When you walk into Wesbanco Arena, you’ll notice a tradition of winning, especially in Arena and Indoor Football. The West Virginia Roughriders were the last team to call Wesbanco Arena home. They pulled off the perfect season to capture the AAL Championship in 2019 over the Carolina Energy.
Now, Chris Duffy and Josh Resignalo are joining forces to bring Indoor Football back to the Friendly City, according to the AIF Facebook page. A name for the team will be announced later on and they are expected to begin play in the AIF in 2024. The AIF or American Indoor Football was founded in 2005 with six teams.
The first ever team in the AIF was not too far up the road from Wheeling. The Johnstown Riverhawks were the first franchise in the AIF. The league played until 2016 when it eventually folded. When the league folded, it had sixteen teams, one of which is familiar to Arena Football fans in the Ohio Valley, the West Michigan Ironmen. The Roughriders defeated the Ironment twice in the 2019 season, one of which was the AAL semi-finals.
Indoor football didn’t start off too well when it first arrived in Wheeling in 1999. The first team to call Wheeling home was the Steel Valley Smash. The Smash were edged in their inaugural game by the Dayton Skyhawks. Steel Valley finished the season at 2-10. When the Smash flipped the script to the 2000 season as the team won 9 games in their division. Steel Valley made their first playoff appearance and knocked off Green Bay 21-10. However, a Round 2 trip to Peoria would not be as friendly as the Smash fell 55-10 to the Pirates.
After the IFL was sold, the team would rebrand into the Ohio Valley Greyhounds of the NIFL. The Hounds fell to the Lake Charles Landsharks 25-22 in their inaugural game and started the season 1-2. However, Ohio Valley rattled off 5 straight wins before falling to their rivals, the Johnstown J-Dogs. After the loss to Johnstown the Greyhounds went on another streak of winning six games and avenging the losses to both Johnstown and Lake Charles in the first round of the playoffs. Ohio Valley fell to Mississippi in the second round 40-35. The team was led by former Bellaire and Kent State star, Jose Davis at quarterback and former Indian Creek star, Mike Blackburn on the offensive line.
The 2002 season saw Davis and many other star players return to the Ohio Valley for year 2. They were led by Birdie Dockery at running back and William Bunny Jefferson at wide receiver on the offensive side of the ball. Martins Ferry native Gary Jackson led the defense and tied for the league lead in interceptions with 11. The Greyhounds finished the regular season at 11-1 with their only loss coming at the end of the regular season to the Tennessee Thundercats. Ohio Valley blew through the first two rounds of the playoffs setting up a semi-final contest with the Thundercats. This time around, Ohio Valley came out on top 45-24 setting up the Indoor Bowl contest with the Western Conference Champs, the Billings Outlaws. The Outlaws brought a powerful offense into the arena led by quarterback Albert Higgs and a trio of tremendous receivers in Jason Quinn, Corey Grow, and Rodney Hampton. Behind the fantastic arm of Jose Davis and a late defensive stand, the Greyhounds were crowned NIFL Champions in a 55-52 victory over the Outlaws.
The 2003 season was a magical one! The Greyhounds pulled off the perfect season going 17-0 overall. The Greyhounds outscored their opponents 709-360. The Indoor Bowl was another very competitive game between the Greyhounds and the Utah Warriors. Hounds fans saw a few familiar faces in the lineup for the Warriors which included former Billings stars, Corey Grow and Jason Quinn. The Greyhounds however saw a lot of new faces in their lineup. Jose Davis had signed in the CFL, but in stepped his backup from 2002, Shane Franzer. The former Ohio Northern star threw for 38 touchdowns on the season. His favorite target was his college teammate Steve Vagedes. He also had solid receivers in Marshall product, John Cooper and Wisconsin alum, Willie Austin. A solid running back core also helped take the pressure off of Franzer. Former Michigan State star, Lloyd Clemons added 17 touchdowns on the perfect season.
