Florida has been good to the Portland Thunder. As nice as it certainly is to get back to their home field and fans, there has to be some fond memories of the Sunshine State as the team earned their first two franchise victories, both on the road. While the success last week against the Jacksonville Sharks came largely behind the arm of Kyle Rowley, the contest against the Tampa Storm saw a different, yet familiar face was found under center.
Suffering an injury last week, Rowley was sidelined, catching many outside of the team off guard. In his stead, the Thunder turned to another midseason acquisition, Danny Southwick, to propel the team to a 62-41 victory.
While Southwick had shown glimmers of brilliance in his earlier starts, he had been inconsistent at best. However, on Saturday, Thunder fans got a whole lot more of the good than the bad.
Southwick picked apart the Storm defense, showcasing stunning accuracy. As reported by the Portland Thunder Radio team (Twitter @pdxthunderradio), at halftime, Southwick had more touchdowns than incompletions. This was not a stat that he would have throughout the game. He had just one more incompletion than touchdown. For the curious, he had nine incompletions to eight … yes eight … touchdowns.
Southwick’s total statline: 24 completions on 33 attempts. Eight touchdowns. 307 yards. Two interceptions. While the two picks were “just bad throws” according to head coach Matthew Sauk in his post-game conference, it is hard to be too critical of such a dominating performance by Southwick.
His favorite target is an emerging Arena Football League star Eric Rogers. In just his second game with the team, Rogers hauled in an astonishing five scores, including an over-the-wall catch seen on the SportsCenter Top 10.
All told, the Thunder scored 53 points on offense (kicker Michael Braunstein missed multiple extra points in his most inconsistent games). However, the Thunder received help, as usual, from their defense, a ball-hawking squad that forces turnovers left and right.
The game against the Storm was no different. KC Obi was responsible for a safety by collapsing the pocket seemingly effortlessly, nabbing another two points. In a truly bizarre play, Eric Crocker intercepted a pass. A Tampa offensive player forced a fumble on Crocker. However, the ever alert Varmah Sonie picked up the fumble and ran it in for a touchdown.
This interception was just one of five turnovers forced by the Thunder. Sonie also picked off a pass of his own and the Thunder recovered three fumbles. All told, the defense only gave up 34 points (one of Southwick’s interceptions was returned for a touchdown, accounting for seven of the Storm’s points), continuing their dominance as one of the league’s hottest and most ferocious of defenses.
Getting two wins on the road, especially across the country with no time back at home between games, is hard in any league. It was crucial for the Thunder. The schedule doesn’t get any easier. Back at home, the Arizona Rattlers are coming to town. The Rattlers are the two-time defending Arena Bowl champions. They have yet to lose this year. And they are coming to the Moda Center. Portland needs all the momentum they earned in Florida.
The Thunder’s game against the Rattlers was scheduled for Saturday but it has been pre-empted for the Portland Trail Blazers playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. It is now scheduled for Sunday. May 11 at 5PM.
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