	L 25-28	6-2	Dow Event Center
12	April 19	4:00 p.m. EST	at Detroit Thunder	W 2-0 (Forfeit)	7-2	Fraser Hockeyland
13	April 27	4:00 p.m. EST	Columbus War Eagles*	W 61-2	8-2	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
14	Bye

*The Columbus War Eagles played a fill in game for the Port Huron Patriots, who forfeited the final 3 games of the season.

Standings

2014 Continental Indoor Football League
Team	Overall				Division
	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
North Division
y-Saginaw Sting	9	1	0	.900	6	1	0	.857
x-Erie Explosion	8	2	0	.800	5	1	0	.833
Chicago Blitz	7	3	0	.700	4	2	0	.667
z-Port Huron Patriots	1	8	0	.111	1	6	0	.143
z-Detroit Thunder	0	8	0	.000	0	6	0	.000
South Division
y-Marion Blue Racers	8	2	0	.800	6	0	0	1.000
x-Northern Kentucky River Monsters	7	3	0	.700	5	2	0	.714
Dayton Sharks	6	4	0	.600	4	3	0	.571
z-Bluegrass Warhorses	1	7	0	.125	1	5	0	.167
z-Kentucky Xtreme	0	5	0	.000	0	4	0	.000

• y - clinched division title
• x - clinched playoff spot
• z - ceased operations during season

Postseason

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Game site
				Final score	Team record
South Division Championship	May 10	7:30 P.M. EST	Northern Kentucky River Monsters	W 56-40	1-0	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
2014 CIFL Championship Game	May 18	4:00 P.M. EST	Erie Explosion	L 26-38	1-1	Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Coaching staff

2014 Marion Blue Racers staff
	Front Office CEO/General Manager – LaMonte Coleman CFO/Owner – Shavonne Coleman Chief Marketing Officer– Ryan Sawyer Lead Designer – Justin Boyd Event Manager - Kate Servick Dance Director- Michelle Emmerson Head Coach Director of Football Ops./Head Coach – Marc Huddleston Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Marc Huddleston Running Backs - Open Wide Receivers – Marc Huddleston Offensive Line – Rick Butler Intern Strength Coach- Devin Stover			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Robert Price Defensive Line – Robert Price Secondary – Rich Stotts/Devin Stover Special Teams- Rick Butler Equipment Mgr.- Andy Cook

References

1. "Blue Racers, Three Other Teams Join Newly Formed XIFL". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. May 28, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
2. "Blue Racers Are CIFL South Champs, Ready for Port Huron". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. April 21, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
3. Danny McPherson (May 10, 2014). "Solid physical effort leads Blue Racers to title game". www.marionstar.com. Marion Star. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
4. Danny McPherson (May 19, 2014). "Blue Racers fall to Erie Explosion in Continental Indoor Football League championship game". www.marionstar.com. Marion Star. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.