The Greyhounds kept the winning streak rolling entering 2004. They won 6 straight games to start the season. A trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana against the Freedom ended the Ohio Valley streak. The Greyhounds finished the season at 11-3 also falling in Atlantic City and Lake Charles. Ohio Valley avenged their loss to Fort Wayne, but then fell to the Lexington Horsemen to end the season. WVU fans got to see a large group of former Mountaineers on the Greyhounds squad. They were led by DB Angel Estrada, DB Shawn Hackett and RB Cooper Rego. RB, Rayshawn Askew made 31 trips to the endzone on the season.
The 2005 season saw a new league and a new addition to the quarterback position. Martins Ferry and Mount Union alum, Zac Bruney took the reigns at quarterback. The current Wheeling University Football Coach threw for 19 touchdown passes in his rookie season. Despite a 6-9 record the Greyhounds still qualified for the UIF Playoffs. The season ended on a bad note, 52-17 to Sioux City. History repeated itself in 2006 as the Greyhounds finished the season 6-9. Former Oak Glen and West Liberty star Derrick Stickles manned the backfield for Ohio Valley and found the endzone 8 times in his rookie campaign. The 2007 season saw the Greyhounds only pick up two victories on the season. Former Martins Ferry and Ohio University standout, Freddy Ray suited up for the Greyhounds that season. In October of 2007, it was announced that the team had folded.
In March of 2008 it was announced that a new team would be invading Wesbanco Arena. The Wheeling Wildcats were announced and were led by University of Pittsburgh product, Rod Rutherford. The Wildcats were only able to pull of two victories that came against the Miami Valley Silverbacks. The team folded after one season.
Wesbanco Arena wasn’t the only home of Indoor football in the area. The Steubenville Stampede played their home games at St John’s Arena for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Unfortunately, the Stampede didn’t have the same success as the Greyhounds and folded after a 6-18, two season record.
After a long layoff of Arena or Indoor football in the valley, Richmond Roughriders owner, Gregg Farnario announced he was moving his team to Wheeling. The inaugural roster was headlined by a trio of Ohio Valley alums, Weir Madonna’s Connor Arlia, Bridgeport’s Cole Smelley, and Steubenville’s Jeryll Christian. Christian had Arena experience playing with former Bellaire star and current San Diego Strikeforce QB, Nate Davis. Shadyside standout and wide receivers coach Josh Pyles also appeared in one game for the Roughriders.
West Virginia was led by former WVU stars, QB Jarrett Brown and RB Noel Devine. Farnario also added long-time Arena veteran Larry Beavers and Chad Walcott to the wide receiver position. The defensive side of the ball were equally impressive with WVU alum, Larry Ford, former Baylor star Shawn Oakman, Bethune Cookman star, Harold Love and former NFL player BJ McBryde. The linebacking core was led by Smelley and Brian “Ability” Price. Former Pennsylvania stars Cam Dixon, Davon Dixon, and Joe Lofton had significant roles in the Roughriders 13-0 season. The defensive backfield was referred to as the “Nation of Domination.” Former WVU star and NY Jets defensive back Ellis “Island” Lankster anchored the defensive backfield with former Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, Jamie Bender, and Majique “Boom” Key. The Roughriders also relied heavily on the leg of Anthony “Swiss Army Knife” Prevost.
How did the former Hampton product get that name you may ask? Well, Prevost converted a huge two-point conversion in the Championship game against Carolina, but also line up at defensive back, quarterback and wide receiver.
A lot of amazing stats stood out during the dominating season by the Roughriders, but they achieved a very rare stat in Arena football. They were able to complete two shutouts on the season which is extremely rare for Indoor or Arena football. West Virginia shut out their rivals the Burgh Defenders 74-0 and the Carolina Cowboyz 54-0. They capped off the perfect season at Wesbanco Arena with a 55-29 Championship victory over the Carolina Energy. Stay tuned for the 2024 season and the announcement of the team name very soon.
Article compliments of Chris Thoburn
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