Wolves maul Thunder

By John Kovach

Arena football

Mahoning Valley set records that it would prefer to forget.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley Thunder broke two records in Friday night’s American Conference East Division af2 shootout against the Manchester Wolves before an announced attendance of 2,653.

Both teams combined for 134 points — the most scored in one game on Cortland Banks Field — and the Thunder gave up a franchise-record 79 points.

Doing the math, you can subtract to see that the Thunder was on the losing end of a 79-55 decision — the most points by Manchester this season — as the Wolves scored their fourth straight win behind the passing and running of quarterback James Pinkney.

Pinkney threw seven touchdown passes — three to Steven Savoy and two to Bradley Chavez — and ran for two more as the Wolves (5-6, 4-2 East Division) blew to a 59-34 lead after three periods, and managed to hold off a mild Thunder rally in the final period.

Rayshawn Bolden also caught two TD passes for the Wolves, one thrown by Pinkney and the other by sub Ben King.

Savoy wound up with seven catches for 142 yards while Emery Sammons had six receptions for 79 yards and one TD and Chavez five catches for 43 yards. Chris Koepplin kicked six extra points for the Wolves.

The Thunder (2-9, 2-5 East Division) defense was unable to stop Pinkney as the locals lost their second straight game and their second of the year to Manchester, both of their games played in Youngstown.

Thunder coach Mike Hold said the Thunder secondary failed.

“[The Wolves] had guys running wide open. We had a lot of blown coverages,” Hold said. “We only got one stop, a fumble.”

Hold also said the team, which fell behind, 40-27 at the half, had a very bad third quarter (outscored by 19-7) which hampered any comeback attempt.

“We [fizzled] the first three possessions of the third quarter,” Hold said.

Pinkney, who completed 18 of 30 passes for 272 yards, said he has great receivers who just are able to get open.

“Our receivers were making plays and the linemen gave me time to pass,” Pinkney said. “We have good receivers, some of the best in the league. And they all bring something different to the table. Some have speed, some the right moves. They just have a knack of getting open.”

The Thunder offense also put on a good show behind quarterback Davon Vinson and receiver Clenton Rafe. Vinson also threw for seven TDs, six going to Rafe.

Vinson completed 18 of 39 passes for 277 yards and two interceptions, while Rafe caught 11 passes for 199 yards. Chris Curd caught four passes, one for a TD. And Derek Shoreijs kicked five extra points for the Thunder.

The Wolves opened the game’s scoring on Lamar Bryant’s 1-yard TD run set up by Pinkney’s 12-yard pass to Chavez to the 1.

On the next series, Trey Bell intercepted a pass for Wolves at their 20 and returned the ball to the 8, from where Pinkney hit Savoy for the Wolves’ second TD. This time Chris Koepplin’s placement was good for a 13-0 lead.

The Thunder took the kickoff at their own 5 and marched to their first score in six plays as Vinson connected to Rafe to cut the deficit to 13-6.

Then the Wolves downed the kickoff at their own 5 and scored on the first play when Pinkney hit Sammons on a 45-yard strike. Koepplin’s kick was good and the Wolves led, 20-6, after the first quarter.

But in the second period, Tim Murphy took a Vinson pass 31 yards to the Wolves’ 13, and Vinson hit Rafe again on a 13-yard strike. Shoreijs’ kick cut the Wolves’ lead to 20-13.

However, Pinkney drove the Wolves down to the 2 in three plays, and then he scored from the 2, and Koepplin kicked to boost the Wolves ahead, 27-13.

But the Thunder rebounded again on the third play as Vinson hit Rafe on 39-yard TD pass and Shoreijs connected again to bring the Thunder within 27-20.

Again the Wolves retaliated as Pinkney and Savoy hooked up on a 26-yard TD pass to pad the Wolves’ lead to 33-20.

But back came the Thunder when Vinson hit Rafe again on a 29-yard scoring strike and Shoreijs kicked the Thunder to within 33-27.

However, the Wolves would not be denied and drove to the 2 from where Pinkney hit Chavez for a TD, and Koepplin kicked the score to 40-27 in favor of Manchester at the half.

To start the third, Pinkney hit Bolden on an 11-yard TD strike to push the Wolves ahead, 46-27.

Then the Wolves scored again on Pinkney’s 2-yard run to lift them to a 52-27 lead with still 5:07 left in the third.

Again in the third, it was Pinkney to Chavez covering 12 yards and Koepplin hit the placement to make it 59-27.

Finally the Thunder scored in the third to cut the deficit to 59-34 as Vinson hit Rafe on a 33-yard TD pass and Shoreijs kicked the extra point.

Then on the ensuing kickoff, Chad Wengert returned a short on-side kickoff 5 yards to a TD and Koepplin hit the placement to make it 66-34 after three periods.

The Thunder struck back as Vinson hit Curd on a 12-yard TD pass and Shoreijs hit the placement to pull the Thunder within 66-41.

But the Wolves countered with Pinkney’s 16-yard strike to Savoy to expand the Wolves’ lead to 72-41.

Then after Melvin Matlock returned the kickoff to the Wolves’ 20, Vinson raced 20 yards to a TD and John Tackmann ran the conversion to enable the Thunder to cut the deficit to 72-49.

The Wolves added seven more points when King hit Rayshaun Bolden on a 21-yard TD pass and Koepplin made the extra point for a 79-49 lead.

The Thunder created the final score when Vinson hit Rafe on a 2-yard TD strike to make it a 79-55 final.

kovach@vindy.com