Thunder Drop Nail Bitter to Wolves
June 19, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Mahoning Valley Thunder News Release
Youngstown, OH. -The Manchester Wolves rallied from a 20-0 first quarter deficit to stun Mahoning Valley 59-53 on Cortland Banks Field inside of the Covelli Centre. The win ended a three game Wolves losing skid and extended the Thunder losing streak to eleven. In seven series meetings, Manchester has never lost to Mahoning Valley.
Manchester forced six Mahoning Valley turnovers including a crucial Brad Roach fumble that was recovered by the Wolves' Bryan Robinson with 28.8 seconds to play. At the time, Manchester led 56-53 with Mahoning Valley driving. The teams combined for 37 fourth quarter points with the final score-a 35 yard Wolves Chris Koepplin Field Goal coming with just 11 seconds remaining.
The Wolves offense was led by Quarterback Mike Potts who finished 32 of 47 for 273 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. Of those four interceptions, Thunder Defensive Back Brandon Taylor set a franchise record by nabbing three of the pics. Manchester Wide Receiver Steve Savoy was nearly un-coverable catching a game-high 14 passes for 120 yards and four touchdowns including a long gain of 28 yards.
Guiding the Thunder offense was signal caller Brad Roach who threw for six touchdowns while completing 16 of his 32 pass attempts in his second career start. Roach, who was picked off four times, connected with Wide Receiver Quorey Payne six times for 84 yards and four trips to the end zone. Payne also added a 48 yard fourth quarter kick return touchdown- his fifth return touchdown on the season.
The visiting Wolves defense was guided by Defensive Back Brandon Isaac who led the team with five tackles, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Mahoning Valley's defense was aided by Patrick Wells who recorded a game-high 10 tackles and a forced fumble.
After falling behind by three scores, Manchester outscored the Thunder 59-33 over the final 47 minutes.
The Thunder remains home next weekend, playing a division rival for the third straight week. Next Saturday night, perennial af2 power Wilkes-Barre travels to the Covelli Centre for their final meeting of the season with Mahoning Valley. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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