Raptors de Naucalpan (English: Naucalpan Raptors) are an American football team based in Naucalpan, Mexico. The Raptors compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the top American football league in Mexico. The team plays its home games at the Estadio José Ortega Martínez.
 | |
| Established | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Based in | Naucalpan, Mexico |
| Home field | Estadio FES Acatlán |
| Head coach | Horacio García |
| Owner(s) | Armando Zúñiga |
| League | Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional |
| Colours | Green, gold and white |
| Nickname(s) | La Furia Verde (The Green Fury) |
| Mascot(s) | Rolo |
| Division Championships | 3 (2018, 2019, 2020) |
Despite never winning an LFA title, the Raptors have the most playoff appearances with six.
History
editThe team was founded on 4 November 2015 and is one of the four charter members of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional.[1]
Rafael Duk era (2016–2017)
editIn their first season, the Raptors finished second in the league with a 4–2 regular season record, qualifying for the Tazón México I. The team, though, lost the league's championship 13–29 to the Mayas.[2]
The Raptors led the North Division on the 2017 season, qualifying for playoffs with a 5–2 regular season record, led by League MVP, QB Bruno Márquez. In the divisional game, the team lost to the newcomers Dinos, despite their opponent having a losing record.[3]
Guillermo Gutiérrez era (2018–present)
editIn 2018, Guillermo Gutiérrez replaced Rafael Duk as head coach. Also, the team switched from the Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo" to the Estadio José Ortega Martínez, in Naucalpan, State of Mexico. The Raptors qualified to the playoffs as second in the North Division with a 3–4 record. In a rematch of the 2017 game, Raptors defeated 21–6 Dinos in the divisional game, earning a spot in the Tazón México III.[4] The team lost its second Tazón Mexico game, 0–17 to the Mexicas.[5]
In 2019, the team dominated the North Division, finishing with a 6–2 (5–1 in the division) regular season record.[6] After defeating the Fundidores in over time at the divisional game, Raptors qualified for their third Tazón México, and the second in a row. Raptors lost the championship against the Condors 16–20. This was the third Tazón Mexico loss for the team and the second in a row.[7]
The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Raptors had a 4–1 record at the moment of the suspension of the season.[8] The 2021 season was also cancelled.[9]
In 2022 the Raptors finished the regular season as the fourth ranked team with a 4–2 record, qualifying to the playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Fundidores on the semifinal 27–30 with a touchdown pass from Shelton Eppler to Tavarious Battiste on the last play of the game.[10]
Rivals
editDinos de Saltillo
editThe Dinos de Saltillo and the Raptors play each season the so-called Jurassic Duel (Spanish: Duelo Jurásico). Due to these teams being two of the strongest in the league in recent years, this rivalry is considered amongst LFA's most important rivalries.[11]
| Dinos de Saltillo vs. Raptors de Naucalpan season-by-season results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Results | Location | Overall series |
| 2017 | Raptors 34–27 |
Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo" | Raptors 1–0 |
| Raptors 19–6 |
Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo | Raptors 2–0 | |
| Dinos 13–10 |
Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo" | Raptors 2–1 | |
| 2018 | Dinos 29–27 |
Estadio José Ortega Martínez | Tie 2–2 |
| Dinos 23–20 |
Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo | Dinos 3–2 | |
| Raptors 21–6 |
Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo | Tie 3–3 | |
| 2019 | Raptors 21–7 |
Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo | Raptors 4–3 |
| Raptors 19–7 |
Estadio FES Acatlán | Raptors 5–3 | |
| 2020 | Dinos 30–29 |
Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo | Raptors 5–4 |
| 2022 | Raptors 28–27 |
Estadio FES Acatlán | Raptors 6–4 |
| 2023 | Dinos 24–14 |
Estadio Francisco I. Madero | Raptors 6–5 |
Stadiums
edit
| Raptors de Naucalpan stadiums | |
| Stadium | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo" | 2016–2017 |
| Estadio José Ortega Martínez | 2018 |
| Estadio FES Acatlán | 2019 |
| Estadio José Ortega Martínez | 2020–2021 |
| Estadio FES Acatlán | 2022 |
| Estadio José Ortega Martínez | 2023–present |
In 2016, for the inaugural season of the LFA, all of the four founding teams (Condors, Eagles, Mayas and Raptors) played all their matches at the Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo", in the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City.[12]
For the 2018 season, Raptors moved from "Palillo" Martínez stadium to the Estadio José Ortega Martínez in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, the stadium has a capacity of 3,700 spectators and it is located inside the Universidad del Valle de México Lomas Verdes campus and it is regularly used by the university's college football team, the Linces.[13]
In 2019, the team moved from the Estadio José Ortega Martínez to the field of the National Autonomous University of Mexico Acatlán campus, also located in Naucalpan and used by FES Acatlán's college football team: Pumas Acatlán. The cause of the movement has not been disclosed nor by the team or the league.[14]
Raptors returned to the Estadio José Ortega Martínez for the 2020 season.[15]
Despite the fact that the team is branded as being from Naucalpan, Raptors played their home matches for the two first seasons in Mexico City and they only moved to Naucalpan for the 2018 season.
