2008 Season Opens at Tri-Cities

December 15, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Stockton Lightning News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. -The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league have announced the team will open the 2008 af2 season and its third in franchise history on the road against the Tri-Cities Fever on Friday, March 28, 2008.

The schedule features a weighed schedule favoring fierce intra-division matchups, with the Lightning taking on fellow opponents from the newly-formatted National Conference's West Divison. Last season, the Lightning were a member of the af2's American Conference.

A stern test awaits the Lightning in a week 2 matchup against the juggernaut Spokane Shock who have advanced to the ArenaCup Playoffs in the last two years and won the 2006 ArenaCup title. Kick-off is at 5:00 p.m. at Spokane Arena on Saturday, April 5.

Following the first two weeks on the road, the Lightning open their third home campaign at Stockton Arena in a week 3 matchup against the Boise Burn, starting at 7:00 p.m.

In addition, the Lightning will face two new rivals on the road this season. In week 5, the Lightning face the Iowa Barnstormers at 5:05 p.m. from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, as Iowa returns to the arenafootball2 league following a six-year absence. In week 14, the Lightning face the Tennessee Valley Vipers from Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Stockton will also face the division rival Central Valley Coyotes four times, the largest amount of games the Lightning will play against one team in 2008. The regular season schedule wraps up at home with a week 17 match-up against Tri-Cities on Saturday July 19, starting at 7:00 p.m. from Stockton Arena. The scheduled features two byes for the Lightning, including a regular-season concluding bye on week 18.

In addition, the late portion of the schedule favors a home-field advantage for Stockton, as the Lightning will have four home games scheduled at Stockton Arena in the final six weeks.

The Lightning will play a total of 16 games (eight home/eight away) and will be part of a new league alignment, moving over to the National Conference and in a revamped West Division. The new divisions are as follows:

National Conference

CENTRAL SOUTHWEST WEST

Amarillo Austin Boise

Arkansas Bossier-Shreveport Central Valley

Lubbock Corpus-Christi Spokane

Oklahoma City Texas Stockton

Tulsa Rio Grande Valley Tri-Cities

American Conference

SOUTH MIDWEST EAST Daytona Beach Green Bay Albany

Florida Iowa Mahoning Valley

South Georgia Lexington Manchester Tennessee Valley Louisville

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Quad City Peoria



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