Amarillo Venom

Amarillo Venom
Founded 2003
League Intense (2004)
af2 (2005–2009)
IFL (2010–2011)
LSFL (2012–2014)
CIF (2015–present)
Division Midwest (2005–2006)
Central (2007–2009)
Lonestar West (2010)
Lonestar (2011)
Southern (2016)
South (2017–present)
Team history Amarillo Dusters (2004–2009)
Amarillo Venom (2010–present)
Based in Amarillo, Texas
Arena Amarillo Civic Center
Colors Black, Red, Tan, White
                   
Owner(s) Stephanie Tucker
Head coach Julian Reese
Championships 3 (2004 Intense, 2012 LSFL, 2013 LSFL)
Division titles 3 (2004 Intense, 2010 IFL, 2016 CIF)
Playoff berths 8
Dancers Venom Vixens

The Amarillo Venom are a professional indoor football team in the Champions Indoor Football league. The Venom began play in 2004 as the Amarillo Dusters, a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only season with the IFL. The following year, the Dusters became the first team to leave the Intense Football League and join the af2, where they played for four seasons until the af2's folding in 2009. At that point, the team held a fan vote as to whether to join their af2 brethren in the new Arena Football 1 (now the Arena Football League) or enjoy numerous Texas rivalries in the Indoor Football League. On October 9, 2009, it was announced that, because of a 65-35 percent margin in the fan vote, the Dusters would be moving to the Indoor Football League for the 2010 season. The team plays their home games at Amarillo Civic Center.

The team was featured on an episode of Only in America, a show that airs on the Discovery Times channel.

On December 21, 2008 the Dusters introduced a new color scheme for the team. The new colors were revealed as Crimson, Grey, and Black.[1]

It was announced on January 28, 2010 that the Dusters would have to be renamed, because the Arena Football League owns the rights to the Dusters name and logo. On February 8, the new Amarillo Venom name and logo was unveiled.

In 2014, after completing their 3rd season in the Lone Star Football League (LSFL), the Venom became a part of Champions Indoor Football (CIF) in a merger with the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL).

History

Amarillo Dusters (2004–2009)

Expansion championship (2004)

The Amarillo Dusters finished their only season in the Intense Football League with a 13-3 record en route to a league championship. Coach Don Carthel lead the Dusters to the cup as they defeated the Lubbock Lone Stars.[2] The Dusters would abandon their spot in the IFL to play in the af2.

Move to af2 (2005)

In their first year in the af2, the Amarillo Dusters reached the playoffs with an 8-8 record, which was good enough for a wildcard. The Dusters, quarterbacked by Julian Reese, came from 21 points down at the start of the 4th quarter to quiet the Cox Convention Center crowd to win Round 1 over the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. The Dusters fell in Round 2 to the eventual-af2 champion Memphis Xplorers.

2006 season

The Dusters tried to build on the moderate success they had in 2005. However, in 2006, the team suffered many injuries and failed to make it to the af2 playoffs. Quarterback Steve Panella was injured early in the season, forcing numerous backups to take the job. The Dusters then lost receivers. They ended the season with a 4–12 record. Carthel would take the head coaching job at West Texas A&M 2 games into the first Dusters af2 season.

2007 season

Steve Perdue took over the Head Coaching job and lead the team playoffs and a first round victory over the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs. Looking to rebound after the previous losing season, injuries plagued the Dusters' offense. After a win against the Lubbock Renegades the Dusters struggled for the remainder of the year but were still able end the Quincy Carter-led Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings' perfect season with a 51–49 upset.

2008 season

Death of Donte Newsome

On July 5, 2008, Dusters running back Donte Newsome was shot to death outside of a nightclub in Huntington, West Virginia, home of his alma mater Marshall University.[3]

On The Field

Under the leasdership of Head Coach Chris MacKeown and outstanding QB play by Julian Reese, the Amarillo Dusters went 10-9 in 2008, and played for the af2 National Conference ArenaCup Finals. Following the Dusters most successful season, in their af2 history, MacKeown stepped up to AFL as the offensive coordinator for John Elway's Colorado Crush.

