New Mexico Stars

The New Mexico Stars were a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The Stars played their home games at the Santa Ana Star Center.

New Mexico Stars
Established 2012
Folded 2016
Played in Rio Rancho, New Mexico
at Santa Ana Star Center
NMStarsIF.com
League/conference affiliations
Indoor Football League (2012)
* Intense (2012)
Lone Star Football League (2013–2014)
American Indoor Football (2016)
* Western/Southern (2016)
Team colorsBlack, red, gold, white
                   
CheerleadersAdvanced Dance West
Personnel
Owner(s)Dart Clark (2011–2012)
Jerry Dunn (2012)
Chris Williams (2013)
Paul Parsons, Samuel Rodriguez & Ernie Guill (2014)
Tracy & Crystal Duran (2015–2016)
Team history
  • New Mexico Stars (2012–2014, 2016)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (1)
AIF Western: 2016 (by default)
Playoff appearances (3)
LSFL: 2013, 2014
AIF: 2016
Home arena(s)

They began play in the Indoor Football League (IFL) during the 2012 season as an expansion team. The Stars left the IFL after one season and joined the Texas-based Lone Star Football League (LSFL) where they would play for two seasons. Prior to the 2015 season, the Stars were purchased by Tracy and Crystal Duran and the team announced it was going to play in Champions Indoor Football for 2015. However, the team would instead go on hiatus for the season. The Stars then attempted to join other indoor football leagues until playing the 2016 season as a member of American Indoor Football (AIF) as part of a West Division. Most of the West Division collapsed leaving the Stars regionally isolated and forced to schedule games against many local semi-professional teams. The AIF ceased operations following the 2016 season, leaving the Stars without a league. The Durans would move to Mississippi later in 2016 and the Stars would officially fold.

The Stars were the second indoor team to play in Rio Rancho, following the American Indoor Football Association's New Mexico Wildcats, which played the 2008 and 2009 seasons before folding.

Franchise history

2012

In October 2011, team owner and general manager Dart Clark made an announcement that indoor football would be returning to New Mexico.[1] During the announcement, Clark stated that the team would be nicknamed the Stars, the head coach would be Chris Williams and that the team would play at the Santa Ana Star Center.[1][2] The team tried to make a large splash early on to help boost interest in the team when they offered NFL veteran wide receiver, Terrell Owens,[3] former University of New Mexico star, DonTrell Moore[1] and former University of Wisconsin–Madison All-American, Erasmus James.[4] Owens would eventually sign with the Allen Wranglers (also of the IFL).[5] The Stars played their first game on February 25, 2012 against the Colorado Ice. The Stars won the game 46-39 in front of a home crowd of around 3,600.[6] The team was run by Clark until March 2012, when the Stars made a change, naming Jerry Dunn majority owner and interim general manager.[7] After the teams April 20 game at the Wyoming Cavalry, two Stars players, (one of which was Darius Marshall) were arrested and charged with assault on a member of the Cavalry.[8] The following week, the four players involved in the altercation were released.[9] The Stars ended the 2012 season with a 2-12 record, a last place finish in the Intense Conference.[10]

2013

In 2013, the Stars would play in the Lone Star Football League.[11] In October 2012, Dunn sold the ownership of his team to head coach, Chris Williams.[12] Williams purchased 51% of the team's ownership, while the LSFL owned the remaining 49%.[12] Along with the Abilene Bombers, the Stars finished the season with a 6–7 record.

2014

Williams left the Stars after the 2013 season to take the head coaching job with the Texas Revolution.[13] On August 16, 2013, the Stars ownership moved into an LLC. known as "Texas 3", which consists of Paul Parsons, Samuel Rodriguez & Ernie Guill.[14] The Stars finished the regular season 7-5, good enough to earn the 3rd seed in the league and advance to a semi-final match up against the Rio Grande Valley Sol, with a berth in the 2014 LSFL Championship Game on the line. However, due to the Sol failing to meet league obligations and deadlines, they were suspended from the league and the Stars advanced into the Championship Game against the San Angelo Bandits.[15] The Stars fell 64-34 to the Bandits.[16]

2015

The New Mexico Stars were purchased by Tracy Duran, operating under TNC Duran LLC, Tracy Duran and Crystal Duran are the members. The team joined Champions Indoor Football (CIF) for the 2015 season, but before ever playing a game in the CIF. The team plans to regroup and resume play in 2016.[17] Financial difficulties with the new league and other issues have complicated the team's plans for 2015.[18]

2016

On June 16, 2015, the Stars announced that they would be returning to football in 2016, playing the X-League Indoor Football. The team also announced that Carlos Cavanaugh was named the teams' new head coach.[19] However, on October 1, 2015, the X-League folded, and the Stars joined American Indoor Football.[20]

