Sports stats



Mahoning Valley Thunder game notes

May 22, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Mahoning Valley Thunder News Release


QUICK FACTS:

Manchester Wolves (3-4) at Mahoning Valley Thunder (3-4)

Date: Friday, May 25th, 2007

Kickoff: 7:05 p.m. EST

Site: Chevrolet Centre (6,000)

National Anthem: TBA

Coin Toss: TBA

Officials: Referee: Greg Allen

Umpire: Brian Fleming

Head Linesman: Rob Luklan

Line Judge: Dan Gallagher

Back Judge: Frank Steratore

Radio: ESPN 1240 FM; 96.7 FM (Mike Case, Play-by-play and Christian Aleshire, Color Commentary)

Series Record: 1-0, Manchester

Last Meeting: Wolves 67, Thunder 49

Streaks: Thunder Lost 4; Wolves Lost 1

Coaches: Mike Hold (30-31 Reg. Season, First year w/Thunder, 5th overall)

Ben Bennett (49-30 Reg. Season, Third year w/Wolves, 4th overall)

THE STAKES: Both Mahoning Valley and Manchester are looking to snap losing streaks this Friday night. The Thunder enters the game on a four-game skid while the Wolves lost their last outing to Bossier-Shreveport last week. With both teams tied for second place in the American Conference East Standings, the winner of the game will move into sole-possession of second.

THE SERIES: This week's game is the second meeting in the history of the series. On April 28, the Wolves handed the Thunder their first loss of the year - the start of the Thunder's current four-game losing streak. The Wolves posted the most points allowed by the Thunder this year with that 67-49 victory. Fortunately for the Thunder, Manchester is yet to win a road game this year, dropping all four contests away from Verizon Wireless Arena.

THE IFs:

If Mahoning Valley defeats Manchester, it would ...

- Even the series and all-time record between the two teams to 1-1

- Snap the current four-game losing streak

- Give the Thunder their first win since April 21 vs. Cincinnati

- Give the Thunder a 3-2 record at home

- Move the Thunder into sole possession of second place ahead of Manchester

Mahoning Valley (3-4)

Date Opponent Result Record

3/31 TRI CITIES W 48-40 1-0

4/6 @ Albany W 65-59 2-0

4/21 CINCINNATI W 54-20 3-0

4/28 @ Manchester L 49-67 3-1

5/5 LOUISVILLE L 34-52 3-2

5/12 WILKES-BARRE/SCR. L 26-56 3-3

5/19 @ Florida L 26-62 3-4

5/25 MANCHESTER 7:05 N/A

6/2 @ Cincinnati 7:30 N/A

6/8 @ Green Bay 8:30 N/A

6/16 QUAD CITY 7:05 N/A

6/30 @ WB/Scranton 7:00 N/A

7/7 @ Louisville 7:00 N/A

7/13 ALBANY 7:05 N/A

7/21 @ Tennessee Valley 8:30 N/A

7/28 GREEN BAY 7:05 N/A

*all times EST

Manchester (3-4)

