2018 LFA season explained

2018 LFA season
Duration:	16 February 2018 – 8 April 2018
Conf1:	North Champions
Conf1 Champ:	Raptors
Conf2:	Central Champions
Conf2 Champ:	Mexicas
Finals:	Tazón México III
Finals Date:	22 April 2018
Finals Venue:	Estadio Azul, Mexico City
Finals Champ:	Mexicas
Prevseason Year:	2017
Nextseason Year:	2019

The 2018 LFA season was the third season of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional. The season saw all previous teams return with no additional new ones. The Eagles changed their team name to the Mexicas. This would be the first season that saw the championship, the Tazón México held at a neutral site of the Estadio Azul^[1] in Mexico City. The league season began on February 16 and concluded on the April 8. The playoffs began on the April 14 and concluded on April 22 with the Mexicas beating the Raptors in Taźon México III.^[2]

Participating teams

Team	Head coach	City	Stadium	Capacity
Central Division
Condors	Félix Buendía	Mexico City	Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	6,000
Mayas	Ernesto Alfaro	Mexico City	Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	6,000
Mexicas	Rafael Duk	Mexico City	Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	6,000
North Division
Dinos	Carlos Cabral	Saltillo, Coahuila	Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo	5,900
Fundidores	Israel González	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Estadio Nuevo León Unido	1,500
Raptors	Guillermo Gutiérrez	Naucalpan, Estado de México	José Ortega Martínez	3,700

Preseason Events

Relevant Events

On October 28, 2017, Mr. Juan Carlos Vázquez left the presidency of the LFA; the figure of President was eliminated and the figure of the Commissioner was created, which Guillermo Ruiz Burguete occupied.^[3]

On January 16, LFA commissioner Guillermo Ruiz Burguete resigned;^[4] the league did not announce his replacement. For operational purposes, the activities of the commissioner were absorbed by the president of the league's board of directors, Óscar Pérez.

On March 3, the players of the Mexicas team went on strike due to the lack of medical insurance and other supplies necessary for the professional practice of the sport, so their game for week 3 against Dinos was suspended.^[5] ^[6]

On March 8, the Mexicas team was fined $657,820.00 MXN(US35,200) for damages caused to the League, its TV partners, its press partners, the Dinos team, and fans attending the stadium for not having presented to play. It was also determined that said party would not be rescheduled and therefore Mexicas would lose it by forfeit.^[7]

The salary cap was 1,100,000MXN(US59,000)

Coaching changes

The 2018 season saw all but Mayas replace their head coach

Condors

Enrique Zapata was replaced as head coach by Felix Buendía after a 3–4 season

Mexicas

José Campuzano was replaced as head coach by Rafael Duk, who coached the Raptors the previous two seasons, after a 4–3 season.

Raptors

Rafael Duk was replaced as head coach by Guillermo Gutierrez after a 5–2 season.

Dinos

Guillermo Ruiz was replaced as head coach by Carlos Cabral after a 2–5 season.

Fundidores

Leopoldo Treviño was replaced as head coach by Israel Gonzalez after a 2–5 season.

Draft

On January 13, the 2018 Draft was held in which 47 players were selected who finished their eligibility in Mexican university football^[8]

