Not much Thunder on offense

By Tom Williams

Mahoning Valley’s defense the last two games has been OK. The offense? No way.

YOUNGSTOWN — Despite limiting last year’s af2 runner-up to 33 points, Mahoning Valley Thunder coach Mike Hold struggled for words when asked about any positives from Friday’s 33-20 loss.

“We’ll learn from our mistakes,” Hold said of the defeat to the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Pioneers. “It’s not a game that we should have won, but it’s one we could have won.

“We had opportunities but we didn’t play well enough to take advantage of them,” Hold said. “It was just a bad game through and through.”

Mahoning Valley (1-2) was held to six first-half points by the Pioneers (2-1, first place in the American East Division). The Thunder’s 20 points were their lowest total of the season.

Quarterback Josh Swogger passed for 122 yards by completing 13-of-31 attempts. Two were for touchdowns.

But Swogger was intercepted twice, sacked three times and under pressure the entire game.

Thunder receiver Brian Majors, making his first offensive start, caught four passes for 47 yards and his first touchdown.

Despite the slow start on offense, the Thunder scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and led 20-14 going into the fourth quarter.

The Pioneers responded with 19 points for their 13th straight home victory.

“If you had told me last week that we would have kept them to 33, I’d have said that we must have beaten the pants off of them,” Hold said.

“We had hopes of getting better progressively, but we took a step back.”

Hold said the Pioneers’ pressure had Swogger on the move.

“We didn’t pass protect as well as we did in the first two games,” Hold said. “And when we had pass protect, then we weren’t getting open or we were missing throws.

“Nothing seemed to gel until early in third quarter when we kind got out of our funk,” Hold said. “Then we jumped right back into it.”

Henry Tolbert caught the touchdown pass that put the Thunder ahead.

The Pioneers’ defense controlled the final quarter, forcing two turnovers and allowing just one first down.

Pioneers quarterback Matt Schabert, in his first start, completed 18-of-33 passes for 212 yards and four touchdowns. Thunder defenders picked off three passes.

“They again are a very talented team, pretty physical,” Hold said of the Pioneers. “We feel we’re a physical team, too, but they ‘outphysicalled’ us on both sides. We didn’t get a lot of pressure on their quarterback.”

After opening the season at the Chevrolet Centre with a 59-33 triumph over the Albany Conquest, the Thunder lost to their second home game, 45-39, to the Manchester Wolves (1-1).

Next up is another home game Friday at 7:05 p.m., against the expansion team Lexington Horsemen (1-1, tied for fourth in the American Midwest Division).

williams@vindy.com