Thunder numb after sixth straight defeat

By JOSH KATZOWITZ

The Lexington Horsemen stampeded to a 56-30 victory.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mike Hold pondered the question Saturday night as he chewed his postgame hamburger. He thought about it, but in the end, he couldn’t provide much of an answer.

The query: What do you, as the Mahoning Valley Thunder’s coach, do now? The answer: Who knows?

“What do you say?” Hold said in between bites of his late-night dinner. “I’m kind of numb right now.”

For good reason. His team extended its losing streak to six games, allowing Lexington to roll over Mahoning Valley 56-30 at Rupp Arena, and for most of the game, the Thunder simply couldn’t do much right.

Not on offense, not on defense and not on special teams. All of it gave Hold gave a good case of indigestion.

“We’re not doing what we need to do,” quarterback Shane Adler said. “We’re just not making plays.”

Adler, in his second game with the Thunder (1-6), struggled to stay in sync with his receiving corps. A week after completing 16 of 40 passes with two interceptions in his Thunder debut, he was 12 of 27 for 155 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions Saturday.

His receivers weren’t much help. Chris Curd — one of Mahoning Valley’s newest receivers who signed with the team Tuesday — dropped a ball thrown at his facemask, and Demetrius Wilbert mishandled one early in the game as well. But the most egregious drop occurred late in the third quarter with the Thunder trying to get back into the game.

With less than four minutes to play in the third quarter and trailing 49-30 on a 4th and goal from the 7-yard line, Curd beat his defender on a slant route. But the wide-open Curd dropped Adler’s pass in the end zone, ending the Thunder’s hopes.

“I’m not playing consistent,” Adler said. “The receivers aren’t making plays when they need to. Everybody has to be on the same page. We’re not right now. I had four practices before the last game. I had three this week. I’m just trying to learn what each receiver is going to do.

“It’s an all-around game. You can’t blame it on the receiver. If you blame it on anybody, it’s my fault.”

Still, Hold defended his quarterback.

“I like Shane,” he said. “He’s a winner. But right now, you’ve got new receivers. We’re trying to get guys in the right place. But it’s not just that. We’re not pass-blocking well. We’re not playing defense or special teams. Everything was rotten tonight.”

Place-kicker Danny Diemert made matters worse. Making his Thunder debut, he missed two extra point attempts in the first half, forcing Mahoning Valley to try a pair of two-point conversions. Those failed as well.

Instead of the Thunder trailing by a touchdown heading into the intermission, they were down 11. Diemert then missed another attempt in the third quarter and also had trouble with his kickoffs.

“He couldn’t hit the net to save his life,” Hold said. “I expect him to make extra points 80 percent of the time. I expect him to hit the net all the time.”

So, what’s Hold’s plan for next week’s game at Louisville?

“I don’t know,” Hold said. “We just have to figure out a way to get a win. It’s as simple as that.”