Billings Outlaws

Billings Outlaws
Founded 2000
Folded 2010
League IFL (I) (2000)
NIFL (2001–2006)
UIF (2007–2008)
IFL (II) (2009–2010)
Team history Billings Thunderbolts (2000)
Billings Outlaws (2001–2004)
Billings Mavericks (2005)
Billings Outlaws (2006–2010)
Based in Billings, Montana
Arena Rimrock Auto Arena
Colors Blue, Silver, Black, White
President Mike Parnell
Head coach Heron O'Neal
General Manager Adam Steadman
Championships (3) 2006, 2009, 2010
Division titles (4) 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010
Playoff berths (8) 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Mascot Rocky Fork Regulators, Gunsmoke

The Billings Outlaws were a professional league indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League, of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. Their games were broadcast live locally on News Talk 910 KBLG AM and online through Teamline.

Seasons

2000–2001 seasons

The team originally began play as a 2000 expansion member of the Indoor Football League as the Billings Thunderbolts. Despite a winning record of 8-6, it wasn't enough to make the playoffs. When the league folded, they became a charter member of the National Indoor Football League in 2001 and became the Billings Outlaws until the 2005 season when they were the Billings Mavericks and the start of the 2006 season, when a naming dispute with the Osceola Outlaws led to the NIFL stripping both teams of the Outlaws name. However, as of June 11, 2006, the NIFL recognized Billings as the Outlaws again.

2002 season

The Outlaws first year in the playoffs. Many people thought it would be unexpected of Billings to make it all the way to the championship especially after coming in second in their division but they did so and proved many wrong. It wasn't easy though as Bismarck was in for a fight. Both games were decided in the final minute to which Outlaws prevailed. The championship game was the same other than the difference that the Ohio Valley Greyhounds took home the win and proved to be the best team winning 55-52 and pulling out an overall record that year of 15-1 while the Outlaws finished the season with an overall record of 12-5.

2003–2005 season

The Outlaws played hard but fell short of a .500 plus record and missed out on the playoffs in 2003. In 2004, the Billings squad dominated their way to a record of 11-3. But, the Outlaws would be triumphed in Sioux Falls in the Conference Semi-Finals. After a great year, the Billings Outlaws became the Billings Mavericks. This fell into place when the Osceola Outlaws joined the NIFL. The two teams disputed over who should be named the Outlaws. The league commisoner decided to strip both teams of the name and make each team pick a new one for the 2005 season. The Mavericks became the new team to cheer for, but they came to the end of their worst season in this franchises ten-year history. They fell to 5-9 on the season but managed to make the playoffs. They played the Everett Hawks in Washington. As the underdog, some players saw a miracle on the horizon. But, the happy ending was cut short. The Mavericks held strong in the end but lost by a disheartning three points and Everett moved on to the next round of the playoffs.

2006 season

The 2006 season was a success as the Outlaws were handed only one loss in Week 2 to Tri-Cities Fever but then redeemed themselves by beating Tri-Cities three times that same year including a win in the playoffs. After defeating Tri-Cities in the first round, the Outlaws took down their league rival the Rapid City Flying Aces in a high intensity game that came down to the end. The Outlaws then hosted the NIFL Indoor Bowl VI on July 28, 2006 in front of a sold out MetraPark and beat the Fayetteville Guard 59-44 in an offensive showcase.

2007 season

After the 2006 season, the Outlaws announced they were joining United Indoor Football for the 2007 season. The first season for the Outlaws in the UIF started out terrible as they fell to 0-4. Soon after, they became a team to fear as the Outlaws finished off the final ten games going 8-2. Even with all the confidence and momentum they couldn't hold up against the Sioux Falls Storm in the second round of the playoffs.

2008 season

The 2008 season was a more exciting and successful year but yet again the Outlaws would lose to Sioux Falls in the Western Conference Finals but this game was more heart pounding as the Billings Outlaws held a lead of 44-43 but with less tham 5 seconds left in the game Sioux Falls kicker Adam Hicks booted a 45 yard field goal through the uprights as the clock expired to claim a 46-44 win. The Outlaws were very frustrated after the game and had reasons.The Outlaws kicker went 1 of 4 on field goals in the Billings loss. Billings had lost two games earlier that season because of their horrid kicking game. After the end of the 2008 season they became members of the Indoor Football League through the UIF's merger with the Intense Football League.

