Raiders and Former UIF's Rock River Raptors To Play Exhibition Game
Published on January 15, 2008 under Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Rochester Raiders News Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (January 15, 2008)- The Rochester Raiders and the Rock River Raptors, a new addition to the CIFL this year, which has previously played in the United Indoor Football (UIF), have agreed to play an exhibition game on March 3 in Rockford, IL before the 2008 season kicks off. The Raptors have won their division in the UIF in both of their previous two seasons (2006, 2007).
"We are glad to have a team of this caliber enter our league this year," commented Raiders owner Bob Bartosiewicz, "They bring with them a very well run organization and they have proven that they can put a very successful product onto the field each and every week. We are extremely excited to play a team of their ability before our regular season even gets underway."
Rockford will be the farthest trip west for the Raiders during the 2008 regular season and provide for an extremely competitive pre-season game. Both the Raptors and Raiders are returning a good majority of their rosters from last season and both have some high quality free agent signings thus far in the off season. Rock River will play its inaugural season in the CIFL in the Great Lakes Conference's West Division where as the Raiders will play in the Atlantic Conference's West Division.
The Rock River franchise was established in 2000 as the Tennessee Valley Vipers, a charter member of af2. The franchise was based at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2005, the franchise moved to United Indoor Football as the Tennessee Valley Raptors. To accommodate the Vipers' af2 return to Huntsville, team owner Art Clarkson announced in August 2005 that the franchise would relocate to Rockford, Illinois. Coincidentally, Rockford was the site of the first-ever Arena Football game in 1986.
Continental Indoor Football League Stories from January 15, 2008
- Raiders and Former UIF's Rock River Raptors To Play Exhibition Game - Rochester Raiders
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