Northern Kentucky River Monsters

Northern Kentucky River Monsters
Northern Kentucky River Monsters
	Established 2010; Folded 2014; Played in The Bank of Kentucky Center in Highland Heights, Kentucky
League/conference affiliations
	Ultimate Indoor Football League (2011); Continental Indoor Football League (2014) South Division (2014);
	Current uniform
Team colors	Green, Black, White;
Cheerleaders	River Girls Dance Crew
Personnel
Owner(s)	Jill Chitwood
General manager	John Jackson
Head coach	Rodney Swanigan (2011); Brian Schmidt (2014); Mike Goodpaster (2014)
Team history
	Northern Kentucky River Monsters (2011, 2014);
Championships
	League championships (0);
	Conference championships (0);
	Division championships (0);
Playoff appearances (2)
	2011, 2014;
Home arena(s)
	The Bank of Kentucky Center (2011, 2014);

The Northern Kentucky River Monsters were a professional indoor football team based in Highland Heights, Kentucky. The River Monsters began play as a charter member of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) for its inaugural 2011 season spending one season in the UIFL before reaching an agreement with league management to leave. After a two-year hiatus, the River Monsters returned in 2014 as a member of the South Division of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). The River Monsters played their home games at The Bank of Kentucky Center. 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 in 2012, but that league never got off the ground. The team suspended operations on October 1, 2014.^[1]

History

2011

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.^[2] The River Monsters were the first professional sports team to play in northern Kentucky in over 90 years, after the Covington Blue Sox folded after a single season in 1913. 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.^[3] In the River Monsters first ever game they defeated the Canton Cougars by a score of 63–41.^[4] With a week 9 win over the Saginaw Sting, the River Monsters had clinched a postseason berth in their first season,^[5] clinching home field advantage throughout the playoffs.^[6] 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.^[7] The River Monster now traveled to Saginaw, Michigan to play the Sting, where the Sting upset the River Monsters 48–47.^[8] 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 (establishing a paper franchise named the Kentucky Monsters to hold onto the lease) and signed Lorenzen as their commissioner, 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.^[9]^[10] On their web show, the Dayton Silverbacks announced the River Monsters would be joining the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), moving to Muncie, Indiana, and retaining the River Monsters name. A September 2011 article on OurSportsCentral.com also said that former ownership of the Northern Kentucky River Monsters were joining the CIFL and moving to Muncie for the 2012 season.^[11] However, the team never played a game in Muncie.

2014

After a two-year layoff, the River Monsters announced that they would be returning to an active team, joining the CIFL for the 2014 season.^[12]^[13] In the River Monsters' first game of the season, listed as 320 pounds, Jared Lorenzen showed that he still had plenty of athleticism. Lorenzen's play was filmed and the videos ended up all over the internet, overshadowing the River Monsters' 36–20 victory of the Bluegrass Warhorses.^[14] Head coach Brian Schmidt was fired on February 22, and was replaced by defensive coordinator Mike Goodpaster.^[15] Goodpaster was able to salvage the season after losing Lorenzen to injury in week 2, going 5–2 down the stretch, defeating the Dayton Sharks the final week of the season to clinch the final South Division playoff spot.^[16]

On October 1, 2014, the team announced that they were suspending operations effective immediately.^[17]

Notable players

Final roster

Northern Kentucky River Monsters roster

Quarterbacks

10 Antonio Davis

Running backs

14 Clay Cunningham
6 Maurice Douse

Wide receivers

11 Aric Evans
8 Willie Idlette
3 Ricardo Lenhart
5 Ahoma Maxwell
9 Shawn McGarity

Offensive linemen

77 Bob Beeler
55 Thomas Gholston
74 Matt Money

Defensive linemen

57 D'arrell Brown
52 Rico Middlebrooks
99 Luke Scarborough

Linebackers

1 David James
48 Tommie McBride
37 Santino Turnbow

Defensive backs

12 Butch Abshire
32 David Hampton
4 T. J. Harris
21 Marcus Lancaster
23 Dekota Marshall
7 Jeff Ward

Kickers

13 Dustin Zink

Injured reserve

22 Jared Lorenzen QB

Exempt list

Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated February 17, 2013
24 Active, 1 Inactive

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all Northern Kentucky River Monsters players who won league awards

Season	Player	Position	Award
2011	Thomas McKenzie	DL	UIFL Defensive Player of the Year
2011	Jared Lorenzen	QB	UIFL MVP

All-league players

The following River Monsters players were named to all-league teams:

QB Jared Lorenzen (1)
RB Maurice Douse (1)
WR Ricardo Lenhart (2), Willie Idlette (1), Harry Lewis (1)
OL Khalil El-Amin (1), Matt Rahn (1), George Frisch (1), Frank Straub (1)
DL Thomas McKenzie (1), D'arrel Brown (1), Luke Scarbough (1)
LB Jon D'Angelo (1), Santino Turnbow (1), David James (1)
DB David Jones (1), Tez Morris (1), Tommy Harris (1), Ahoma Maxwell (1)
K Dustin Zink (2)
KR Maurice Douse (1)

Head coaches

Name	Term	Regular season				Playoffs		Awards
Name	Term	W	L	T	Win%	W	L	Awards
Rodney Swanigan	2011	11	3	0	.786	0	1
Brian Schmidt	2014	2	1	0	.667	0	0
Mike Goodpaster	2014-present	5	2	0	.714	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
Season	Team	League	Conference	Division	Finish	Wins	Losses	Ties	Postseason results
2011	2011	UIFL			1st	11	3	0	Lost UIFL semifinals (Sting) 47–48
2014	2014	CIFL		South	2nd	7	3	0	Lost South Division Championship (Blue Racers) 40–56
Totals						18	6	0	All-time regular season record (2011–2014)
						0	2	-	All-time postseason record (2011–2014)
						18	8	0	All-time regular season and postseason record (2011–2014)

References

^ River Monsters to Suspend Operations Effective Immediately, Team website, October 1, 2014
^ "Chitwood Assumes River Monsters Ownership". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 10, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ Richard Skinner (February 24, 2011). "Jared Lorenzen lured back to field". www.cincinnati.com. Gannett. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ "River Monsters defeat Cougars". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 25, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ "River Monsters Clinch Playoff Berth". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. April 24, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ "Northern Kentucky Torches Top-Scoring Defense, Clinches Home Field". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. May 22, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ "Northern Kentucky Penalized by UIFL is Eastern Kentucky's Gain". www.nationofblue.com. Nation of Blue LLC. May 24, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ 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.
^ "FireHawks joining new league". www.wane.com. WANE. June 30, 2011. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ 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.
^ Krieger, Dan (September 5, 2011). "WEEKLY SPORTS LEAGUE AND FRANCHISE REPORT". oursportscentral.com. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
^ "Northern Kentucky River Monsters Emerge from the "Swamp"". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. July 23, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
^ Adam Turer. "River Monsters burst back on the scene". www.cincinnati.com. Gannett. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
^ Paul Dehner Jr. (February 9, 2014). "Jared Lorenzen's CIFL opening performance goes viral". www.cincinnati.com. Gannett. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
^ Mike Perleberg (February 27, 2014). "Goodpaster Is River Monsters' New Head Coach". www.eaglecountryonline. Wagon Wheel Broadcasting. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
^ Mike Perleberg (May 7, 2014). "Goodpaster Improves To 5-2 With River Monsters; Takes Team To Playoffs". www.eaglecountryonline. Wagon Wheel Broadcasting. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
^ River Monsters to Suspend Operations Effective Immediately, Team website, October 1, 2014