Draft 2018
Rd	Sel.	LFA Team	Player	Pos.	University	Conf.
1	1		Luis Humberto Lopez Tinoco	RB		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	2		Mauricio Jacob Vargas Hernandez	OL	Potros Salvajes UAEM	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	3	Condors vía Raptors*	Andrés Salgado Gomez	WR		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	4		Gildardo Torres Charco	OT		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	5		Ivan Sergio Barragán Leal	OL	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	6		Jose Michell Lopez Valdez	OL	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
2	7		Abraham Herrera	OL		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	8		Leonardo Cabrera Mujica	DL		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	9		Emigdio Palacios Alcala	DL	Burros Blancos IPN	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	10		Sebastian Baig Necoechea	DB	Linces UVM	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	11		Raymundo Vega Ruíz	OL	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	12		Joaquin Davila Martinez	OL	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
3	13		Miguel Angel Urzúa Solís	LB		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	14		José Luis Santana	LB		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	15		Deion Sixto Correa Viazcán	DB	Linces UVM	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	16		Mario Alberto Salas	WR	Borregos Toluca ITESM	Liga Premier CONADEIP
	17		Christian Alejandro Hernández Delgado	LB	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	18		Adrián Alejandro Martínez Armendáriz	WR	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
4	19		Aarón Mendoza Gomez	WR	Borregos México ITESM	Liga Premier CONADEIP
	20		Carlos Santos Rodriguez	LB		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	21	Condors vía Raptors*	Ramses Israel Herrera Vega	DB	Centinelas CGP	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	22		Christian Rene Gomez Sanchez	WR	Burros Blancos IPN	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	23		Edgardo Garza Lerma	OL	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	24		Cesar Daniel Guzman	LB	Lobos UAdeC	Liga Mayor ONEFA
5	25		Erick Antonio Alarcon Merino	OL		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	26		Ditter Emmanuel Smith Espinoza	WR	Burros Blancos IPN	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	27		Ramon Arturo Lopez Zepeda	LB	Potros Salvajes UAEM	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	28		Isaac Abraham Medina Cabrajal	DL	Burros Blancos IPN	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	29		Jesus Santana Gonzales	WR	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	30		Mario Alberto Rubio Gonzales	WR	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
6	31		Alejandro Mujica Soriano	WR		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	32		Abraham Assennatto Bravo	OL	Burros Blancos IPN	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	33		Carlos Garcia Contreras	DL	Potros Salvajes UAEM	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	34		Omar Mendoza Gomez	WR		Liga Mayor ONEFA
	35		Aaron Isaac Mendoza Ruiz	WR	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	36		Genaro Jose Alfonsín Romero	S	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
7	37		Oscar Jesus Capuchino	OL	Frailes UT	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	38		Fernando Alvarez Duran	WR	Linces UVM	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	39	Condors vía Raptors*	Jorge Luis Ortiz Carriño	WR	Pumas Acatlan UNAM	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	40		Declined pick
	41		Francisco Javier Garcia Ramirez	CB	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	42		Francisco De Jesus Mata Charles	QB	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
8	43		Max Ismael Villareal Maldonado	QB	Autenticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	44		Edgar Daniel Razo Cervantes	CB	Auténticos Tigres UANL	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	45		Daniel Orios	OL	Lobos UAdeC	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	46		Gabriel Tadeo De Hoyos Encinia	WR	Lobos UAdeC	Liga Mayor ONEFA
	47		Jesus Gerardo Rendon Torres	WR	Lobos UAdeC	Liga Mayor ONEFA

In exchange for QB Bruno Márquez (2nd year), Raptors gave Condors selections in the first, fourth and seventh round of the 2018 Draft.

Season

Standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, Diff=Difference between pts. for and against

Teams highlighted qualified for the playoffs

North Division
width=100	Team	width=30		width=30		width=30	width=35	width=35	width=35
Dinos	7	4	3	123	167	-44
	7	3	4	194	174	20
	7	2	5	172	189	-17

Central Division
width=100	Team	width=30		width=30		width=30	width=35	width=35	width=35
Mayas	7	5	2	167	166	1
	7	4	3	149	131	18
	7	3	4	212	220	-8

Results

Week 1
Away	Score	Home	Venue	Date	Kickoff (UTC-6)
Dinos	0-17	Fundidores	Estadio Nuevo León Unido	February 16	19:00
Mexicas	36-19	Condors	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	February 18	11:00
Raptors	32-0	Mayas	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	February 18	15:00

Week 2
Away	Score	Home	Venue	Date	Kickoff (UTC-6)
Mayas	28-25	Dinos	Olímpico Francisco I. Madero	February 24	15:00
Fundidores	15-44	Mexicas	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	February 25	11:00
Raptors	46-26	Condors	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	February 25	15:00

Week 3
Away	Score	Home	Venue	Date	Kickoff (UTC-6)
Raptors	15-45	Fundidores	Estadio Nuevo León Unido	March 2	20:00
Mexicas	0-1 *	Dinos	Olímpico Francisco I. Madero	March 3	16:00
Condors	24-33	Mayas	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	March 4	12:00

Week 4
Away	Score	Home	Venue	Date	Kickoff (UTC-6)
Mayas	25-14	Fundidores	Estadio Nuevo León Unido	March 9	20:00
Dinos	29-27	Raptors	José Ortega Martínez	March 10	17:00
Condors	23-22	Mexicas	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	March 11	12:00

Week 5
Away	Score	Home	Venue	Date	Kickoff (UTC-6)
Fundidores	20-30	Dinos	Olímpico Francisco I. Madero	March 17	16:00
Mexicas	30-20	Raptors	José Ortega Martínez	March 17	17:00
Mayas	28-24	Condors	José Ortega Martínez	March 18	12:00

Week 6
Away	Score	Home	Venue	Date	Kickoff (UTC-5)
Condors	41-40	Fundidores	Estadio Nuevo León Unido	March 23	20:00
Raptors	20-23	Dinos	Olímpico Francisco I. Madero	March 24	16:00
Mayas	34-35	Mexicas	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	March 25	12:00

Week 7
Away	Score	Home	Venue	Date	Kickoff (UTC-6)
Fundidores	21-34	Raptors	José Ortega Martínez	April 7	13:00
Dinos	15-55	Condors	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	April 8	11:00
Mexicas	12-19	Mayas	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	April 8	15:00

Based on the regulations, the Dinos won the match forfeit with a score of 1 to 0, since Mexicas did not show up for the match.

