Sports stats



2009 Season Opening Roster Announced

March 26, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Stockton Lightning News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league released their league-mandatory 22-man season opening roster for the 2009 af2 season, Head Coach Chad Carlson announced today.

"Starting out the year, we have a roster full of extremely talented athletes," said Carlson. "A large core of our offensive success from the latter part of last year is back. However I told the team that it's harder to accomplish greatness than it is to put a great team on paper. We're going to work hard throughout the year at bonding together. To be successful, our entire team needs to carry the load and not just one player."

Starting out the season on long-term injured reserve will be receivers Ryan Heller, Maurice London and OL/DL Humberto Padilla. Heller, London and Padilla are eligible to be activated on Monday, May 18.

OL/DL Jake Forshey, DB Shannon Sevor, and WR/DB Andre Taylor will begin the season on the "team suspension" list and will be eligible to be activated on Monday, April 6. OL/DL Alex Asi, DL Travis Tofi and WR David Sutton will begin the season on the "refused to report" list.

STOCKTON LIGHTNING 2009 SEASON OPENING ROSTER

# NAME POS. HT WT COLLEGE DOB EXP

1 Collins, Andy QB 6-2 215 Occidental 10/20/83 R

2 Jackson, Ruben WR 5-10 185 Oregon State 4/6/84 1

3 Dodd-Masters, Ruschard WR/DB 6-0 184 UNLV 5/2/82 2

4 Walker, Carl LB 6-3 225 Miami (FL) 10/1/81 2

5 Bishop, Dennis WR/DB 5-11 195 Missouri Southern 1/22/83 R

7 Kenion, Nathan DB 5-10 215 UNLV 12/10/83 R

8 McBroom, Troy WR/LB 6-3 212 McPherson College 2/12/83 1

9 Taplin, Justin WR/DB 6-0 190 Arizona State 5/22/79 1

10 Wright, Manuel OL/DL 6-5 340 Univ. Southern California 4/13/84 R

11 Cavender, Chad QB 6-0 190 Sioux Falls Univ. 4/2/86 R

12 Naehu, Kimo K 6-0 215 Hawaii 12/28/79 6

13 Francies, Diamond WR/DB 5-10 185 Humboldt St. 10/18/84 2

17 Peko, Mike FB 6-5 315 West Valley College 10/29/77 2

19 Niusulu, C.J. OL/DL 6-3 290 UCLA 6/17/84 1

22 Miyake,Takeshi* WR/DB 6-0 185 Ritsumeican (Japan) 12/7/83 R

33 Vomhof, Bob OL/DL 6-4 265 Colorado State 8/14/84 R

44 Robinson, Dale DL 6-1 232 Arizona State 9/2/83 R

58 Hunt, Jay LB 6'2 250 Cincinnati 3/4/80 1

98 Bell, Stephen OL/DL 6-5 335 Temple 6/8/83 3

66 Kline, Josh OL/DL 6-2 315 Northern State 9/15/84 1

91 Pole, Marc OL/DL 6-6 365 New Mexico State 10/8/85 R

92 Watley, Ira OL/DL 6-5 285 Cumberland Univ. (Tenn.) 11/1/85 2

INJURED RESERVE

# NAME POS. HT WT COLLEGE DOB EXP

Heller, Ryan WR 6-6 245 C.W. Post (Long Island) 8/12/83 1

London, Maurice WR/DB 6-0 175 Arizona State 9/18/83 R

Padilla, Humberto OL/DL 6-6 300 Univ. Texas-El Paso 12/26/83 R

TEAM SUSPENSION

# NAME POS. HT WT COLLEGE DOB EXP

Forshey, Jake OL/DL 6-7 315 Williamette 5/28/87 R

Sevor, Shannon DB 5-1 205 Nevada 7/2/85 R

Taylor, Andre WR/DB 5-11 185 Sacramento State 2/13/85 R

REFUSED TO REPORT LIST

# NAME POS. HT WT COLLEGE DOB EXP

Asi, Alex OL/DL 6-3 300 Arizona State 1/21/84 R

Tofi, Travis DL 6-4 265 Univ. Southern California 10/24/84 R

Sutton, David WR 6-6 230 Univ. Texas-El Paso 5/30/84 R

* Denotes international player

FOOTBALL OPERATIONS STAFF

Head Coach: Chad Carlson

Asst. Head Coach/Director of Player Personnel: Mathias Vavao

Defensive Coordinator: Vince Amey

Fullbacks/Linebackers: Dave Mairs

Head Athletic Trainer: Kevin Anderson

Trainer: Shelly Taketa

Equipment Managers: Mark Burgess, Brian Giles, Ben Suggs

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

KENION, Nathan (KEN-yin)

