Zetts gets baptism under af2 fire

By John Bassetti | July 16, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN — Former Youngstown State quarterback Tom Zetts is the lone signal-caller for the Mahoning Valley Thunder entering Friday’s game in Manchester, N.H.

Zetts replaced Brad Roach early in last week’s 76-34 loss to the Peoria Pirates.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Zetts entered in the second quarter after Roach was injured on the last play of the first quarter. At the time, the Thunder trailed, 28-0.

Zetts got his af2 baptism by completing 19 of 36 passes for 256 yards. Two of his passes were for touchdowns, but three were intercepted.

“Everything has to be so precise and that I wasn’t,” Zetts said following practice this week at the Covelli Centre. It marked the beginning of his first full week with the Thunder following a three-day practice week leading up to Peoria.

Did he expect his af2 baptism so soon?

“No, not at all. I really didn’t expect to play much at all. Brad was expected to play the whole game as long as it was close. When he got hurt, it was trial by fire for me.”

What did he learn?

“That you can’t make mistakes, period. There’s just no room for error because it’s such a small field and there are so many guys out there. Any ball that’s thrown just a little bit off could be tipped or intercepted. It’s a very precise game.”

bassetti@vindy.com