Raptors de Naucalpan

Raptors de Naucalpan

Established	2015; 9 years ago (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)

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.

Despite never winning an LFA title, the Raptors have the most playoff appearances with six.

History

The 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)

In 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)

In 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

Dinos de Saltillo

The 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

Estadio José Ortega Martínez, hosted the Raptors during the 2018 and 2020 seasons.

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

Raptors de Naucalpan roster

Quarterbacks 13 Bruno Márquez 12 Julio Vázquez Running backs 33 Edgar Arroyo  3 Dan Ávila 26 Brian Correa  4 Luis Humberto López Wide receivers 86 Enrique Barraza 19 Manuel Barrios 16 Iván García  6 Humberto Noriega 11 Gustavo Pecechea 81 Jorge Retana 10 Alexis Rodríguez  2 Andrés Salgado 14 Alberto Villegas  1 Diego Yáñez		Offensive linemen 65 Terrence Ames Jr. 57 Iván Castro 59 Marco Antonio Cortés 74 Julio García 52 Enrique González 71 Ernesto Landa 51 Diego Morales 58 Julio Nava 54 Josué Torres 72 Saúl Zanatta Defensive linemen 15 Anthony Baldovinos 91 David Casarrubias  8 Salvador Casillas 99 Isaac Gil 95 Alejandro Miranda 97 Antonio Ramírez 69 Diego Ruiz 90 Julio Villarreal		Linebackers 29 Sebastián Baig 40 Jovanni Carrillo 25 Jordan Cry 22 Daniel González 36 Cristian Treviño 44 Desmond Veals 50 Edgar White Defensive backs  0 Fernando Espinoza 24 César Mandujano FS 18 Raúl Mateos 21 Jean Retaud 37 Manuel Hernández S 30 David Rico CB 32 DeJohn Rodgers  7 Saúl Valencia CB Special teams  9 Alfredo Gachuz K/P
Italics indicate International player Roster updated 19-04-2023

Staff

Raptors de Naucalpan staff

	Head coach Head coach – Guillermo Gutiérrez Offensive coaches Running backs – Iván Escobar Wide receivers – Mario Martínez Offensive line – Julio Nava			Defensive coaches Defensive line – Enrique Soto Defensive backs – Iván Zárate Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Mauricio Silva

Season-by-season

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

• North Division
  • Champions (2): (2018, 2019)

References

1. "Presentaron la Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional en México". ADN Deportivo (in Spanish). January 12, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
2. "Mayas, campeón del Tazón México". Milenio (in Spanish). April 10, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
3. "Dinos consigue el pase a la final y mucho más" (in Spanish). LFA. April 23, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
4. "Raptors, primer finalista de la LFA al derrotan a Dinos". Máximo Avance (in Spanish). April 14, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
5. "Mexicas blanquea a Raptors y gana el Tazón México III". Milenio (in Spanish). April 22, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
6. "Los Raptors regresan a playoffs". LFA.mx (in Spanish). LFA. April 23, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
7. "Condors vence a Raptors y se lleva el Tazón México IV". Milenio (in Spanish). May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
8. "Coronavirus obliga a cancelar temporada 2020 de la LFA". ESPN.com.mx (in Spanish). April 30, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
9. Pacheco, Gabriel (April 8, 2021). "Nos vemos en el 2022; LFA cancela de nuevo su temporada". Máximo Avance (in Spanish). Retrieved March 3, 2023.
10. "Semifinal: Fundidores vs Raptors". LFA.mx (in Spanish). May 8, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
11. "El duelo jurásico, una batalla de millones de años". LFA.mx (in Spanish). February 20, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
12. "Estadio "Palillo" Martínez, el adiós al inmueble que vio nacer a la LFA" (in Spanish). Máximo Avance. February 17, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
13. "Datos que no conocías del JOM, la nueva casa de los Raptors LFA" (in Spanish). Máximo Avance. February 8, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
14. "El futbol americano en México se alista con la LFA". Milenio (in Spanish). February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
15. "Del Palillo Martínez al estadio Borregos: 21 diferentes inmuebles ha tenido la LFA". Máximo Avance (in Spanish). January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.