At a Glance
The Portland Thunder faced a slow start, rife with penalties and interceptions in the first half, scoring only 9 points. This was the lowest total for an Arena Football team since July 13,2013. While both teams looked a little sloppy, Iowa managed to take a 20-9 lead at the half. Bolstered by wide receiver Duane Brooks and defensive back Varmah Sonie, the Thunder played their best quarter and held Iowa scoreless, taking the lead 23-20. A fierce 4th quarter, with 5 lead changes ensued but Darron Thomas’s last minute drive fell short as the Thunder fall to 0-2.
Recap
The Portland Thunder came out Monday night looking to avenge a tough loss to the San Jose SaberCats in the franchise’s inaugural game. The Iowa Barnstormers were also looking to earn their first win of the season on Monday.
However, both teams came out looking sloppy. The first quarter saw four penalties, including two delay of games by Thunder quarterback Darron Thomas and two personal fouls by Iowa. In addition, there was a combined total of 4 interceptions in the first half, two by Iowa’s Carson Coffman and one each by the Thunder’s two quarterback platoon. Despite the issues, Iowa quarterback Carson Coffman connected for a 33 yard pass to his emerging favorite target, Marco Thomas.
The sloppiness continued for both teams into the second quarter and progressed into chippy play. A small on-field brawl resulted in the ejection of one player for each squad. Although Portland continued to look a bit out of sync on offense, they did add a field goal early in the second quarter. However, Marco Thomas struck again, hauling in a 7 yard pass to make it 13-3. Early breakout star Duane Brooks hauled in the Thunder’s first touchdown, off of a 33 yard bomb from Enderle. However, Iowa would add one more score from Coffman to DeJay Lester, bringing the score to 20-9. This is where it would end at half. Portland’s 9 halftime points would mark the lowest half time team total since July 13th of 2013.
Desperately needing a boost, it was once again provided by Duane Brooks. Returning the opening kickoff of the second half to the 15 yard line, Brooks set up a touchdown pass from Darron Thomas to Jeffrey Solomon. Further momentum gave Portland its first lead of the game as Varmah Sonie forced a fumble on a completed pass and Bryce Peila returned it for a touchdown, putting the Thunder up 23-20.
The fourth quarter saw the battle really go back and forth. The quarter saw five different lead changes and the Thunder offense truly click. While the battle went back and forth, time eventually ran out on the Thunder. In the final minute, the Thunder had the ball on the Iowa 20 but couldn’t bring it home, eventually turning the ball over on downs and ceding the first victory of the season to Iowa.
Analysis
It was a tale of two halves for the Thunder. The first saw all kinds of errors. Head coach Matthew Sauk discussed the difference between the halves.
“To be honest, I wasn’t happy with the energy in the first half. Our second half energy was absolutely electrifying. The way we came out in the second half was night and day different… From my area, from seeing what my guys can do, we were not even close [in the first half] to where we were in the second half. If we can do this for two halves in the next game, we’ve got a chance.”
However, the defense played well throughout the game. A standout performance came from Varmah Sonie, an Arena rookie, who made a huge impact on the defensive side of the ball. He forced a fumble (which was recovered for a touchdown), nabbed an interception and was involved with some stout pass defense.
Of course, one of the major early season storylines for the Thunder is their quarterback situation. Darron Thomas saw a lot more of the action that Enderle and it was clear to Sauk that Thomas outplayed the former Idaho Vandal. However, a decision is far from clear since Enderle was definitely the better performer in week one. With two weeks in front of him before his next game, Coach Sauk has a lot to ponder as he admits that the team needs to make a decision shortly on a single quarterback.
Meanwhile, with the sure to be bombastic Los Angeles KISS in front of them, Darron Thomas kept it short and sweet with how he feels about the Thunder’s first road trip.
“It’s a business trip.”
The Thunder square off with the KISS in the new LA franchise’s home opener on April 5th at 7 PM.
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