Sports stats



Sacramento Native Hopoi, Fellow College Stars Gray and Key Join Lightning

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


STOCKTON, Calif. * The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league have been assigned DL Manase Hopoi and WR/LB Sale' Key by the af2 League Office, Lightning head coach Doug Murray announced today.

Additionally, the Lightning officially announced QB Evan Gray and DB Antar Brame have been acquired from the Tri-Cities Fever in exchange for QB Brian Baker. The Lightning first acquired Baker from the Cincinnati Jungle Kats in exchange for WR Phil Goodman.

SACRAMENTO NATIVE HOPOI RETURNS TO THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA

Hopoi, 23, enters his first season of professional football after ranking among the top categories in a handful of defensive records at University of Washington (NCAA) during his five-year (2001-05) college career. The Sacramento native ranks third in Huskies all-time history with 49 tackles and fourth in program history with 25 sacks (since 1982).

A second-team All-Pac-10 selection as a 2004 junior, Hopoi had 54 tackles and led the Pac-10 with 22 tackles-for-loss, one shy of Washington's single-season record.

"To acquire a player of Manase's caliber gives our defensive front an unbelievable advantage in speed and size," said Murray. "He has the potential to significantly slow the opposition's attack, and I'm confident his big-game experience at a renowned program like Washington will translate well in the af2, come crunch-time."

At Valley High (Calif.) in Sacramento, Hopoi tallied 470 tackles, 37 sacks and 47 tackles-for-loss in his career, including an incredible 16 tackles and four sacks in a win over Woodland in 1999. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound defensive lineman earned first-team honors in the Long Beach Press Telegram's "Best of the West" poll, was a PrepStar All-American and first-team all-CIF selection. He was awarded Sacramento Bee All-City first team honors in 2000 and also was a two-time Delta League Defensive MVP.

Hopoi tied for the team lead with five sacks and ranked second with 9.5 tackles for loss as a 2005 senior and recently spent the 2006 National Football League training camp period with the Minnesota Vikings.

RECEIVER CORPS STRENGTHENS WITH ADDITION OF CITRUS HEIGHTS-NATVE KEY

Key, 25, enters his second season in arenafootball2 after appearing six games last season with the Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League, registering six tackles. The Citrus, Heights, Calif. native appeared in four games with the ArenaCup champion Memphis Xplorers in 2005, tallying 15 catches for 195 yards and five touchdown receptions while making 4.5 tackles on the defensive side.

"Sale' has done very well in honing his skills in the Arena Football League and has the talent to be in the AFL," said Murray. To have him here really bolsters our athleticism, professionalism and experience amongst the whole team."

Key played four years (2001-04) of his college football career at Idaho State University (NCAA), finishing as the program's career reception leader with 187 catches and caught a pass in a school-record 38 straight games. Key also finished second on the Bengals all-time lists for touchdowns and in receiving yards, while leading the Bengals with 942 receiving yards, nine touchdowns, and 67 catches as a 2004 senior.

A first team All-Big Sky selection as a 2003 junior, Key has participated in training camp with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals in 2005 and with the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League in 2007.

RECORD-SETTING QUARTERBACK COMES TO STOCKTON AS GOODMAN DEALT TO CINCINNATI

The 24-year old Gray enters his first season of professional football coming off a storied college football career at NCAA Division-II University of Missouri-Rolla. The Chandler, Arizona native finished his tenure as the holder of 17 individual program records, accomplished in just two active seasons (2003, 2005) with the Miners.

"Evan is a pleasant surprise with how we heard he was a competent and able player, but he's exceeded our expectations to this point," said Murray. "He's a very knowledgeable player, has a quick release and plays with a lot of confidence."

Gray recorded five games of 400 passing yards or more in his college career, while registering a career-high and school-record 39 touchdown passes as a 2005 senior, tying for the season lead in NCAA Division-II. The 6-foot, 205-pound signal caller also threw for a career-high and program-record 3,583 yards on a 302-for-525 during his senior campaign.

One of Gray's signature games came in a win against Austin Peay on October 29, 2005 when he broke the single-game program record for total offense/ passing yards (499), passing yards for one half (419) and touchdown passes (6).

Brame spent last season in the indoor football ranks with Tri-Cities and previously competed for two seasons (2002-03) in his college football career at NCAA Division-II Western Oregon University, leading the team with eight pass breakups and raking eighth with a career-high 39 tackles in 2002, appearing in just eight games.

In 2003, Brame led the team with seven pass breakups and ranked ninth on the team with 33 tackles.

Currently in the middle of training camp, Stockton opens the 2007 af2 season on Saturday, March 31 with a road matchup against the defending ArenaCup Champion Spokane Shock, beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT.

In their first season, the Lightning ranked third in af2 attendance with an average of 7,445 fans per home game. Season tickets for the 2007 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 15, 2007


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