Record Setting Pressure Burns The Portland Thunder As They Fall to 0-3

Recap

There were pyrotechnics, go-go dancers, live bands and a whole lot of pageantry in the Honda Center as the LA KISS hosted the Portland Thunder for the KISS’s first ever home game. The Thunder hoped to play spoiler and steal their first ever victory from the fellow new AFL franchise.  However, an epic pass rush from the KISS would keep the Thunder from earning their first victory.

Darron Thomas, former Oregon Duck, started the game at quarterback for the Thunder and struggled early on, throwing an interception on his first pass attempt of the game. While the offense struggled in the first quarter, the Thunder defense would keep the team in the game throughout with big plays like a tip and interception by Bryce Peila in the second quarter.

About halfway through the first half, new Thunder acquisition Danny Southwick replaced Thomas under center and he immediately made a statement. Despite only joining the team the day before the game against the KISS, Southwick had the team’s best performance at quarterback and immediately inserted himself into the conversation as starter. Thomas would stay on the bench for the rest of the game. Nathan Enderle would not take the field.

However, the biggest story of the game came from the defense of the KISS. Their pass rush was relentless, stalling several promising Thunder drives. Most notably, the Thunder had driven down to a first and goal situation down by just seven points, only to be stymied by four consecutive sacks and a turnover on downs. All told, the KISS sacked one of the two Thunder quarterbacks a whopping 11 times, an AFL single game record. This powerful pass rush was led by Beau Bell of the KISS who had six of the sacks for the team, also setting the single game record in the AFL.

While Southwick injected an energy into the Thunder offense, the pass rush of the KISS was too much for the Thunder to overcome. The Thunder never had the lead but kept the game close, within one or two scores throughout the entire contest. However, a furious rally would fall short and the team would lose 44-34.

Analysis

After his strong play in the second half of the game against the Iowa Barnstormers, the role of starting quarterback may have been Thomas’s to earn. However, the early struggles led to the insertion of Southwick into the game. With only a day with the team, it was unsure how effective Southwick could be. His poise in the often-collapsing pocket and his markedly accurate throws kept the Thunder offense moving and made the Thunder offense look far more effective than it had in previous outings.

The defense played well again, holding the KISS to under 50 points. Unfortunately for the Thunder, the offensive line proved unable to keep a quarterback upright and stalled the team’s ability to put up points, often putting the defense in more difficult situations for holding the Los Angeles franchise.

For a team that has yet to name a single quarterback, the addition of Southwick adds another wrinkle. With such limited time to learn the playbook and build chemistry with his receivers, the performance of the new quarterback may mean the job could be his to seize.

The road does not get any easier on the Thunder, as they travel to a perennial contender in the Spokane Shock, kicking off at 7 PM on Saturday, April 12^th.