Boise Burn Kick Off its Third Season Tonight

The Boise Burn, under new head coach Brent Winter, will kick off its third season tonight in Kenniwick, Wash. against the Tri-Cities Fever. Game time is 8:00 p.m. MT and can be heard live in the Treasure Valley on KGEM 1140 AM with Scott Conklin on the call.The af2 season kicked its tenths season off last week. The Fever are coming off of a 47-28 loss at Central Valley on Friday.Here?s the way the af2 broke down the Boise/Tri-Cities matchup tonight:BOISE BURN (0-0) AT TRI-CITIES FEVER (0-1) FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009 ? Toyota Center (5,700) 10:00 P.M. ET; Listen live: KGEM 1140 AM | Watch live: Broadcast via af2TV OnlineAfter a season-opening road loss last week, the Fever come home to host Boise in a West Division matchup at the Toyota Center. In five previous meetings, the Burn lead the all-time series, 3-2. After back-to-back 8-8 seasons without a playoff appearance in Boise, the Burn brought in longtime AFL assistant Brent Winter to take the team to the next level. Winter went to work early and has built the Burn back up with a roster made of a strong mix of experience, talent and youth. Boise enters Week 1 ranked No. 14 in the Coaches Poll. WR Casey Allen, DBs Terrance Sanders and Earnest James and linemen Mark Weivoda and Richard Seals are among the cast of experienced players who have returned to Boise. Allen led the team in receiving in 2008 with 86 catches for 1,073 yards. He also had seven rushing scores. Harris led the team in rushing yards (135) and ranked third in receiving (45-615-15 TDs) and scoring (128). Sanders and James combined for 15 interceptions and 128 tackles. Weivoda was a factor up front on defense with a team-best 13.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. Seals earned All-af2 honors in 2008 for his outstanding play anchoring the offensive line group. In addition to keeping Boise?s talented corps intact, Winter also brought in a number of talented newcomers. His notable new additions include WR Nichiren Flowers, WR/DB/KR Jomo Wilson, QB Taylor Tharp, DB Roshawn Marshall and FB/LB Damian Walker. Out of the group of five, only Tharp is an Arena Football rookie. Flowers (75-955-20 TDs), Wilson (league-high 7 KR TDs, All-Ironman Team) and Walker (122 rush yards ? team-best) all played in Central Valley in 2008 while Marshall (40.5 tackles, 6 INTs) spent last season in Spokane. All four veterans should make an immediate impact. The Burn had three quarterbacks initially in camp, but Tharp was the most impressive. Winter has been pleased with how quickly the rookie from Boise State has picked up the Arena game. On paper, this Boise squad looks solid from top to bottom. Despite Tri-Cities? defeat last week, the Fever feel they are bound for better results in 2009 after winning just four games in 2008. They began their transformation this summer when they hired veteran coach Richard Davis. Davis owns 46 career wins in six af2 seasons. Davis has rebuilt the Tri-Cities roster almost completely. Only two players who spent time with the team in 2008 are likely to see action in Friday?s contest ? DBs Ray Little and Jamie Hattley. Little didn?t see a lot of action in 2008 but managed to make an impression with 11 tackles and two interceptions in three games. Last week Little recorded 2.0 tackles and two pass breakups. Hattley registered 3.5 tackles and one pass breakup. On offense, Tri-Cities will likely start second-year signal caller Joe Ayoob under center again after tossing four TDs (0 INT) at Central Valley. Veteran WR Nakoa McElrath led the Fever in receiving against the Coyotes with 11 catches for 108 yards and two TDs. Rookie Tremayne Kirkland, who played two seasons at Portland State, had six grabs for 49 yards with one score. Boise appears to be the better club on paper, but the Fever have the benefit of playing at home with one game already under their belt. Expect this West affair to be close throughout. The Burn?s home opener is on Apr. 18 at Qwest Arena versus the Spokane Shock. Season tickets are available by calling (208) 383-0080. For more information and to get a full schedule, visit www.boiseburn.com. About af2With its 10th anniversary season set to kick off on March 20, af2 serves as a vehicle to bring Arena Football to small-to-midsize cities and as a developmental league with an unmatched history of sending players, coaches and officials to major professional football leagues each year. Log on to www.af2.com for more information.- www.boiseburn.com -