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COWLITZ COUNTY CAVALIERS
(1993 - 1996)
Kelso, Washington
Kelso Schroeder Field, Toutle Lake, Ilwaco HS, Huntington
Jr. High, Castle Rock Rocket Stadium
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John Phillips - NWFL Historical
Documentation
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Dating back to 1991, the Northwest Football League identified
Kelso/Longview, Washington as a potential expeansion area creating a
"mid-point" between the Northern I-5 Washington teams, and the
primarily Portland, Oregon area teams, and began holding league-wide
jamboree exhibitions starting July 11, 1992 between the
Blue Knights,
Jets,
Bengals, Blast and
Thunderbolts. Rick King
championed the movement as the primary organizer. Initially,
according to the July 13th write-up about the jamboree, the proposed
team would be the "Cowlitz County Volcanoes" and announced
goal of raising $50,000 in start-up revenue for the team.
The Cavaliers would debut as an independent team in 1993 finishing
2-5 and gaining support from the Northwest Football League as a new
team under Bill Booth. The Cowlitz Cavaliers would enjoy a
three-year run with it's most famous alum being
Hall of Famer Lance Westendorf at
QB from 1994-1996. The young quarterback, cutting his semi-pro
teeth with Cowlitz, would go on to set numerous
records as a Pierce County Bengal and
Puget Sound Jet through the late 1990's and early 2000's.
Struggling through 1994 and 1995 as a combined 3-19 team, the team
got a bump in 1996 to 5-9. Dave McDaniel set a team record
against Puget Sound on Aug 12, 1995 with a 95-yard kickoff return.
The Northwest Football League aligned with California's Pacific
Football League from 1995 through 1998 becoming the Northern
Division, with the California teams making up the Southern Division.
A scheduled game with the first-year San Diego Storm was cancelled
after the Storms' season-opener with the San Diego Jaguars that
featured a bench-clearing brawl at Eastlake High in Chula Vista, CA.
The independent Bellingham Eagles
accepted the replacement spot on short notice losing 26-13.
Following the 1996 season, the team was set to shut down which began
an NWFL drama that is historical lore now. The "Cavalier" name
became a tangled web as owner Booth stated he was retiring the
Cavaliers and stepping away from football and in it's place would be
the 1997 Vancouver Posse operated
by Larry Jobe. A change of heart, Booth opted back in, and
together they operated the "Posse" which was in essence the
Cavaliers supplemented by recruited Oregon Thunderbolts who had just
come off a frustrating 18-16 NWFL Championship loss to the Jets.
The Posse returned in 1998, and Booth brought back the Cavalier name
as the Washington Cavaliers
but could not join the Northwest Football League, instead operating
them as an independent. Following the season, things got
extremely convoluted. When the Posse finished a 5-7 season,
Booth took the remnants and formed the
Columbia Cougars, with the idea of rolling up the Cavaliers into
the new team. However, the NWFL had already accepted the
Cavaliers into the league for 1999 and stated Booth could not
operate both teams, so the Cougars had to play the 1999 season under
the Cavalier banner. The team would be dubbed the "Cougaliers"
during the season finishing 5-4.
The following season, an agreement was made allowing both the
Washington Cavaliers and the Columbia Cougars to operate in the
NWFL, as it was expected the Cavaliers would stay further to the
north around the Olympia, Centralia area, with one or two "home"
games in the Kelso region while the Cougars were to primarily stay
around Vancouver, Washington.
The Cowlitz County Cavalier franchise had in essence shared
existence with the Vancouver Posse and Columbia Cougars, before
finally settling on being the Washington Cavaliers with more of an
Olympia-area player pool rather than the previous Kelso-to-Vancouver
and Portland, pool. That team would still be owned by Booth,
who would later cede control over to player Chris Potts. Booth
was selected to the Minor League Footbal News Hall of Fame in 2006
and the American Football Association Hall of Fame in 2024 sponsored
by longtime Vikings owner Wes
Fischer whose team joined the NWFL in 1994 along with the Cavaliers.