2009 season

During the 2009 season the Outlaws had played tough and received two losses which came at the Omaha Civic Auditorium against the Omaha Beef. The second loss was very controversial as the Outlaws came on the field to tie the game up with one second remaining, but an Outlaws player was injured, requiring ten seconds to be run off the clock resulting in a 48-45 victory for the Beef. The Outlaws had won seven in a row until that loss but on the streak it included three wins against the four time defending UIF champion Sioux Falls Storm with scores of 42-41, 70-35, and 34-22. The last of these games was in Sioux Falls and snapped the Storm's 35 home-game win streak. The Outlaws then were considered the best team in the league and proved it against the RiverCity Rage by defeating them in the United Bowl 71-62 in front of a near capacity crowd of 8,351.

2010 season

Kicking off the season at home, the Outlaws had a brutal win over Kent, one of the new league franchises. Not long after the win, the Outlaws suffered a loss on a no-call on pass interference, this left Sioux Falls victorious and the Outlaws dumfounded with 1 in the loss column, and the second and last loss was controversial because the Outlaws were called for three penalties in the final minute of the game to which Fairbanks countered with a last second score to win 55-54. The Outlaws rebounded after the loss with a scoring onslaught to defeat the Tri-Cities Fever twice, the Kent Predators once, the San Angelo Stampede Express once, the Arkansas Diamonds once, and the Sioux Falls Storm twice. The Outlaws again won the United Bowl, this time over long-time rival Sioux Falls by a score of 43-34 on July 17, 2010 in front of a packed house in the Sportsplex.[1] The original home of the Outlaws, the Metrapark was heavily damaged by an F2 tornado following their last game of the regular season.

Team ceases operations

On October 7, 2010 the Outlaws announced they would cease operations due to not having enough money for the 2011 season, this was in large part due to a disagreement with county commissioners over funding non-insured losses suffered during the 2010 tornado that severely damaged the Rimrock Auto Arena.[2] Indoor football would return to Billings five years later when the IFL awarded Billings an expansion franchise, the Billings Wolves. The Wolves were coached in their first year by former Outlaws quarterback Chris Dixon who had gone on to win three more IFL titles with the Sioux Falls Storm following his consecutive titles in 2009 and 2010 with the Outlaws.

Training facility

A training facility costing around $3 million was built for the Outlaws and opened in March 2007. A facility of this nature is unprecedented in any indoor or arena league other than the Arena Football League. Photos of this facility can be found here. The facility is called the Outlaws Community SportsPlex. This facility has been used for many events and purposes such as practice, fundraisers, birthday parties, Montana State University Billings' Inter-Tribal Indian Club's Powwow, try-outs, and much more.

Schedules

2009 schedule

Seconds before the Outlaws 2009 United Bowl victory
Opponent Result
Regular Season 14 games
Sioux City Bandits Won 82-12
@ Colorado Ice Won 46-41
Omaha Beef Won 52-40
Fairbanks Grizzlies Won 74-3
@ Omaha Beef Lost 48-33
Sioux Falls Storm Won 42-41
@ Fairbanks Grizzlies Won 72-35
Alaska Wild Won 68-32
@ Fairbanks Grizzlies Won 59-55
@ Alaska Wild Won 73-18
Sioux Falls Storm Won 70-35
@ Sioux Falls Storm Won 34-22
Colorado Ice Won 83-30
@ Omaha Beef Lost 48-45
Playoffs 3 games
Fairbanks Grizzlies Won 50-7
El Paso Generals Won 66-35
River City Rage Won 71-62
Streak Wins
Win Streak 7
Home Win Streak 23
Away Win Streak 1

