The Mahoning Valley Thunder knew they had a tough opponent in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  The two teams met earlier this season and Wilkes-Barre posted an 80-43 rout.  The score was not much different at The Covelli Centre Friday night as The Pioneers posted a 73-37 victory over The Thunder.  What was different was the spirit that Mahoning Valley played with.  The score does not reflect the fact that the home team did not quit. 

The game started bad for The Thunder as Blake Powers tried a lateral that was fumbled and recovered by Wilkes-Barre on The Thunder 4-yard line.  Wilkes-Barre scored on the next play to jump out 7-0.  On the next play from scrimmage for The Thunder, Powers was intercepted by The Pioneers Micheaux Robinson who returned his pick to the Thunder 10-yard line.  Two plays later The Pioneers scored again to make it 14-0.  At this point, Wilkes-Barre had 14 points and 14 total yards on offense.

Mahoning Valley got on the board on a Derrick Schorejs field goal to cut the lead to 14-3.

Penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct were plentiful against The Thunder.  The feeling of frustration was obvious in some instances.  The Thunder wanted Wilkes-Barre to understand that they were there for pride and not to be disqualified for complacency and nonchalance.

Down 21-3, Mahoning Valley engineered a nice drive that resulted in a Blake Powers 1-yard TD run to cut the lead to 21-10.  Wilkes-Barre scored quickly on a 36-yard pass from Ryan Vena to J. J. Outlaw, and again on their next possession to take a 35-10 lead.   Powers then found C. J. Brewer for a 28-yard strike making the score35-17.   Wilkes-Barre, with some help from Thunder penalties, kicked a field goal to make the halftime score 38-17.

Quorey Payne finally got untracked in the fourth quarter.  He caught TD’s of 10 and 39 from Davon Vinson, who replaced Powers in the fourth quarter.  I really feel for Quorey Payne.  This guy, for the second home game in a row, returned a kickoff for a touchdown only to have it called back for a penalty.

Down 59-31 in the fourth, Mahoning Valley attempted an onside kick.  The attempt failed and The Pioneers got a quick touchdown out of it.  This is the point in the game where I realized that The Thunder were not laying down and were doing everything in their power to make positives to build upon. 

With the score at 66-37, Wilkes-Barre pumped one in, using timeouts to stop the clock for no good reason.  This was David flexing his muscles at Goliath, and a classless display, I was thrilled that they did this.  This will give The Thunder some incentive for the rematch with The Pioneers on June 27 in Youngstown.  Final score Wilkes-Barre 73, Mahoning Valley 37.

Ryan Vena is a great quarterback.  When he was rushed he made some incredible throws in very little spaces.  Vena finished the night 30-39 for 331 yards and 7 TD’s.  Irving Campbell caught 11 of Vena’s passes for 139 yards.  J. J. Outlaw caught 9 Vena passes for 106 yards and 4 TD’s.

For Mahoning Valley, Blake Powers was 12-24 for 114 yards with 2 TD’s and a rushing TD.  Davon Vinson was 2-2 for 49 yards and 2 TD’s and also had a run of 35 yards.  C.J. Brewer and Quorey Payne had a pair of touchdowns each for The Thunder.  Payne finished the game with 182 all-purpose yards.

The Thunder have a bye week before traveling to Manchester on May 22.  The next Thunder home game is set for May 30 against The Kentucky Horsemen.

I spoke with new coach Brennen Booth (above) after the game.  Booth was not furious about losing saying he saw many positives and was pleased that his team kept fighting.  He also told me that people knew they were playing for their roster spots tonight and that most stepped up to the challenge.  Look for a few transactions to be made next week as Booth will be working with a few guys looking to become Thunder players.

I will be doing features on Coach Booth, Quorey Payne and Blake Powers in the next couple of weeks.  I will also be doing a story about the many things The Thunder staff coordinates to make these home games very family friendly.  Everything and anything goes when there is a timeout.  After the game, players sign autographs and answer questions.  It really is a great night out and I encourage the entire valley to get to a game, you won’t be disappointed.  Much more on The Mahoning Valley Thunder in the near future right here at Paneech.com.