Thunder hurting; receivers being sought

By John Bassetti

One player — DeMarcus Mathes — left the team to pursue a fulltime job.

YOUNGSTOWN — For students taking Ohio Achievement Tests this week, here’s a bonus math question: What’s worse than a four-game losing streak?

The answer is one Mahoning Valley Thunder coach Mike Hold would prefer not hearing.

Not that it’s unprecedented for the af2 team, but Hold’s frustration level could use a respite.

After Saturday’s 61-49 loss at Albany — Mahoning Valley’s first to the Conquest, Hold is asking his players to work harder.

Meanwhile, Hold is working to fill a need to help the Thunder (1-4) climb out of its hole.

“Our receiving corps has only one guy we started the season with,” Hold said of injuries that have depleted a critical part of the offense.

The coach was talking about Brian Majors, Marlon White, Clenton Rafe and DeMarcus Mathes.

Majors was injured at Albany and White got hurt in game two.

Majors and Rafe, who was hurt against Lexington, both injured hamstrings.

Compounding the situation is the loss of Mathes.

“He had to find a job,” Hold said of Mathes, who left the team last Wednesday before the Albany game.

“He said he needed to find fulltime work and couldn’t [play football] anymore,” Hold said of the player who had 17 touchdowns and more than 1,000 yards in receptions in Mahoning Valley’s inaugural season.

Mathes joined the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Rampage of the Arena League late last season and was one of the team’s final cuts at camp this February.

The only receiver on the team’s opening-day roster still in working order is Henry Tolbert.

“He’s banged up but not hurt,” said Hold, second-year coach of the team that endured a five-game losing streak in 2007.

Aside from the receiver problem, Mahoning Valley’s offense is in the midst of a malaise.

“Offensively, we’re not executing, so we’ll just continue to work and try to get out of the funk,” said Hold.

Two weeks ago against Lexington, the Thunder was in control until it suffered five second-half turnovers before losing on a Hail Mary pass.

“Take one of those turnovers away and we get points and it’s a different game,” Hold said.

Turnovers were also the Thunder’s undoing against Albany.

“We turned it over three times in the first half and they got points out of every turnover and we didn’t,” the coach said.

One was a fumble returned for a touchdown. Still, it ended up being a one-possession game in the end with Albany facing a fourth-and-goal before Mahoning Valley blocked a kick.

“They were up by five, but we blocked the kick,” said Hold. “That’s when the kicker picked up the ball to run and one of our guys grabbed his face mask.

“Look at those turnovers and opportunities missed; that’s the difference,” he said.

Hold’s lament is that close games don’t register as victories.

“The main thing is that we’ve got to keep working. Eventually, the tide will turn. We’ve got to stay positive and keep working hard.”

The receiver situation forced reserve fullback Tim Murphy into duty elsewhere against Albany.

“He ended up being our leading receiver,” Hold said of Murphy, who had seven receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown. The second-year af2 player also contributed three rushes for 52 yards and two more scores.

Leading into the team’s Monday night game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the Chevy Centre, Hold is working to find replacements.

He doesn’t expect three of the remaining receivers to play.

“I suspect we’ll have some new receivers then,” Hold said.

That means someone will have to be released.

“Since they’re not long-term injuries, but short-term [and can’t be put on injured reserve], we’ve got to fix it right now. If they’re not ready to play, we’ve got to find someone who is.”

Part of the reason is the fact that White had ankle surgery earlier this week and is out for the season.

White’s injury came against the Manchester Wolves.

Initially, Rafe was acquired in a trade April 16 to fill in while White recovered.

“Basically, we’ve got to find at least two more wide receivers-defensive backs,” Hold said.

Unless the turnovers subside, Mahoning Valley may be in danger of a five-game losing streak similar to one it had from April 28 to May 25 last season.

This season, in the last two games, two fumbles were returned for TDs.

“Eight turnovers in two games isn’t going to win you any games,” Hold said. “The sad part is we’ve been in every game until the end. That goes to show you how important that is.”

Because of the Monday game, the Thunder gets an extra day of practice: Wednesday through Saturday with a Sunday walk-through instead of the usual three-day practice week with one day for the walk-through.

“It turned out to be a good week to get couple extra days to get [acquire] a couple extra guys,” said Hold.

bassetti@vindy.com