The Stars first game was a victory over the Steel City Menace. It was the first game for both teams in the Western Division of the American Indoor Football league (AIF). The Stars then lost to the third West Division team, the Corpus Christi Fury, 59–53 with the game decided on the final play. In April 2016, former New Orleans Saints quarterback John Fourcade became the interim head coach and will lead the team through the 2016 season. However, after the initial announcement of the formerly six-team West Division schedule, three teams either folded or switched leagues prior to the start of the season. This led the team to scheduling whichever teams they could, often playing local independent semi-professional teams scheduled just days before home games in order to still have games.[21][22] The AIF ceased operations following the 2016 season, leaving the Stars without a league. Their website was taken down a few months later. In September 2016, team owners, Tracey and Crystal Duran, confirmed the team's demise and moved to Mississippi.[23]

Roster
New Mexico Stars roster
Quarterbacks
  • Currently vacant

Running Backs

  • Currently vacant

Wide Receivers

  • Currently vacant
 Offensive Linemen
  • Currently vacant

Defensive Lineman

  • Currently vacant
 Linebackers
  • Currently vacant

Defensive Backs

  • Currently vacant

Kickers

  • Currently vacant
 Injured Reserve
  • Currently vacant

Exempt List

  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated August 23, 2016
0 Active, 0 Inactive

Head coaches
Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
W L T Win% W L
Chris Williams 2012–2013 8 18 0 .308 0 1
Dominic Bramante 2014 7 5 0 .583 0 1
Carlos Cavanaugh 2016 1 0 0 1.000 0 0
John Fourcade 2016 5 1 0 .833 0 1

Season-by-season results
League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Wild Card Berth League Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results
Finish Wins Losses Ties
2012 2012 IFL Intense 8th 2 12 0
2013 2013 LSFL 4th 6 6 0 Lost Semi-Final 56-61 (Rattlesnakes)
2014 2014 LSFL 3rd 7 5 0 Lost Lone Star Bowl III 34-64 (San Angelo Bandits)
2016 2016 AIF Western[lower-alpha 1] 1st 6 1 0 Lost Southern Semifinals (Lions) 37-49
Totals 21 24 0 All-time regular season record (2012–2016)
0 3 — All-time postseason record (2012–2016)
21 27 0 All-time regular season and postseason record (2012–2016)
  1. Last team remaining in the Western Division, competed in the Southern Division for playoffs as the fourth seed.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: That's what they want you to think.
gollark: What did?
gollark: It's a music player webserver thingy.
gollark: It even compiled my Rust project. Very slowly.

References
  1. Gary Herron (October 12, 2011). "Indoor football returning to Santa Ana Star Center". Rio Rancho Observer. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  2. Van Tate (October 20, 2011). "Indoor football comes to New Mexico". www.krqe.com. CBS. Archived from the original on October 22, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  3. "New Mexico Stars offer Owens". www.krqe.com. CBS. October 26, 2012. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  4. Gary Herron (January 15, 2012). "Stars in their eyes: IFL season approaches". Rio Rancho Observer. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  5. Gary Herron (January 25, 2012). "The Stars come out during the daytime, too". Rio Rancho Observer. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  6. Gary Herron (February 29, 2012). "Stars melt the Ice in IFL debut". Rio Rancho Observer. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  7. "Stars hit the road — so does Dart Clark". Rio Rancho Observer. March 28, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  8. E.J. Conzola II (April 21, 2012). "Two NM Stars players charged with assault". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  9. "Stars ax four fight-involved players". Rio Rancho Observer. April 29, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  10. Gary Herron (June 20, 2012). "Stars finish in last place". Rio Rancho Oberver. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  11. Bob Christ (September 14, 2012). "Stars Shifting to Lone Star League". Albuquerque Journal.
  12. Bob Christ (October 5, 2012). "Coach Has Ownership". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  13. Gary Herron (August 4, 2013). "Williams leaves Stars, heads to Allen, Texas". www.rrobserver.com. Rio Rancho Observer. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  14. "New Mexico Stars Announce New Ownership". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  15. Bob Christ (June 29, 2014). "Saturday's Stars' game will be for a crown". www.abqjournal.com. Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  16. "NM loses to San Angelo in indoor football championship". www.abqjournal.com. Albuquerque Journal. July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  17. Christ, Bob (February 22, 2015). "NM Stars owners pull plug on season". Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, NM. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  18. Christ, Bob (May 23, 2015). "Arena of the absurd: Local indoor football has had funny bounces". Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, NM. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  19. Bob Christ (June 16, 2015). "Stars announce change in places for 2016". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  20. "AIF to Add West Division". OurSports Central. October 1, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  21. Bob Christ (April 9, 2016). "Stars go to Plan D to find opponent". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  22. "Indoor football: Gladiators hit the road to face Mesquite". Albuquerque Journal. May 6, 2016.
  23. "Indoor football: Rio Rancho's Stars cease operations". Albuquerque Journal. September 22, 2016.
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