The third season of the Continental Indoor Football League produced a third champion and as many twist and turns as the 2007 campaign.

The season began with the additions of teams in Flint, Mich., Fort Wayne, Ind., Milwaukee, Wis., Rockford, Ill. and Saginaw, Mich.

The playoff picture started to take shape late in the season and featured some familiar faces to CIFL playoff football.

The Kalamazoo Xplosion, who narrowly missed the chance to play in the 2007 title game, were the team to beat in the Great Lakes Conference. The second-year franchise stumbled just once during the regular season as they captured the conference’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

They would square off with the team that handed them their lone loss, Muskegon, in the opening round of the playoffs. Kalamazoo avenged its loss to the Thunder, winning 50-33 to set up a date with the Rock River Raptors in the Great Lakes Conference Championship.

Rock River, a fourth-year franchise playing in the CIFL for the first time, made its way to the playoffs despite a turbulent regular season. The Raptors lost their first two, won the next two, lost three of its next four and finished with four-straight wins to earn a berth in the playoffs.

They then dominated play against Chicago in the opening round of the postseason, leading by as many 28 in the third quarter during their 54-39 win over the Slaughter at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Kalamazoo and Rock River had met twice during the regular season with Kalamazoo sweeping the series. Each of the meetings was decided by eight points or less, including a 33-26 overtime victory by the Xplosion on May 10.

Rock River maintained control of the conference title clash between the two in the early going, but a play near the end of the half swung the momentum in favor the Xplosion. David Gater, who would go on to win the Vincent Cleveland Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP, snatched a Steven LaFalce pass and returned it to house as the teams went to the half.

Kalamazoo would outscore the visitors 27-7 in the final 25 minutes, earning a 56-42 win and the Great Lakes Conference Championship trophy.

The Atlantic Conference Championship featured two teams making their first appearances in a conference title game. The Saginaw Sting and Lehigh Valley Outlawz squared off in a rare Monday night game for the right to play in the league’s title game.

The game proved quite anti-climactic as the Sting dominated play throughout. Saginaw punched its ticket to the CIFL Championship Game with a 59-25 victory over the Outlawz at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Mich.

The two teams followed very different roads to the conference title game.

Saginaw lost just twice during the regular season–in back-to-back weeks–before tearing off five-straight victories to reach the playoffs. The Sting escaped the first round of the playoffs with a 41-34 victory over Marion, who was making its second-straight playoff appearance.

Saginaw’s defense stopped the Mayhem at the two-yard line late in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Lehigh Valley reached the conference title game after defeating New England 27-21 in the first round of the playoffs at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa. The Outlawz had won three of their last four games–all by six points or less–before falling to the Sting in the conference title game.

Lehigh’s defense was what helped the Outlawz reach the playoffs for the third-straight time. The Outlawz “D” finished the regular season fourth in points allowed.

The city of Kalamazoo, Mich. played host to the 2008 CIFL Championship Game and more than 3000 fans filed into Wings Stadium to see the battle between the Sting and hometown Xplosion.

The Sting took an early lead, scoring on the game’s second play with a Damon Dowdell to Nick Body touchdown pass. Kalamazoo’s answer later in the quarter came in the form of a Randy Hutchison to Eric Gardner touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-all, which is how the first quarter ended.

The first half would end in a tie as well as the two teams went to the break deadlocked at 20-20. CIFL Special Teams Player of the Year Brad Selent booted two field goals in the second quarter, the last being a 51-yarder to tie the game.

Kalamazoo took a short-lived 27-20 lead in the third quarter when Gardner lined up at quarterback and threw a touchdown pass to Hutchison. Before the end of the third, Saginaw against tied the contest when Dowdell hit Body to make it 27-27.

The two teams traded scores in the opening stages of the fourth before Selent nailed his third field goal of the game to give his team a 37-34 lead with just over 40 seconds left in the contest.

The Sting answered in a hurry. In three plays, Saginaw went the length of the field, scored on a one-yard plunge by John Radney with 24.4 seconds remaining and led 41-37.

Kalamazoo’s last drive ended as many of their opponents’ drives had ended; with an interception. Hutchison’s final pass was picked off at the two and Saginaw salted away the remaining 15 seconds for the win.