Date Opponent Result Record

3/31 @ Wilkes-Barre/Scr. L 50-36 0-1

4/13 @ Green Bay L 35-32 0-2

4/21 FORT WAYNE W 54-41 1-2

4/28 MAHONING VALLEY W 67-49 2-2

5/4 @ Wilkes-Barre/Scr. L 42-59 2-3

5/11 ALBANY W 53-48 3-3

5/18 @ Bossier-Shreveport L 52-62 3-4

5/25 @ Mahoning Valley 7:05 N/A

6/1 TULSA 7:05 N/A

6/8 ALBANY 7:05 N/A

6/16 @ Florida 7:30 N/A

6/30 SOUTH GEORGIA 7:05 N/A

7/7 @ Cincinnati 7:30 N/A

7/13 WILKES-BARRE/SCR. 7:05 N/A

7/21 @ Albany 4:00 N/A

American Conference East Standings

Team W L PCT Home Road

WB/Scranton 7 0 1.000 4-0 3-0

Mahoning Valley 3 4 .429 2-2 1-2

Manchester 3 4 .429 3-0 0-4

Albany 2 4 .400 1-2 1-2

Mike Hold, Thunder Head Coach Mike Hold enters his first season as the Head Coach of the Mahoning Valley Thunder. He comes to the Thunder after serving as head coach of the Augusta Stallions of af2, head coach of the Macon Knights of af2, head coach of the Carolina Cobras of the AFL and coaching with the Las Vegas Gladiators of the AFL. Hold brings over 20 years of Arena Football experience to the Thunder. He enjoyed a 12-season playing career in the AFL beginning in the League's inaugural season in 1987 with the Chicago Bruisers. Hold participated in training camps with the Denver Broncos in 1986 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1987 and 1988. Hold also played in three games with the Bucs during the 1987 season completing 8-of-24 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Hold graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1985 after playing two seasons. He led the Gamecocks to the only 10-win season in school history and was named MVP of the Gator Bowl in 1984. Hold ranks seventh on the school's all-time passing list with 2,981 yards. A native of Tempe, Arizona, Hold worked as a color commentator for the Mountain West Conference, for ESPN's Arena Football League coverage in 2001 and was the play-by-play announcer for the af2's ArenaCup6 Championship Game in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He and his wife, Nicole, reside in Salem, OH with their two dogs, Phoenix and Macy.

The Last Time Out:

Estero, FL- The Florida Firecats scored a season high 62 points behind QB Chris Wallace's 213 yard 5 touchdown pass performance to earn a 36 point win over the Mahoning Valley Thunder at Germain Arena. Florida also got 3 rushing TD's from FB Wallace House in the victory in front of a crowd of 5,038 fans. The win improved Florida to 5-3 on the year while Mahoning Valley dropped it's 4th straight running their record to 3-4. The Mahoning Valley Thunder took their only lead of the game on a 11 TD pass from Glen Gauntt to DeMarcus Mathes with 11:17 to go in the 2nd which put them up 7-6. Florida would score 3 more times in the half to take a 27-13 lead into the break. Florida scored on the opening possession of the 3rd quarter to stretch their lead to 34-13 on a scoring run by WR Chris McKinney. With Florida up 41-13 the Thunder scored back to back TD's to pull within 15 at 41-26 early in the 4th quarter, but Florida responded with authority as Wallace House ran for the games final 3 scores. The game was stopped briefly during the 4th quarter when Thunder receiver Chris Johnson went down with a broken arm and was taken to a local hospital. The Firecats went 8 for 8 in the redzone while the Thunder converted just 3 of 6 trips near the goal line into points.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Thunder and Pioneers stack up:

Statistical WOLVES THUNDER

Category Rank Stat Rank Stat

Scoring Offense 16 48.0 22 43.0

Touchdowns 13 49 20 44

Total Offense 14 260.4 13 260.9

Scoring Defense 18 49.1 20 50.9

Total Defense 17 255.1 21 262.3

Rushing Offense 28 8.0 19 17.0

Passer Rating 11 105.1 22 83.0

Rushing Defense 28 29.4 17 20.3

Pass Rat. Defense 18 102.2 29 118.2

Pass Offense 9 252.4 14 243.9

Pass Defense 13 225.7 21 242.0

Field Goals 27 .111 29 .100

PAT Kicking 21 .721 23 .714

MFG Returns 5 24.7 21 12.8

Kickoff Returns 24 14.7 30 12.2

Turnover Margin 24 -1.14 18 -0.14

First Downs 4 140 10 133

Opp. First Downs 11 119 13 121

Sacks 13 10 8 13

Penalties 4 43.7 15 56.9

Sacks Against 1 3 21 13

Opponent Penalties 4 69.6 3 73.9

LEAGUE TOP 10s: Players from this week's matchup who rank among af2's statistical leaders:

THUNDER

Player Rank Category Stat

Tim Murphy 5 Rushing 22.2 ypg

Chris Archie T3 Recept./Gm 8.86

Chris Archie 7 Rec Yds/Game 104.3

Anton Ceaser 4 Sacks 1.00/g

Brandon Brown T4 Tackles for loss 7.0

Anton Ceaser T4 Tackles for loss 7.0

Anton Ceaser T2 Fumbles Forced 0.67 / gm.

WOLVES

Player Rank Category Stat

Ryan Porter 7 Pass Efficiency 115.3

Maurice Foutain 2 Sacks 1.00/gm.

