The

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Erie Explosion The Erie Explosion was a professional American indoor football team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2007 as the Pittsburgh RiverRats, the Explosion played in the Professional Indoor Football League, the United Indoor Football League, the ...

season was the sixth season for the

indoor American football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ar ...

franchise, and their first as a member of the Northern Conference of the

United Indoor Football League The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...

(UIFL). On August 25, 2011, the Explosion left the

Southern Indoor Football League The Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) was an indoor football league based in the Southern and Eastern United States. The most recent incarnation of the league was a consolidation of an earlier league of the same name that was formed by Thom ...

(SIFL) and joined the

. The change reunited Erie with Andrew Haines, who founded the city's previous indoor football team, the

Erie Freeze The Erie Freeze was an American indoor football team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They were an original member of the American Indoor Football League in 2005, and advanced to the first AIFL Championship Game. When the league was reorganized in ...

. (The Explosion's departure came two weeks before the SIFL broke up into the

Lone Star Football League The Lone Star Football League (LSFL) was a regional professional indoor football minor league that played three seasons from 2012 to 2014. All of the LSFL's charter teams were based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Southern ...

and the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foot ...

, neither of which included Pennsylvania in their territories.) Erie was tasked with replacing MVP quarterback DiMichele, who had signed with the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

. The job fell on the shoulders of rookie Colton Hansen. In the second game of the season, Hansen struggled in a loss to the

Johnstown Generals The Johnstown Generals was a professional indoor football team that was based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Generals began play in 2011 as an expansion team as part of the original Ultimate Indoor Football League six. The fourth indoor football ...

, and he was replaced by A. J. McKenna. McKenna lead the Explosion to 8–3 regular season record, just losing the top seed in the UIFL North during the last game of the season. While still securing a home playoff game, the Tullio Arena had begun a 45 million dollar renovation, that forced the Explosion to find a new place to host the game. The Explosion announced that they would play at

Erie Cathedral Prep Cathedral Preparatory School (often referred to simply as Prep) is a private, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory high school for boys in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1921 by Archbishop John Mark Gannon and is l ...

's Dollinger Field. The Explosion trailed going into the fourth quarter against the Marion Blue Racers, but McKenna ignited the Erie offense to 22 points in the final stanza to advance to the UIFL North Conference final. The Explosion faced the Cincinnati Commandos, who had only lost 2 games all season, one of which was to Erie. With the Commando quarterback Tyler Sheehan out with an injury, the Commandos used Kynes Mincy at quarterback, who provided a duel-threat option. Mincy lead the Commandos to 8 scores, defeating the Explosion 62-40 to advance to the

Ultimate Bowl The Ultimate Bowl was the annual championship game of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL). In 2011, it was the meeting of the two semifinal game winners. In 2012, it was the meeting of the winners of the North and South Divisions. Past Ulti ...

Schedule

Regular season

Postseason

Standings

Roster

Coaching staff

References