Blocked kick gives M.V. win

By John Kovach

Mike Lane got his hand on an extra point to preserve a 42-41 win for the Thunder.

YOUNGSTOWN — Thanks to Mike Lane’s defensive charge from his end position through an opening in the line on a information tip from John Tackmann, the Mahoning Valley Thunder snapped its three-game losing streak Friday night on Cortland Banks Field inside the Chevrolet Centre.

Lane broke through an opening between end and tackle to block Danny Knight’s extra-point attempt with 8.6 seconds left, enabling the Thunder to turn back the Louisville Fire, 42-41, before an announced attendance of 2,663.

Knight was attempting to tie the score after quarterback Aaron Marshall, who played for Youngstown State, raced 22 yards to a TD.

Lane’s blocked kick made placekicker Derek Schorejs’ extra point the game-winner. Schorejs connected after John Tackmann scored on a 1-yard rollout to snap a 35-35 tie and give the Thunder a 42-35 lead with 26.7 seconds left.

Lane said Tackmann tipped him off about the opening in the Fire defensive line.

“All game there was a hole. Tackmann told me they were washing the tackles toward the center. That opened the [defensive] end to have an inside move,” explained Lane.

After Lane’s block, the Thunder recovered an onside kick at the Fire 14 with 5.3 seconds left, and ran out the clock for the win.

It also was Tackmann’s perseverance that finally delivered the Thunder’s final TD on a clever rollout from the 1, after he had been stopped several times up the middle. His score capped a six-play, 31-yard drive.

Tackmann finished with two TDs from the 1-yard line to give him a franchise-tying 14 rushing TDs for the year.

Thunder (2-10) coach Mike Hold said his team really wanted to win.

“The defense stepped it up in the second half and made some key stops,” said Hold. “We put a lot of [defensive] pressure on them in the second half.”

Royce Morgan set two franchise defensive records for the Thunder. He had 31‚Ñ2 sacks for the game to give him 12 sacks for the season so far.

Hold also said Schorejs’ long kickoffs “put [the Fire] in tough field position,” which also was a factor in the win.

“It was a great team effort. We fought tooth and nail,” said Hold.

Quarterback Shane Adler also led the Thunder offense by throwing two TD passes, one to Clenton Rafe covering 9 yards and the other to Quorey Payne for 35 yards, while Adler also scored on a 1-yard run and Tim Murphy raced 21 yards to the other Thunder TD.

Adler completed 11-for-23 passing for 170 yards and two interceptions, while Payne caught six passes for 120 yards.

Schorejs was a perfect 6-for-6 in extra-point kicks.

Quarterback Matt Bassuener fired two TD passes and wound up with 24-for-36 in the air for 231 yards and one interception to lead Louisville (7-6). Bassuener also scored from the 4-yard line while Demetrius Forney scored a pair of TDs from the 1-yard line.

Ricardo Lenhart caught 11 passes for 86 yards and one TD, Lonnell DeWalt had nine receptions for 105 yard and one TD, and Tymere Zimmerman 10 catches for 94 yards to also pace the Fire.

The score was tied at 28 after three quarter before Adler hit Quorey Payne on a 35-yard TD pass and Schorejs connected to put the Thunder in front, 35-28.

But on the next series the Fire drove 49 yards in nine plays to Bassuener’s 4-yard run and Knight’s kick to tie it at 35 with 2:50 left.

But back came the Thunder as they drove 31 yards in six plays to the 1 from where Tackmann, on his third try running from close range, rolled to the left and into the end zone for the go-ahead score with 26.7 seconds left and Schorejs connected to make it 42-35.

On the kickoff, Payne made a tackle in the end zone but the Thunder was penalized and the Fire took over at its 13 with about 27 seconds left. Then Marshall raced for the TD, setting up Lane’s block.

kovach@vindy.com