History of the Lafayette Krewe

Cleveland Hellcats (1977–1989)
The Cleveland Hellcats – the organization that eventually became the Lafayette Krewe – were originally founded as the Cleveland Indians, in 1977. They were copyright striked by the more prominent baseball franchise on May 9, 1978. They changed their name three days later to the Cleveland Hellcats. In 1978, they officially joined the Midwest Football League and hired Martin Rodrigo as the team's head coach. They set up shop in Cleveland, Ohio, and played home games in Tillman Stadium.

1978–1979: Back-to-back league championships
Rodrigo and the Hellcats began their first season as favorites to win the league championship after drafting former NFL quarterback, Mike Kruczek, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers the year prior. They also drafted running back, Essex Johnson, off of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In their inaugural season, they finished with a 12–0 record, winning all their games by more than 20 points. Johnson rushed for 1,344 yards on 240 carries (5.4 average) and 23 touchdowns, winning the Most Valuable Player Award in the process. Kruczek threw for 2,532 yards, 21 touchdowns, and three interceptions. After placing first in the Western Conference, they faced off against the Detroit Zappers, who finished the season 7–5. They would win off a last-second field goal by placekicker, Marcus Helman. They would go on to win the Midwestern Bowl I against the Decatur Wildcats in a 46–21 shootout, where Kruczek threw a Midwestern Bowl record of 547 passing yards that still stands currently as the most passing yards in a single Midwestern Bowl game. He would be named Midwestern Bowl Most Valuable Player. This would be the first of three occurrences in which the franchise had a player win the regular season and championship game MVP awards.

The Hellcats lost their first two games in 1979. This would mark the first two losses in franchise history. After their Week 2 game against the Wildcats, they traded Kruczek for rookie quarterback, Marcus Frisk, rookie wide receiver, Darron Burris, and a 1980 1st round draft pick. This went down as one of the worst trades in league history. Kruczek ended his career the following week on a torn ACL. Frisk and Burris went on to have great careers and were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 and 2000 respectively. The Hellcats finished the season 10–2, having the top-ranked defense for the second year in a row. Burris finished the season with 1,439 receiving yards and ten touchdowns. Frisk finished his season with 3,254 passing yards with 11 touchdowns. Kellan Brewer won Defensive Player of the Year after finishing with 15.5 sacks, 131 combined tackles, and two interceptions. They faced off against the Cincinnati Fighters in the Conference Playoff. They would blow them out 44–10. Facing off against the Wildcats in Midwestern Bowl II, the Hellcats fought all the way to the final whistle when they walked it off with a last-second field goal from second-year placekicker, Marcus Helman. This marked Helman's fourth game-winning field goal in his career.

The Hellcats' first two seasons went down as one of the greatest stretches by one franchise in league history, finishing with a combined 22–2 record in the regular season, a 4–0 record in the postseason, and a 2–0 record in Midwestern Bowls. These teams also produced ten All-Stars and five Hall of Famers.