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Take it to the Talons?
Thunder vs. Iron
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af2 teams Mahoning Valley Thunder and Milwaukee Iron compete Saturday, April 4 at the Chevrolet Centre. The Thunder lost, 59-39. Both teams moved to 1-1 on the season. Wide Receiver CJ Brewer caught 10 passes for 101 yards in front of 3,465 fans in attendance.
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GOOD WORDS - Mike Hold talks with QB Davon Vinson during second quarter action - at the Chevy Centre Thunder opener.
Mahoning Valley’s af2 team traveled 18 hours by bus to Tulsa for this weekend’s game. But, will the Thunder ...
Youngstown’s Mahoning Valley Thunder suffered its first knockdown, but the team is back on its feet, handling it well.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s a loss, but we’ve got 14 more games,” said coach Mike Hold. “We know we didn’t play well. Had we played well, it would have been a different outcome, so we learned a lot from that.”
Why dwell on it?
If there’s any reason for deflation, it’s an 18-hour bus ride to Tulsa for Mahoning Valley’s third game of the season and first on the road.
At the end of that journey that began Thursday afternoon and ended sometime today, are the Talons, a first-time opponent.
“They’re good,” said Hold. “Every year, they’re battling for the conference finals or for the ArenaCup [championship]. We got our work cut out and have to play a perfect game.”
Hold has hope, however, because of the mostly forward progress of his team’s offense.
“When we execute, we don’t get stopped. We’ve had five stops against Milwaukee and four were turnovers. We had four stops against Albany and three were turnovers. So, we’re stopping ourselves. When we execute, we get it done. If we shoot ourselves in the foot, we kill ourselves.”
Complicating Mahoning Valley’s quest are injuries.
Noseguard Carlos Spinner is lost for the season due to a broken leg suffered last Saturday and lineup shuffling is forthcoming. Frashon McGee will be the nose this weekend with Jason Lewis his backup.
Tim Cheatwood and Mike Alston are at the ends.
Against the Iron, Cheatwood was inactive and not with the team for personal reasons.
During Tuesday’s practice, receiver George Murray (hamstring) and FB Wally Sonnie were in street clothes, but mobile. Mac linebacker Taz Wallace was practicing but not involved in any contact due to a stinger in the shoulder.
Sonnie will be placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL. In Sonnie’s absence, Shawn Donaldson will start at fullback with TE Jason Lewis serving as the backup.
Newcomer OL/DL Ken Shane is listed as backup tight end but he may see first-time action in Tulsa.
OL/DL Larry Harrison, a rookie from Texas College — not to be confused with the University of Texas — will be activated from the refused-to-report list and placed on the roster.
WR/CB Maurice Smith is on team suspension because of an outside obligation.
Against the Iron, receiver C.J. Brewer caught 10 passes for 101 yards and two scores in his debut for Mahoning Valley.
Thunder quarterback Davon Vinson threw four touchdowns for the second straight week and ran for two more. Through two weeks, he’s passed for eight scores and rushed for three.
Mahoning Valley’s biggest offensive deficiency through two games has been its inability to convert third downs to first downs. The Thunder has converted just two of 10 third-down tries to date.
When Jamar Landrom intercepted a pass against Milwaukee, it gave all three Thunder starting defensive-backs — Landrom, Ray Williams and Clarence Curry — one interception on the young season. All three D-backs rank among the team’s top four tacklers.
Former Thunder player Tim Murphy is with the Talons, but he’s been on injured reserve and has not played a game for Tulsa in 2009.
Murphy played for Mahoning Valley in both 2007 and 2008 and led the entire af2 in rushing both years. He was named All-af2 first team in 2007 and 2008.
Last season he rushed for 94 yards on May 5 against Wilkes-Barre which is the second-most yards in a game in the history of the af2.
He owns Thunder marks for career rushing yards, single season and single-game rushing yards. He is also responsible for the longest offensive play in franchise history.
bassetti@vindy.com