Tuesday, July 22, 2008
By John Kovach
Mahoning Valley will try to finish the season 4-12 with a win Saturday at home.
YOUNGSTOWN — Very little has gone right for the Mahoning Valley Thunder football team in its second year in af2.
The Thunder (3-12) will try to get it right Saturday night so that they at least can end the season on a winning note in front of the home fans, when they play host to the Green Bay Blizzard at 7:05 p.m. on Cortland Banks Field in the Chevrolet Centre.
But the finale looms as another tough challenge because Green Bay (10-5) is coming off a 33-20 win over the Louisville Fire that gave them sole possession of first place in the Midwest Division.
In addition, the Blizzard already hold a 69-27 win over the visiting Thunder June 20.
Plus, the Thunder of late have been turning over the ball too frequently, not protecting their quarterback and giving up too many points, and are stuck in a two-game losing streak after falling to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers last Saturday on the road, 62-33.
“It is just important that we just win to finish the season on a positive note, if not for the team than for these [players],” said coach Michael Hold, whose Thunder haven’t won since beating Louisville, 42-41, at home June 14. “I don’t know if [a win] will have any bearing on next season’s team, but it is just nice to finish strong.”
Hold also said a win would have “some redemptive value, but I don’t know that it will affect next season [because] we don’t know who we will have back.”
Hold said the team is playing sound and competitive football overall, but has been hampered by turnovers.
“Turnovers have been the main problem — absolutely without a doubt,” said Hold, noting that turnovers also caused the loss last week to the Pioneers.
“We were matching them score for score, and then we had an interception and they scored and we were down by 14 points. And then in the second half, we turned over the ball three straight times in a row on fumbles,” recalled Hold.
“No turnovers, and we are in the game. If you look back on every game we played, turnovers have been a factor in most of them.”
Hold isn’t blaming quarterback Shane Adler — the team’s fourth quarterback — for the offense’s inability to protect the football against the Pioneers.
“Adler didn’t play badly. He got hit pretty hard. They had a lot of hits on him,” said Hold, blaming the offensive line. “We didn’t play real well up front. [Adler] got beat up pretty good. We did not protect him very well. We didn’t do that the last two weeks.”
Adler threw four touchdown passes, two to Quorey Payne, and finished 16-for-36 for 167 yards. Payne caught seven passes for 92 yards. And defensive lineman Royce Morgan had two sacks to boost his Thunder-leading total to 14, and he also forced two fumbles.
Adler has completed 100-of-250 passes for 1,206 yards and 16 TDs with 16 interceptions, while Payne has caught 19 passes for 309 yards and six TDs in only three games.
Hold recalled the Thunder’s loss to the Blizzard earlier this season, and blamed it partially on losing quarterback Davon Vinson the week leading up to the game.
Vinson, who followed quarterbacks Josh Swogger and Mike Schneider (both injured) and Adler in the starting lineup, provided an offensive spark for the Thunder but was suspended by the league for playing earlier in a league with lower status than af2.
“We were rolling along offensively and getting better and then we had to shift gears, and anytime you are starting from scratch that will make it more difficult,” said Hold.
kovach@vindy.com