Do they stink? Hardly

John Bassetti \ Thunder Insider

It may have been a stupid question, but I thought it was a fair one to ask.

Therefore: “Coach, I don’t mean to be mean, but do you stink?

“We don’t stink. You know, it got out of hand early,” Mahoning Valley Thunder coach Chris MacKeown said of the start to last Saturday’s 76-34 loss to the Peoria Pirates.

He described the first quarter: “We kicked off to them and they scored pretty quickly. They kicked off to us, we drove right down the field inside the 10-yard line, ran a play that their Jack linebacker [Brandon Golder] tipped [the ball], intercepted and they went down and scored. Then they kicked off the iron and they recovered for a score and they’re up 21-0.

“Then they kicked off again to us, we ran backside motion — we knew what coverage they’d be in — we had a touchdown but they [officials] missed when they were banging our receivers at the line of scrimmage. They grabbed and held our guy and the officials didn’t call it,” MacKeown said of the play that he assumes would have been a Thunder touchdown.

Because of the hold, quarterback Brad Roach had to look elsewhere to throw.

“When he came off that to throw someplace else,” MacKeown said, “that’s when he got drilled and separated his A.C. joint [acromioclavicular or right shoulder] and he was out from the second series on. So there were some things that didn’t go our way early.”

In place of Roach — now done for the season’s remaining two games — was Tom Zetts.

“Tom struggled in that second quarter, but played much better the second half,” said MacKeown. “In fact, we played them even, but we were way behind. Tom did all that he could,” the coach said of Zetts, who only had minimum reps in his three days of preparation after signing last week.

“We don’t stink,” MacKeown repeated. “In this game, things could spiral out of control, but in that Peoria game, instead of being 28-0, it should have been 7-7 or 14-7 at worst.”

Considering that MacKeown didn’t dodge the question or didn’t slug me, I’d like to suggest a little mercy on these guys and mercy on the coach who defends his players, especially when they have a 1-13 record.

Any team that loses 13 straight games has got to have built-in bad luck.

Therefore, let it be known by all ye men present that this is “Give the Thunder a Break Week.”

The damage in Peoria was the result of three lost fumbles and five interceptions — two by Roach and three by Zetts.

“Some were forced by Peoria, but some we just gave them,” said MacKeown, the same person who declared — before the game — that “We’ll win our next three.”

MacKeown didn’t excuse the kickoff off the iron TD.

“The thing hits the metal and we don’t recover it and they pick it up for a score. We just have to get those things, which we haven’t. We can’t seem to get a break this year.”

The absence of injured offensive giant Quorey Payne didn’t help, either, but the Thunder plods on.

“In the second half, Peoria quit at the end of the fourth quarter,” MacKeown said. “Yeah, they were winning, but our guys never stopped playing hard. That speaks a lot to the guys’ character.”

Once Tuesday’s practice at the Covelli Centre got rolling, the players had an upbeat mood and showed some spark and were vocal in their preparation for Manchester.

Could that have been their stomachs talking?

If you’re 1-13 and you’re still fighting, what’s the motivation?

Alas! the weekly stack of food vouchers ready to be distributed may have been the answer because each player receives food vouchers and gift cards, in addition to free meals on designated nights.

Another driving force might be the $50 bonus af2 players get on top of their $200 game paycheck.

So far, Thunder players have only received it once — for their season-opening victory.

That could be something to play for in Manchester tonight and again next week at home against Green Bay.

This week, the team left late Wednesday for its 14-hour trip. The sleeper bus allows for the players to get a semblance of rest, but the Mahoning Valley squad got a better night’s sleep in a hotel Thursday.

Don’t forget “Give the Thunder a Break Week.”

bassetti@vindy.com