Saturday, June 16, 2007
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning Valley Thunder coach Mike Hold doesn’t like to talk about “must-win” games, but that’s what he’s calling tonight’s matchup against the Quad City Steamwheelers.
The Thunder (4-6) and the Steamwheelers (7-3) will kick off at 7:05 p.m. at the Chevrolet Centre.
Mahoning Valley, which began the season with three straight victories, has lost six of its last seven games, including a 54-39 loss to the Green Bay Blizzard last week.
“There are a whole lot of teams with records identical to ours in the league, so if we’re going to make the playoffs we got to get going quickly,” Hold said.
“You might be looking at 8-8 to get into the playoffs and that means if we don’t win this week that would leave us having to win four of our last five.
“Obviously this is a big game and it comes up right before our bye week and you don’t want to lose before your bye week,” Hold added.
The Thunder coach is looking forward to the bye week because of all the injuries his team has.
“We need that week and it couldn’t come at a better time, provided we can win this week,” he said.
Quarterback situation
Hold said rookie quarterback Mike Schneider will start his third straight game against Quad City.
Schnieder, a former Sharon High, Duke and Youngstown State player, guided the Thunder to a 57-20 win over Cincinnati two weeks ago and last week threw a career-high six touchdowns in the loss at Green Bay.
“Mike has been fantastic for us,” Hold said. “He’s made mistakes as any rookie will do, but he rarely makes the same mistake twice.
“Last week he played well enough for us to win, but the rest of the team let him down,” Hold said. “Our offensive line blocking was terrible, we almost got him killed back there and for a while we thought we might have lost him also.”
Schneider, who has stepped in for starting quarterback Glen Gauntt, who was injured three weeks ago against the Manchester Wolves, was banged up pretty good last week.
“We thought it was worse that it was,” Hold added. “He’s sore, but what quarterback isn’t after a tough game? He’ll be find Saturday.”
In the last two games Schneider has completed 44-of-80 passes for 15 touchdowns.
Home sweet home
Hold said it feels good to be back at home.
“After two straight weeks on the road it’s good to be home and not have to travel anywhere,” he said.
But the Thunder hasn’t won at the Chevrolet Centre since April 21 when they defeated the Cincinnati Jungle Kats for their third straight victory.
Gauntt may be ready to play following the bye week, but Hold isn’t certain.
“If you ask Glenn he’ll tell you, yes, that’s when he’ll be back, but the doctors say six weeks, so we’ll see,” Hold said.
The veteran coach said Gauntt will return as the team’s starting quarterback when he’s healthy.
“I’ve talked with Mike about it and he understands,” Hold said. “He’s performed brilliantly for us while taking over for Glenn and we’ve been lucky to have him.”
Hold said that tonight’s contest will be won or lost like any other football game — at the line of scrimmage.
“If we can give Mike some time on offense and get a good pass rush on defense then we’ve got a good chance to win,” Hold said.
Hold said that Quad City is a very good football team.
“They are a great offensive team with a veteran offensive coordinator [Sean Ponder] that has had a lot of success in this league.
“We match up very well with them and I feel that we have a good chance to win,” Hold said. “I’ve said all along that we have as much talent as almost any team in the league, now we’ve got to start showing it.”
mollica@vindy.com