Coaching staff

Head Coach- Heron O'Neal

Offensive Line- Artavious Williams

Statistics

Passing leaders

YearPlayerAttCompComp PctTDINTQB RTGGP
2010Chris Dixon30821470%63712013
2009Chris Dixon29220972%69712714
2008Chris Dixon38526469%631011914
2007Chris Dixon28618464%52811212

Receiving leaders

YearPlayerNo.YdsAvgTDLongAvg/GGP
2010James Walton6073012.2224356.213
2009James Walton6791113.6344965.114
2008Robert Reed7078111.2193760.113
2007Anthony Candler5256710.9144643.612

Rushing leaders

YearPlayerAttGainAvgTDLongAvg/GGP
2010Chris Dixon1045435.2123041.713
2009Timothy Brown734836.474138.711
2008Chris Dixon864214.473027.314
2007Eddie Linscomb994994.893847.710

Interception leaders

YearPlayerNo.YdsAvg/GTDLong
2010Travonti Johnson496242---
2009Michael Eby10878.7022
2008Travonti Johnson1212710.6339
2007Corey Roberson5336.6012

Sack leaders

YearPlayerSacksYdsAvg/GGP
2010Mike Bazemore9.5----.8012
2009Michael Landry12821.211
2008Mike Bazemore6.540.4614
2007Eugene Phillips1063.7114

Rivals

Opponent Wins Losses Last 5
Alaska Wild 4 0 4-0
Colorado Ice 8 2 5-0
Fairbanks Grizzlies 4 1 4-1
Kent Predators 3 0 3-0
Omaha Beef 8 3 3-2
Sioux Falls Storm 8 11 4-1

Championship scores

Year Winner Loser Score
2002 Ohio Valley Billings Outlaws 55-52
2006 Billings Outlaws Fayetteville Guard 59-44
2009 Billings Outlaws River City Rage 71-62
2010 Billings Outlaws Sioux Falls Storm 43-34

Season-by-season

Season W L T Finish Playoff results
Billings Thunderbolts (Indoor Football League)

2000 8 6 0 4th WC Northern --
Billings Outlaws (National Indoor Football League)
2001 7 7 0 4th League Central --
2002 12 5 0 2nd Pacific West Won Round 1 (Lincoln Capitols)
Won Conference Championship (Bismarck Roughriders)
Lost Indoor Bowl II (Ohio Valley Greyhounds)
2003 6 8 0 5th Pacific West --
2004 12 4 0 1st Pacific West Won Pacific Semi-Final (Omaha Beef)
Lost Pacific Conference Championship (Sioux Falls Storm)
Billings Mavericks (National Indoor Football League)
2005 5 10 0 3rd Pacific West Lost Pacific Quarterfinal (Everett Hawks)
Billings Outlaws (National Indoor Football League)
2006 16 1 0 1st Pacific North Won Pacific Semi-Final (Tri-Cities Fever)
Won Pacific Conference Championship (Rapid City Flying Aces)
Won Indoor Bowl VI (Fayetteville Guard)
Billings Outlaws (United Indoor Football)
2007 9 7 0 2nd West Won Round 1 (Omaha Beef)
Lost Western Championship (Sioux Falls Storm)
2008 11 5 0 2nd West Won Round 1 (Omaha Beef)
Lost Western Championship (Sioux Falls Storm)
Billings Outlaws (Indoor Football League)
2009 15 2 0 1st Intense Pacific Won Pacific Divisional Championship (Fairbanks Grizzlies)
Won Instense Conference Championship (El Paso Generals)
Won 2009 United Bowl (RiverCity Rage)
2010 16 2 0 1st Pacific North Won Round 1 (Tri-Cities Fever)
Won Conference Semi-Final (San Angelo Stampede)
Won Intense Conference Championship (Arkansas Diamonds)
Won 2010 United Bowl (Sioux Falls Storm)
Total 104 41 0 (Regular season and playoffs) Billings Outlaws
Total 117 57 0 (Regular season and playoffs) Billings Outlaws/Thunderbolts/Mavericks

References

  1. "Billings Repeats as IFL Champions". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. July 18, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  2. "Outlaws to Suspend Operations". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. October 7, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2015.

External links

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