The Chicago Slaughter have some bigtime Arena Football players from the Chicago Rush squad on their roster, and those players came to play bigtime on Saturday night in the CIFL Championship game against the Fort Wayne Freedom. It was a hard fought CIFL title game, but in the end, the big guns of the Chicago Slaughter proved to be too much for the Freedom, winning the game 58-48. Donovan Morgan & Russ Michna both did their parts, Morgan had 5 catches for 78 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Michna completed 14 of 20 tosses for 182 yards and seven touchdowns.

Indoor football stars Nick Body and Randy Hutchison tried to keep pace with the Slaughter, and for most of the game they did just that. Hutchison threw the ball 48 times for 355 yards and five touchdowns on 27 completions, and Body accumulated a massive 183 yards on 13 catches with two of those receptions going for Fort Wayne Freedom touchdowns.

The Chicago Slaughter simply had too many weapons for the outgunned Fort Wayne Freedom squad to deal with on this stormy night at the Sears Centre in Chicago. Pictured above are Bobby Sippio and Reggie Gray and it must be said that Bobby and 'Big Play' were both huge contributors to the Slaughter's CIFL Championship success this season. In this championship game 'Sip' ended up with 3 catches for 51 yards and two touchdowns while Big Play put a long kick return touchdown on the board once again earning his title of 'Big Play'.

This game was a great football game for any CIFL, arena, or indoor football fan to watch as both teams came to play on Saturday night. All in attendance were treated to a championship level production and performance of very high quality. From the opening kickoff the Fort Wayne Freedom offense attacked the Slaughter, and  the Freedom continued to punch with Chicago until very late in this great heavyweight indoor title fight. Fortunately for Chicago, and unfortunately for the Freedom, a couple of key Fort Wayne players were unavailable for the championship game. Namely the reigning CIFL Defensive Player of the Year and League MVP David Gater, and the high quality wide receiver Brian Dolph. Both could have helped the Freedom in this one as Michna was firing touchdown passes almost at will on the Freedom defense, and Dolph would have complemented Stroder and Body exceptionally well, quite possibly resulting in less dropped balls on big play balls thrown by 'Hutch'. Oh well, you play with what you have at the time, and play is exactly what the short Fort Wayne Freedom team did, on the road, in Hoffman Estates. By the end of this game Nick Body, Randy Hutchinson, and Luther Stroder had basically rewritten the Continental Indoor Football League record books in what can only be called tremendous Fort Wayne offensive effort in a hard fought and competitive game.

In the end it came down to the number of weapons Chicago was able to put on the field, and guys like DeJuan Alfonzo never let up on the Freedom, and the special teams of Chicago played big as always. With so many CIFL records falling on Saturday night it came as no surprise when Chris Nendick put his name into the record books by nailing a CIFL record 52 yard field goal to close the game's first half.

Donovan Morgan hoists the championship game MVP award, while Brandon Eaton kisses the CIFL Championship trophy.

When all was said and done CIFL MVP Russ Michna and Co. have done what most other pro football teams can only dream of doing by completing a undefeated professional football season and winning the title. Steve 'Mongo' McMichael's football team has thrilled the Chicago Slaughter football fans all season long, and it must be said that McMichael had his team ready to play each and every week, no matter what. It's been a great year for Mongo as earlier in the season he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and he now has a CIFL Championship ring to go with the ring he won with the NFL's '85 Chicago Bears. Congrats Mongo, and congrats to all the involved with the Chicago Slaughter organization on a perfect 14-0 championship season!

Please click here to view the CIFL championship game action photos.

Please click here to view the CIFL championship game action photo slideshow.

Please click here to view the the postgame celebration photos.

Please click here to view all of the 2009 CIFL game photos.

Please click here to view the 2009 CIFL cheerleader and dance photos.

Please click here to view all of the CIFL photos.

Please click here to view the Steve Mongo McMichael College Football Hall of Fame celebration celebration photos.

Don Northup - CIFL Director of Photography