Statistical leaders

Category	Player	Position	Team	Statistic
Passing
Yards		QB		1,882
Touchdowns	Bruno Márquez	QB		17
Completions	Bruno Márquez	QB		162
Attempts	Bruno Márquez	QB		261
Completion percentage	Bruno Márquez	QB		62.07%
Rushing
Yards		RB		404
Touchdowns	Omar Cojolum	RB		9
Attempts	Omar Cojolum	RB		68
Yards per attempt	Gourdinose Terril	RB		8.3
Receiving
Yards		WR		586
Touchdowns	Andrés Salgado	WR		11
Receptions	Jose Manuel Barrios Ortega	WR		62
Yards per reception	Aaron Isaac Mendoza Ruiz	WR		23.91
Defensive
Sacks	Ricardo Yañez Balderas	DL		6
Tackles	Christian Alejandro Hernández Delgado	LB		21
Assisted tackles	Christian Alejandro Hernández Delgado	LB		19
Interceptions	Fernando Ramírez Paredes	DB		6
Returning
Punt returns	Mauricio Antonio Jordán Valdes	WR		15
Punt return yards	Joan Medinosa Tabitas	RB		158
Kickoff returns	Luis Humberto López Tinco	RB		17
Kickoff return yards	Luis Humberto López Tinco	RB		385
Source: LFA^[9]

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

Tazón México III

center|80px

width=102px style="background:DarkGreen; color:white"

Raptors

width=10px

width=102px style="background:Red;

Mexicas

(3-4)

(4-3)

Head Coach:

Guillermo Gutierrez

Rafael Duk

Teams	1C	2C	3C	4C
Raptors	0	0	0	0
Mexicas	3	14	0	0

Date: 22, April 2018

Kickoff time: 4 p.m.

Weather: Cloudy, 19°

Stadium: Estadio Azul

Attendance: 15,000

MVP: Guillermo Villalobos, WR

Referee: Juan José Arce

TV:

← II • Tazón México • IV →

The Tazón México III was held on April 22, 2018, at 4:00 p.m. at the Estadio Azul in Mexico City, with a record attendance for the LFA of 15,000 fans present. Mexicas defeated Raptors 17–0 in a defensive game. This would have been the first LFA championship with a halftime show, however, the group in charge of the show, Panteón Rococó, had to cancel last-minute performance due to Civil Protection recommendations due to the probability of a thunderstorm.^[10]

The final between Raptors and Mexicas would have been the last professional activity that the Estadio Azul before its demolition,^[11] however, the venue will house more games of the LFA, including the Tazón México IV, since its demolition was postponed to the 2020 year. The MVP of the game was Guillermo Villalobos.

Quarter	Time	Series			Team	Annotations	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yds		Team	Annotations	RAP	MEX
1	2:10	17	65	7:59		Field goal, 28 yards from K Carlos Soria	0	3
2	3:56	10	80	4:49		Touchdown, 40-yard pass from QB Ricardo Quintana to WR Guillermo Villalobos; the extra point is good (K Carlos Soria))	0	10
2	0:16	9	89	1:48		Touchdown, 10-yard pass from QB Ricardo Quintana to WR Guillermo Villalobos; the extra point is good (K Carlos Soria)	0	17

Notes and References

Web site: LFA Presenta la Temporada 2018 en Estadio Azul. 8 January 2018 . Spanish.
Web site: Mexicas campeón del Tazón México III. 23 April 2018 . Spanish.
Web site: Para su tercera temporada, LFA tendrá nueva cara. Spanish.
Web site: Renuncia comisionado LFA. Guillmero Ruiz Burgute. 16 January 2018 . Spanish.
Web site: Juego de Dinos vs Mexicas sigue en el aire. 3 March 2018 . Spanish.
Web site: LFA fija su postura respecto al seguro de gastos médicos de los jugadores. 4 March 2018 . Spanish.
Web site: LFA sanciona a Mexicas pero evitan rompimiento. 8 March 2018 . Spanish.
Web site: Draft 2018. 14 January 2018 . Spanish.
News: ESTADÍSTICAS TEMPORADA 2018. Spanish.
Web site: Se cancela participación de Panteón Rococó en el Tazón México. 22 April 2018 . Spanish.
Web site: Tazón México III: Último evento deportivo en el Estadio Azul. Spanish.