Amarillo Venom (2010–present)

Moving to the IFL (2010–2011)

With the af2 breaking up and its larger market teams moving to Arena Football 1, the Dusters were forced to find a new league. Owner Randy Sanders applied for his team's spot in the Indoor Football League (IFL),[4] and they were accepted as an expansion franchise.[5]

2011 season

Move to the LSFL (2012–present)

For the 2012 season, the Venom will play in the Lone Star Football League (LSFL).[6] In their inaugural season in the LSFL they won the 2012 championship. Under the leadership of Quarterback Nate Davis and Coach Julian Reese, the Venom finished the 2013 season with a 9-3 record. In the playoffs, the finished off the Abilene Bombers, 70-40.

Back-to-back championships (2013)

On July 13, 2013, they faced off against the Laredo Rattlesnakes, where they won 70-69. Davis won the MVP of the Game.[7]

Season-by-season

Season W L T Finish Playoff results
Amarillo Dusters (Intense)
2004 13 3 0 1st League Won Round 1 (S.A. Stampede 41-29)
Won Intense Bowl I (L. Lone Stars 62-47)
Amarillo Dusters (af2)
2005 8 8 0 4th NC Midwest Won NC Round 1 (Oklahoma City 59-56)
Lost Semifinals (Memphis 71-30)
2006 4 12 0 5th NC Midwest --
2007 3 13 0 4th NC Central --
2008 8 8 0 3rd NC Central Won NC Round 1 (Tulsa 65-62)
Won NC Semifinals (Bossier-Shreveport 59-45)
Lost NC Championship (Spokane 79-49)
2009 3 13 0 3rd NC Central --
Amarillo Venom (IFL)
2010 11 3 0 1st IC Lonestar West Won IC Round 1 (West Texas 56-36)
Lost IC Semifinals (Arkansas 46-31)
2011 4 10 0 3rd Lonestar --
Amarillo Venom (LSFL)
2012 10 4 0 1st League Won Round 1 (West Texas 56-42)
Won Lone Star Bowl I (Rio Grande Valley 62-40)
2013 7 5 0 2nd League Won LSFL Semifinals (Abilene 70-42)
Won Lone Star Bowl II (Laredo 70-69)
2014 5 7 0 -- --
Amarillo Venom (CIF)
2015 7 5 0 6th League Lost Semifinals (Sioux City 83-52)
2016 8 4 0 2nd Southern Won Southern Wildcard (Dodge City 98-56)
Won Southern Championship (Texas) 57-53
Totals 103 98 0 (including playoffs)

Notable players

Roster

Amarillo Venom roster
Quarterbacks
  • Currently vacant

Running Backs

  • -- Jah'son Patterson

Wide Receivers

  •  1 Raymond Johnson
  •  3 Alex Watson
Offensive Linemen
  • 78 Cameron Edwards
  • -- Domonique Watt

Defensive Linemen

  • Currently vacant
 Linebackers
  • Currently vacant

Defensive Backs

  • -- Jevin Colbert

Kickers

  • Currently vacant
 Injured Reserve
  • Currently vacant

Exempt List

  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated October 23, 2016
6 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

Awards and honors

Season Player Position Award
2014Nate Davis QB LSFL Championship MVP

Notes

  1. ↑ "Dusters unveil new website and team colors". af2.com. arenafootball2. 2008-12-21. Archived from the original on 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  2. ↑ "Editorial: Dusters blow away IFL competition, Amarillo". www.amarillo.com. Amarillo Globe-News. September 8, 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ Dusters remember fallen teammate
  4. ↑ Lee Baker (October 8, 2009). "Dusters' decision". www.connectamarillo.com. Sinclair Communications, LLC. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ Ryan Minch (November 10, 2009). "Indoor Football League announces teams for 2010". www.billingsgazette.com. The Billings Gazette. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  6. ↑ Dave Henry (October 5, 2011). "Venom owner Tucker: LSFL is all about Texas". www.amarillo.com. Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  7. ↑ Lance Lahnert (July 13, 2013). "Lahnert: QB Nate Davis leads Venom to another crown". www.amarillo.com. Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved April 28, 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.