Portland Thunder debut in Arena Football League today

Arena football returns to the Portland-Vancouver area today.

The Portland Thunder will play their first game in franchise history against the San Jose Sabercats at 7 p.m. at the Moda Center.

The Arena Football League was last in Portland in 1999, when the Forest Dragons finished the final of three seasons in the Rose City.

The Thunder are a young team with eight players who played college football in Oregon or Washington. Chief among them is quarterback Darron Thomas, who led Oregon to victory in the 2012 Rose Bowl.

San Jose finished last season 13-5, losing in the National Conference semifinals to eventual champion Arizona.

“I think the biggest difference between us and San Jose is that San Jose knows what they have. They’ve been with these guys for years now,” said Portland coach Matthew Sauk. “So this first game’s going to be exciting to see how we did recruiting-wise.”

Portland plays an 18-game regular season that lasts through July. For more information, including tickets, visit www.portlandthunder.com