Offensive line a key to successful year

By John Kovach

The Thunder has two of its three starters back on the line from last season.

YOUNGSTOWN — If a quarterback doesn’t receive the blocking he needs to provide sufficient time to spot an open receiver and complete a pass, he won’t be completing very many.

And some of them may end up as interceptions.

The same logic holds true with running the ball: No blocking, no running and no yards gained have been facts of life on the football field since the sport was born.

Those are the realities facing coach Mike Hold of the Mahoning Valley Thunder as he prepares his arena football team for its second season in the 29-team af2.

Hold said changes made in the three-man offensive line during last season turned around the Thunder’s sagging fortunes in its inaugural campaign.

He emphasized that finding the best combination of three blockers to protect the quarterback until the quarterback could spot his wide receivers, and to open holes for the fullback, enabled the Thunder to break a five-game losing streak and eventually win their last three home games.

However, the Thunder, although much improved by last season’s end and averaging 4,500 fans for eight home games, still ended with a losing record (7-9) and failed to make the af2 playoffs.

Because of last year’s experience, Hold is focusing on rebuilding his offensive line which he feels is essential for the Thunder to take its next two big steps forward — making the playoffs and winning the arenabowl9 championship.

The opener will be Saturday on Cortland Banks Field inside the Chevrolet Centre against the Albany Conquest.

The new quarterback leading the charge this year is expected to be Josh Swogger (6-foot-5, 238 pounds) of Vienna, a former Ursuline High, Washington State and Montana standout. Swogger is expected to attract increased area interest in the team owned by Dr. Michael Slyk, Dr. Jon Saadey and Tim Chesney .

Swogger will be backed by Joe Micco (6-1, 215, San Jose State) and Joe Taula (6-2, 230), the lone international player on the roster. Taula is from New Zealand.

Last year’s quarterbacks were Glen Gauntt and Mike Schneider of Sharon, Pa., but neither has returned to the team.

“You want to make the playoffs,” Hold said. “That to me is our goal. But I think anyone is crazy if they don’t want to win it all.

“That is our ultimate goal — to win it all,” said Hold, who believes he will have enough talent on the 23-player squad this year to give the team a good shot at winning the championship.

“But, we got to be good early [in the season],” Hold said. “Yes, we started off with three wins last season but I [still] didn’t think that personnel-wise we were where we should have been [at that time], and then we lost five games in a row.

“We struggled with our [pass] protection in at least eight games possibly nine or 10, and then we got in the new [offensive linemen] and improved our pass protection,” Hold said. ‘We played much better and were more consistent on offense.”

Two of those three offensive lineman — Wallace Sonnie (6-2, 320, Ashland) and Michael Lane (6-5, 255, Tiffin) — are back this year, giving the Thunder an experienced nucleus to build upon as the season evolves.

“We had Brandon Eaton [on the offensive line] last year, but he’s now with Grand Rapids in the AFL [Arena Football League],” Hold said. “He was a good player but we brought in Wally Sonnie again this year and Mike Lane. We also had Myron Whatley last year but he’s not back this year.

“Between [those four players] we had good rotation on the line,” Hold said. “That gave us four guys to move around. Mike Lane is a versatile athlete who can fill a lot of shoes. We used him on the offensive and defensive lines and he ended up starting at tight end and did great job. He is very valuable to us.”

Hold said Joshua Tanner (6-2, 305, Youngstown State), Jonathan Harper (6-4, 315, Murray State) and Andre Bennett (6-6, 340, Grambling) show promise to join Sonnie and Lane on the offensive line.

“Right now we are still evaluating and trying to find the best three,” Hold said.

However, there also may be some conversions to offensive line.

“But we also are looking at some of the defensive linemen we brought in, like Chris Terrell [Marshall]. He’s a big kid — 6-6, 330 — so he’s a guy that we’d like to take a look at, and anyone who is a valuable defensive player like that who also may be suited to play offensive line like that.”

Hold said he believes the Thunder has more talented players than last year, and of course the valuable first-year experience, to build a better team that can contend for the playoffs.

“I think we are further ahead in the game at this point than last year,” said Hold, who doesn’t like the fact that he will have to cut talented players to whittle his roster down to 23.

“We are going to have to get rid of players who would be playing on other af2 rosters,” Hold said. “We are pretty talented and we might have to get rid of a few players, some who would have played for us last year.”

Hold had to cut the roster down to 23 — 19 on the active roster, three on the inactive roster and one international player.

“[Taula] is a quarterback by trade but an athlete who can play any position,” Hold said of his international player. “It gives you an extra body.

“If someone goes down, you can use him. [Taula] is versatile,” Hold said. “They have a lot of football leagues in New Zealand. I met him in Australia four years ago, so I was aware of him.”

Hold said that it is good to know that Taula will be around to back up Swogger and MIcco.

“If [Taula] is injured, we possibly could bring in another international player,” Hold said. “But [international players] have to apply for a particular visa and there may not be time to do that, but there is a pool of international players in the af2. Some teams have two of them, so we always could contact them for one.”

kovach@vindy.com