Maurice Fountain 2 Tackles for loss 1.29/gm.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:

MIKE HOLD, on the recent struggles: "Not making excuses, but we just played three good teams. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is the number one team and Florida held that same title for the first three weeks. We need to get this ship turned around."

MIKE HOLD, on seeing a team for the second time: "It helps because you have seen them live instead of only on film. We were able to pick up on some tendencies and that helps in the preparation for the game. It is the same team, so not too much has changed."

FORWARD MOTION: Following this week, the Thunder is on the road for four of the next five games. In week 13 of the season, the Thunder has their second and final bye week of the year (weekend of June 23). After returning home on Friday, July 13 versus Albany, the Thunder will have just one home game remaining.

MILESTONES: Having never played an af2 game before, every play in the home opener was some kind of new Thunder record. Here are some of the most notable facts that have made it into the Mahoning Valley Record Book:

First TD Pass: Glen Gauntt to Chris Archie

First TD Rush: Tim Frost

First Play from Scrimmage: Gauntt pass to Kenneth Johnson for nine yards

First Interception: Brian Majors

First Fumble Recovery: Mike Lane

PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

"ALL HAIL CEASER": A dominant force on the defensive line, OL/DL Anton Ceaser has been as tough as they come this season. Having played in six of the Thunder's seven games, Ceaser recorded a sack in his first five games. Last week versus Florida was the first game this year that Ceaser did not get to the opposing quarterback.

OFF THE SCHNIDE: With a win this week, the Thunder is looking to snap the four-game skid that started on April 28 at Manchester. In the four losses, the Thunder has been outscored 135-237. The Thunder has allowed 50+ points and scored less than 50 points in each loss.

SURE HANDED: WR Chris Archie has been the most consistent Thunder receiver this season. Over his last four games (all losses), Archie has recorded 475 yards on 40 receptions (11.9 yards per catch) and tallied nine touchdown receptions.

FRESH FACES: In their Mahoning Valley Thunder debuts, DB Reggie Perkins and WR Chris Johnson made an immediate impact to the team. Perkins led all Thunder players with 6.0 tackles, one PBU and one fumble recovery. Johnson finished his debut with five catches for 81 yards and one touchdown reception. He also added a 2-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. QB Glen Gauntt lined up at wide receiver and Johnson was under center. He took the snap around the left side for the two yard touchdown run - the first ever of his career.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD

(selected by media)

Week Opp. Player

1 TRI WR Chris Archie (MVT)

2 @ ALB QB Glen Gauntt (MVT)

3 BYE BYE

4 CIN WR DeMarcus Mathes (MVT)

5 @ MAN QB Ryan Porter (MAN)

6 LOU WR Tiger Jones (LOU)

7 WBS QB Ryan Vena (WBS)

8 @ FLA WR/LB Chris McKinney (FLA)

IRONMAN OF THE GAME AWARD

(selected by media)

Week Opp. Player

1 TRI OL/DL Tim Frost (MVT)

2 @ ALB DB Jarvis Johnson (ALB)

3 BYE BYE

4 CIN TE/DL Jamel Lee (MVT)

5 @ MAN WR/DB David Bailey (MAN)

6 LOU OL/DL Eddie Yauch (LOU)

7 WBS WR/DB Larry Kendrick (WBS)

8 @ FLA WR/DB Levy Brown (FLA)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD

(selected by media)

Week Opp. Player

1 TRI OL/DL Anton Ceaser (MVT)

2 @ ALB DL Durrand Roundtree (ALB)

3 BYE BYE

4 CIN DB Maurice Taylor (MVT)

5 @ MAN DL Maurice Fountain (MAN)

6 LOU DB Nate Green (LOU)

7 WBS WR/DB TuTu Ferguson

8 @ FLA WR/DB Levy Brown (FLA)

CATCH OF THE GAME AWARD

(selected by media)

Week Opp. Player

1 TRI WR Chris Archie (MVT)

2 @ ALB WR DeMarcus Mathes (MVT)

3 BYE BYE

4 CIN WR Kenny Johnson (MVT)

5 @ MAN WR Chris Archie (MVT)

6 LOU WR Chris Archie (MVT)

7 WBS WR/DB TuTu Ferguson INT (WBS)

8 @ FLA WR Magic Benton (FLA)

• Discuss this story on the arenafootball2 message board...

arenafootball2 Stories from May 22, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Mahoning Valley Thunder Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central