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Commissioner : Ron Baines
In 1998 the teams of the PFL North
returned to form the Northwest Football League after a 3-season
hiatus when the Southern Division of the PFL disbanded. Only 3 teams remained by 2003 from the 1998 lineup, Pierce
County, Oregon Thunderbolts, and the Snohomish County Vikings.
The
Emerald City Jets and Douglas County Timberwolves did not make the return
for the '98 season. That year marked the official split of the
Cowlitz County Cavaliers and the Vancouver Posse, who had combined in 1997
as the Vancouver Cav-Posse. The Puget Sound Jets and Eastside Hawks
would claim American Football Association National Championships in 2002
and 2004 respectively while the league as a whole would gain many pieces
of invitational tournament titles hosted by the NFA, Western Alliance,
NAFL, and MLFN to name a few.
The league began to lose steam in 2007
with some in-fighting among team ownership groups as well as outside
pressure from new leagues in the area drawing teams away.
The 2008
league structure had 8 teams but by 2009 the Pierce County Bengals stood
alone when the Washington Cavaliers declared themselves independent and
longtime NWFL holdouts Snohomish County Vikings and Oregon Thunderbolts left
for the new PDFL.
The 2008 Champion Titans were one season wonders
folding after the season, while the Renton Ravens and Seattle Stallions left
for the CFL earlier in the year and the Portland (Willamette) Raiders left
for the NAFL early in '09 leading to the collapse of the league and no '09
season.
Three teams came back together under the banner of
the NWFL in 2010 (Cavaliers, Bengals and Vikings) and agreed to play
each other along with a number of other area teams from various leagues.
The once proud Bengals were annihilated by the Tacoma Cobras 83-7 and
the Cavaliers reached the dubious mark of 100 losses faster than any team
in Northwest history. The Vikings maintained their course as the class of
minor league football with the Fishers unwavering under the pressures
around them. The Vikings would prevail over the Bengals for the
2010 NWFL Crown.
The Vikings joined the PFL for 2011 and
the Bengals and Cavaliers were left to fend for themselves as
independents once again. |