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GNFA HALL OF FAME
QB Lance Westendorf as Puget Sound Jet (2000)
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1993
Indepedent
Record: 3-3
Owner/GM: Bill Booth
VP: Eric Christiansen
Coach Bryan Williams
Assts Sean Heuer, Dave McClay, Sean Simpson, Jay Opgrande
1994
Northwest Football League
Record: 1-10
Owner/GM: Bill Booth
VP: Eric Christiansen
Coach Bryan Williams
Assts Sean Heuer, Dave McClay, Sean Simpson, Jay Opgrande
1994 Awards
John Cook (RB) All-League
Shawn Simpson All-League
Ron Pettit All-League
Lyle Westendorf (TE) All-League
Erik Krager All-League
1995
Pacific Football League - Northern Division
Record: 2-9
Owner/GM: Bill Booth
VP: Eric Christiansen
Coach Bryan Williams
Assts Sean Heuer, Dave McClay, Sean Simpson, Jay Opgrande
1995 Awards
Dana Brooks (OL) All-League 1st Team
David Ayers (DL) All-League 1st Team
Naamon Archer (WR) All-League 1st Team
Jay Rivers (LB) All-League 1st Team
Ricky Anderson (OLB) All-League 1st Team
John Cook (RB) All-League 2nd Team
Lance Westendorf (QB) All-League 2nd Team
Jason Booth (NG) All-League 2nd Team
Tom Ketchum (WR) All-League 2nd Team
Ned Bittner (LB) All-League 2nd Team
Wes Schaffran (WR) All-League Hon Mention
Daniel Langford (ST) All-League Hon Mention
1996
Pacific Football League Northern Division
Record: 5-9
Owner/GM: Bill Booth
VP: Eric Christiansen
Coach Bryan Williams
Assts Sean Heuer, Dave McClay, Sean Simpson, Jay Opgrande
1996 Awards
Naamon Archer (WR) All-League 1st Team
Dennis Stitch (C) All-League 1st Team
Jason Booth (DT) All-League 1st Team
Jay Rivers (LB) All-League 1st Team
Judd Kinz (DT) All-League 1st Team
John Lyday (S) All-League 2nd Team
Josh Norman (CB) All-League 3rd Team
Dana Brooks OT) All-League 3rd Team
Darryl Warren (G) All-League 3rd Team
Josh Norman (CB) All-League 3rd Team
Lance Westerndorf (QB) All-League Hon Mention
John Cook (RB) All-League Hon Mention
DeShawn Fontelroy (FB) All-League Hon Mention
Drew Tostad (WR) All-League Hon Mention
Mike Bryant (DE) All-League Hon Mention
Tony Ziegler (PR) All-League Hon Mention
Aaron Abbott (LB) All-League Hon Mention
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Schedules and Results |
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| 1993 July 5 |
Everett Tramps |
Cancel |
| 1993 July 12 |
@ Portland Thunderbolts |
0-28 |
| 1993 Aug 28 |
@ University of British Columbia JV |
Cancel |
| 1993 Sep 18 |
Portland Thunderbolts |
PPD |
| 1993 Sep 25 |
Mountain View Flyers (CA) |
Cancel |
| 1993 Sep 25 |
Everett Tramps (Exhibition) |
46-0 |
| 1993 Oct 9 |
Puget Sound Sharks |
30-0 |
| 1993 Oct 16 |
@ Walla Walla Community College |
6-64 |
| 1993 Oct 23 |
Portland Thunderbolts |
Cancel |
| 1993 Nov 27 |
Sno-King Blue Knights |
8-0 |
| 1993 Dec 4 |
@ Everett Tramps |
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| 1993 Dec 11 |
South King County Lions |
12-0 |
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| 1994 July 3 |
Portland Thunderbolts (Exhibition) |
14-14 |
| 1994 July 16 |
@ Pierce County Bengals |
7-22 |
| 1994 July 30 |
@ Puget Sound Jets (Harvest Bowl) |
13-27 |
| 1994 Aug 6 |
Portland Thunderbolts |
8-58 |
| 1994 Aug 13 |
@ Northwest Storm |
28-22 |
| 1994 Aug 20 |
South King County Lions |
0-19 |
| 1994 Aug 27 |
Sky Valley Vikings |
6-18 |
| 1994 Sep 3 |
Pierce County Bengals |
14-25 |
| 1994 Sep 17 |
Puget Sound Jets |
7-56 |
| 1994 Sep 24 |
Portland Thunderbolts |
2-28 |
| 1994 Oct 1 |
Northwest Storm |
W FFT |
| 1994 Oct 8 |
@ South King County Lions |
7-27 |
| 1994 Oct 15 |
Sky Valley Vikings |
7-14 |
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| 1995 Mar 26 |
South King County Lions |
Cancel |
| 1995 July 1 |
Sky Valley Vikings |
Cancel |
| 1995 July 1 |
Oregon Thunderbolts |
0-7 |
| 1995 July 8 |
@ Puget Sound Jets |
0-34 |
| 1995 July 15 |
Pierce County Bengals |
2-16 |
| 1995 July 22 |
Sky Valley Vikings |
8-15 |
| 1995 July 29 |
Oregon Thunderbolts |
14-33 |
| 1995 Aug 5 |
King County Jaguars |
40-8 |
| 1995 Aug 12 |
Puget Sound Jets |
18-19 |
| 1995 Aug 19 |
Pierce County Bengals |
12-29 |
| 1995 Aug 26 |
Sky Valley Vikings |
42-18 |
| 1995 Sep 9 |
Oregon Thunderbolts |
13-20 |
| 1995 Sep 16 |
King County Jaguars |
W FFT |
| 1995 Sep 23 |
@ Oregon Thunderbolts (Playoff) |
3-17 |
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| 1996 June 29 |
@ Bellingham Eagles |
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| 1996 July 4 |
Seattle Blue Devils |
Cancel |
| 1996 July 13 |
Sky Valley Vikings |
12-14 |
| 1996 July 20 |
Puget Sound Jets |
15-0 |
| 1996 July 27 |
@ Federal Way 49ers |
14-17 |
| 1996 Aug 3 |
Portland Thunderbolts |
0-29 |
| 1996 Aug 10 |
@ Renton Chiefs |
28-35 |
| 1996 Aug 17 |
San Diego Storm |
Cancel |
| 1996 Aug 17 |
Bellingham Golden Eagles |
26-13 |
| 1996 Aug 24 |
Pierce County Bengals |
7-14 |
| 1996 Aug 31 |
@ Sky Valley Vikings |
16-12 |
| 1996 Sep 7 |
@ Puget Sound Jets |
0-41 |
| 1996 Sep 14 |
Federal Way 49ers |
7-27 |
| 1996 Sep 21 |
@ Portland Thunderbolts |
13-27 |
| 1996 Sep 28 |
Renton Chiefs |
24-12 |
| 1996 Oct 12 |
@ Pierce County Bengals |
6-30 |
| 1996 Nov 23 |
@ Southern Oregon Timberwolves |
18-0 |
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Washington Cavaliers |
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1998 - 2016 |
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