NAEHU, Kimo (NAY-ee-hoo, KEE-moh)

FRANCIES, Diamond (FRAN-cee-is)

PEKO, Mike (PEAK-oh)

NIUSULU, C.J. (Nih-SOO-loo)

MIYAKE, Takeshi (MEE-yah-kee, Tawk-ah-SHEE)

VOMHOF, Bob (VAWM-hoff)

POLE, Marc (POH-lay)

WATLEY, Ira (EYE-ra)

BREAKDOWN BY POSTISION

QUARTERBACK (2): Andy Collins, Chad Cavender

WIDE RECEIVER (4): Ruben Jackson, Troy McBroom, Justin Taplin, Takeshi Miyake*

FULLBACK (1): Mike Peko

OFFENSIVE LINE (5): Stephen Bell^, Josh Kline^, Ira Watley^, Marc Pole^, C.J. Niusulu^

DEFENSIVE BACK (4): Nathan Kenion, Ruschard Dodd-Masters, Diamond Francies, Dennis Bishop

LINEBACKERS (2): Jay Hunt, Carl Walker

DEFENSIVE LINE (3): Dale Robinson, Manuel Wright, Bob Vomhof

KICKER (1): Kimo Naehu

^ Denotes dual position player (OL/DL)

* Denotes international status

ROSTER NOTES *11 players dot the Lightning roster with California ties, relating to high school-playing experience:

- Stephen Bell (Fremont HS - Oakland)

- Dennis Bishop (Fairfeld HS)

- Chad Cavender (Shasta HS - Redding)

- Ruschard Dodd-Masters (De Anza HS - Richmond)

- Diamond Francies (Cordova HS - Rancho Cordova)

- Jay Hunt (Modesto HS)

- Ruben Jackson (Edison HS - Stockton)

- Nathan Kenion (De La Salle HS - Concord)

- Troy McBroom (Manteca HS)

- C.J. Niusulu (Barstow HS)

- Marc Pole (Logan HS - Union)

*10 players (Stephen Bell, Andy Collins, Ruschard Dodd-Masters, Diamond Francies, Jay Hunt, Ruben Jackson, Troy McBroom, Mike Peko, Justin Taplin, and Carl Walker) from the active roster return with previous experience on the Lightning roster.

*Five players (Ruben Jackson, Justin Taplin, Manuel Wright, C.J. Niusulu and Dale Robinson) previously played four-year college ball the Pac-10 Conference.

*Three players (Jay Hunt, Carl Walker and Kimo Naehu) are previous members of the all-af2 team.

*Chad Cavender is the youngest player at 22 years, 11 months (turns 23 on April 2).

*Mike Peko is the oldest player at 31 years, 5 months.

LIGHTNING COACHING STAFF ANNOUNCED, ADDS EX-AFL VETERAN VINCE AMEY The Stockton Lightning announced head coach Chad Carlson's coaching staff for the 2009 season, with two members of last season's coaching staff returning from previous experience with the Lightning.

Former Arena Football League veteran Mathias Vavao returns with an additional title as director of player personnel, along with his duties as assistant head coach and offensive line coach. David Mairs (Fullbacks/Linebackers) returns for his third season with the Lightning coaching staff.

New to the coaching staff is former Arena Football League veteran Vince Amey, who will serve the Lightning as defensive coordinator. The former eight-year veteran of the AFL (Arizona Rattlers, Los Angeles Avengers) recorded career-highs in 2007 with Arizona, garnering 15.5 tackles and 2.0 sacks in 15 games. Amey, a Union City, Calif. native, was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round (230th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft and started for three years in college at Arizona State University (1994-97), tallying 36 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in 36 career games.

The Lightning open the 2009 af2 regular season on Saturday, March 28 against the Central Valley Coyotes with a Week One road matchup at Selland Arena, starting at 7:30 p.m. Both teams face a Week Four rematch in the Lightning home opener on Saturday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. at Stockton Arena.

Season tickets for the 2009 Lightning regular season are on sale now. For more information on season tickets, merchandise, or other information, please call the Lightning at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonlightning.com.



arenafootball2 Stories from March 26, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central