Lorenzen in the zone against Thunder’s zone

June 1, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Vindicator staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — What’s wrong with this picture?

After Mahoning Valley Thunder players signed autographs following Saturday’s loss to Kentucky, Horsemen quarterback Jared Lorenzen was posing for pictures with local fans.

Maybe that’s a good sign for the fan-friendly af2.

The player who earned a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants at the conclusion of the 2007 season is the trigger man of Kentucky’s af2-best scoring offense.

How did he grade the Thunder’s defense?

“They played differently than most teams,” Lorenzen said of Mahoning Valley’s defensive backfield. “They played more zone than I expected. It was kind of tough to scout them because you’re not exactly sure what the new coach is going to implement.

“They’ve got some very good athletes, but we just took advantage of good field position toward the end,” Lorenzen said of two of the Thunder’s three onside kicks that the Horsemen quickly converted into touchdowns in a 61-39 victory.

Lorenzen, who alternates with Justin Rascati to engineer scores on most offensive series, explained his team’s success.

“The first thing I learned about the arena game is that, if you score every time you get the ball, you can’t lose. That’s what we try to do. We’ve got a ton of playmakers and we get the ball in their hands. That makes it easy on me.”

Lorenzen said he saw a little more zone from the Thunder than he expected.

“Man defense is primarily what you see, but you’ve got coaches with different theories.”

He said it’s easier to face zone.

“There are more gaps and more holes, especially with the rules and the Jack linebacker not being able to go deeper than five yards. There’s a lot of things you can exploit. Once we did that, we realized exactly what they were doing, that’s when the bigger gains started to come.”

Mahoning Valley DB Darrell Carlton was asked to weigh in.

With Ray Williams hurt and Clarence Curry released, Carlton, Jamar Landrom and newcomer Antoine Horton were in the backfield.

Horton, who just signed Thursday, played with Kentucky earlier this season. Thunder newcomer FB TaVoris Horton (no relation) was also with the Horsemen until a few weeks ago.

“We try to mix up with a little zone, a little man, but mostly man-to-man,” said Carlton. “It depends on the call and how far the offense has to go.”

Carlton defended his territory.

“He’s not picking us apart,” the DB said of Lorenzen. “It’s just that he has a lot of time to read. Arena ball is a quick game, so if you ain’t getting pressure on the quarterback, it becomes a one-on-one game and, of course, it’s made for the offense. So we try our best to stick on our guys as long as we can, but if they have a lot of time, he [QB] is going to find those holes in the defense.”

Carlton said a defensive back’s effectiveness is limited.

“You try to cover a guy all day, but at some point, the quarterback and the receiver have a better relationship than the DB and the quarterback, so they slip open sometimes.”

Up front, defensively, Mahoning Valley isn’t getting adequate pressure.

“I think we’re getting pressure, but we’re not getting enough pressure,” Carlton said. “We’re there [on the cusp of winning]. It’s just pushing a little bit farther and getting a little more pressure from the D-line and we’ll make plays in the backfield.”