It looks like it's going to be a great season for X Flag Football! In San Diego alone, the team count has more than doubled from last season, with 72 teams registered for Winter 2008. Including Hawaii and the Inland Empire, the XFF will be boasting more than 100 teams in just its second season.

Three San Diego locations are filled to capacity (Sunday in Balboa Stadium, Saturday at the South Clairemont Rec Center and Sunday at Mt. Carmel High School) and a new weeknight location has been established on Monday nights in Scripps Ranch.

Balboa looks to threaten Poway as the toughest league this season with 8 solid D1 teams. The division is so tough that two teams had to play an additional placement game in week 1 to earn the right to compete for the title the Stingrays won last season. The Swamp Donkeys shut down Powerhouse 36-12 and the SD Hurricanes breezed past the Regulators 26-14 to claim their spots in the top division. In the highly touted game of the week, the Stingrays beat Code Blue 38-26 in their rematch of their championship game from last season. The Renegades made everyone in the league take notice with a 32-14 dismantling of a solid White Russians squad and the Convicted Felons raised some eyebrows with a come from behind win over Rampart 34-27.

Mt. Carmel has three of the best teams in the county, and some would argue that they have the top 3. Darkside is back to defend their unbeaten run to a County Championship, while Mr. America and newcomer Dig Deep Athletics will be hot on their heels in a D1 division 10 teams deep. Darkside edged past DDA in week 1 with a 49-46 shootout victory, while Mr. A piled up 50 points and allowed none in their opener. Velocity is making their much anticipated debut in the XFF and will get their chance to back up all of their message board chatter. They schooled CLMT in week 1 46-25, but will have their hands full with a motivated Darkside squad in week 2. Lights Out won their shootout with Shake N Bake 55-40 and the Raptors and Cobra Kai had one of the best games of the night as the Raptors came way back to eke out a 3 point victory over last seasons D2 County Champions 39-36. BTB and The Boys round out division 1, each picking up healthy wins over lesser opponents in week 1. While it looks like a three horse race to the title, the remaining 7 teams in D1 will be battle tested when it comes to postseason and tournament play.

Clairemont has toughened up again, despite the void left by the departure of last season's undefeated champion, Purple Nugs. The Panthers and South Bay Attack look to be the early favorites to claim the Saturday 'Ship this season, but the Heartthrobs, Sharks and Angry Goldfish might have a thing or two to say about it. The Panthers took advantage of two first half interception returns for touchdown to sink the Sharks 46-30 in the opener while South Bay Attack took it to Tha Untouchables 44-12 and dropped them to division 2. The Heartthrobs jumped out to an early lead and held off the Angry Goldfish 36-22. D1 Prospects, a team of ballers from Helix High have stepped up to fill the final D1 spot vacated by Tha Untouchables. The Prospects beat V-Squad 28-24 and look ready for the challenge.

Scripps Ranch will be an interesting location as 8 teams will be gunning for the first weeknight championship in XFF history. Both the Stingrays and Darkside captains have entered teams in the league and should set the bar for their opponents. The Rays beat a game N.O.T.W. squad in the opener, while DrUnkSidE had a bye to sober up. Next Best, Charcoal House (a Sharks offshoot) and SD Dirtbags look to be the challengers with Wild Monkeys and CBIZ trying to make a name for themselves.

Hawaii chimes in as the most unlikely location as Darkside rears its head again in the form of Darkside Hawaii. Prior to a bye in week 2, DH took down the Prospects 26-12, but the class of the league looks to be the Rebels, Banana Hammocks and SMB (you don't want to know what it stands for). All three teams are 2-0. The Rebels feasted on Extreme 66-8 and Red Star 47-20 while SMB beat the Titans 34-28 and Sar Dogs 44-28. The Banana Hammocks outlasted Extreme 40-28 after a one-point victory over Red Star in the opener. The Titans then rebounded from their week 1 loss to SMB, putting up 64 points in a rout of the Prospects and proving that they may have a say in who wins this hotly contested island league.

The Inland Empire will be sounding off shortly as 9 teams in Riverside and 7 teams in Upland will compete for location championships. Temecula will get starting soon, so those in the 1-15 corridor, get ready for some football, XFF style!