Roster
editQuarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Italics indicate International player | |||||||||
Staff
editHead coach
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Season-by-season
edit| Season | Head coach | Regular season | Postseason | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| 2016 | Rafael Duk | 4 | 2 | .666 | 2nd (League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost Tazón México I vs (Mayas) 13–29 |
| 2017 | Rafael Duk | 5 | 2 | .714 | 1st (North) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost North Division Championship (Dinos) 10–13 |
| 2018 | Guillermo Gutiérrez | 3 | 4 | .429 | 2nd (North) | 1 | 1 | .500 | Won North Division Championship at (Dinos) 21–6 Lost Tazón México III (vs Mexicas) 0–17 |
| 2019 | Guillermo Gutiérrez | 5 | 2 | .714 | 1st (North) | 1 | 1 | .500 | Won North Division Championship (Fundidores) 53–47 (OT) Lost Tazón México IV (vs Condors) 16–20 |
| 2020 | Guillermo Gutiérrez | 4 | 1 | .800 | 1st (North) | Postseason cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2021 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||
| 2022 | Guillermo Gutiérrez | 4 | 2 | .600 | 4th (League) | 1 | 1 | .500 | Won Wild Card round (Reyes) 26-6 Lost Semifinal at (Fundidores) 27–30 |
| 2023 | Guillermo Gutiérrez | 4 | 6 | .400 | 7th (League) | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 29 | 19 | .604 | 3 | 5 | .375 | |||
Awards
edit- North Division
- Champions (2): (2018, 2019)
References
edit- ^ "Presentaron la Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional en México". ADN Deportivo (in Spanish). January 12, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ "Mayas, campeón del Tazón México". Milenio (in Spanish). April 10, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ "Dinos consigue el pase a la final y mucho más" (in Spanish). LFA. April 23, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ "Raptors, primer finalista de la LFA al derrotan a Dinos". Máximo Avance (in Spanish). April 14, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ "Mexicas blanquea a Raptors y gana el Tazón México III". Milenio (in Spanish). April 22, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ "Los Raptors regresan a playoffs". LFA.mx (in Spanish). LFA. April 23, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
- ^ "Condors vence a Raptors y se lleva el Tazón México IV". Milenio (in Spanish). May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
- ^ "Coronavirus obliga a cancelar temporada 2020 de la LFA". ESPN.com.mx (in Spanish). April 30, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
- ^ Pacheco, Gabriel (April 8, 2021). "Nos vemos en el 2022; LFA cancela de nuevo su temporada". Máximo Avance (in Spanish). Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ "Semifinal: Fundidores vs Raptors". LFA.mx (in Spanish). May 8, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ "El duelo jurásico, una batalla de millones de años". LFA.mx (in Spanish). February 20, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "Estadio "Palillo" Martínez, el adiós al inmueble que vio nacer a la LFA" (in Spanish). Máximo Avance. February 17, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ "Datos que no conocías del JOM, la nueva casa de los Raptors LFA" (in Spanish). Máximo Avance. February 8, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ "El futbol americano en México se alista con la LFA". Milenio (in Spanish). February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ^ "Del Palillo Martínez al estadio Borregos: 21 diferentes inmuebles ha tenido la LFA". Máximo Avance (in Spanish). January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.