The Portland Thunder have so eagerly wanted a way to show the level of effort and growth that defined the 2014-15 offseason. A gutty performance against their expansion rival was good way to start. The Thunder defeated the LA KISS 42-37 in their 2015 AFL season opener, to the delight of a packed Moda Center crowd of 7,194 on Friday night. "I'm just excited for this team," stated head coach Mike Hohensee, following the win. "I know we worked hard. I know we were in better shape than that football team, and it showed in the end. I believe our players saw that as well. Hopefully our guys see now why we work so hard, because it pays off." The night marks not only the Thunder's first win in a home opener in franchise history, but also the first win for Hohensee as Portland's head coach. "We just wanted to win," Hohensee continued. All the other accolades and things are for the organization. For all these players, that are grinding every day, putting the hours in in the meeting rooms, we just wanted the 'W'." The win was anything but easy, and true to Hohensee's words, the Thunder found themselves in a difficult position early on. A position that only hard work could get them out of. Los Angeles opened up the scoring just over three minutes into the first, as veteran QB Adrian McPherson made contact with WR Donovan Morgan for a short, three yard touchdown toss. That TD ended an opening drive for the KISS in which the Thunder gave up nearly half the field in penalty yardage, a hallmark of the 2014 Thunder defense. To make things worse, three straight incompletions ended the Thunder's first offensive drive just a few minutes later. "I think you know that there are always going to be some bumps in the road," Portland QB Kyle Rowley explained. "But then I thought we composed ourselves. We knew coming in that whatever happens, whatever learning curve we have, we could refocus." And refocus they did. Following a quick defensive stop that left Portland to start on the KISS 19 yard line, Rowley capitalized three plays later, scoring on a one yard touchdown rush, to give the Thunder their first lead of the night, and to settle a few nerves. The sides traded scores for the next 2 quarters, but the Thunder were always more so in the ascendancy, with big plays taking momentum away from the KISS. The biggest such play was a 28 yard touchdown catch made by Thunder receiver Jamar Howard. Howard, running at pace, extended himself in the left corner of the endzone during the third quarter score that gave Portland a five point lead, only to find himself flipping head over heels into an adjacent tunnel, between two sections of seats. Howard immediately rose to his feet, waving the ball in the air. The Thunder defensive front then caught the big play bug, with linemen Frank Trotter and Marquis Jackson causing numerous problems for McPherson. Jackson was consistently in the offensive backfield, sacking McPherson twice, while Trotter batted down four of Adrian's passes. Rowley finished the game 19 of 28 passing, for 209 yards and five scores, with his favored target of the evening, Jamar Howard, accounting for 114 of those yards, and three TD's. Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game - Jamar Howard (PDX) Riddell Defensive Player of the Game- Marquis Jackson (PDX) J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the Game - Bryce Peila (PDX) Cutters Catch of the Game - Jamar Howard's 28 yard 3rd quarter TD Catch (9:19 OTC) (PDX) AFL Highlight of the Game - Jamar Howard's 28 yard 3rd quarter TD Catch (9:19 OTC) (PDX) Press release from the Portland Thunder
Quarterback Shane Austin threw for 221 yards and seven touchdowns and the defense forced four turnovers as the Cleveland Gladiators (1-0) opened the 2015 season with a 60-44 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm (0-1). Amarri Jackson, Dominick Goodman, and Collin Taylor caught two touchdowns apiece, while Jackson rushed for a third. Jack Linebacker Joe Phinisee had a hand in three of the four Tampa Bay Storm turnovers as he recovered two fumbles and recorded an interception. Defensive Back Dominic Jones made big plays on defense as well, finishing the game with a team-leading 11 tackles. The Gladiators are on the road once again next Saturday as they take on the New Orleans VooDoo at 8:00 p.m. Next Saturday's game can be heard live on 92.3 The Fan. The Gladiators got on the board first when Shane Austin found Dominick Goodman in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard score to make it 7-0 with 8:24 left in the first quarter. The Storm responded with a touchdown on Tampa Bay's opening drive as QB Jason Boltus connected with Jarvis Williams for a 19-yard score with 5:45 left in the quarter to even things back up at 7-7. The Gladiators answered quickly as Austin found Wide Receiver Collin Taylor on the first play of the following drive for a 29 yard touchdown with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter to put Cleveland ahead 13-7. The Gladiators forced the first of three fumbles on the last play of the first quarter when Defensive End Anthony Degrate jumped on a loose ball given away by Wide Receiver Kendrick Ings. To open the second quarter, Austin found Wide Receiver Andrae Thurman for his first score as a Gladiator, a 24-yarder to put Cleveland up 19-7. After the ensuing kickoff, JLB Joe Phinisee fell on a Boltus fumble in the end zone for another Gladiators score, extending the lead to 25-7 with 13:35 left in the first half. The Storm would respond with two touchdowns of their own as Boltus threw touchdown passes of 10 and 28 yards to wide outs T.T. Toliver and Kendrick Ings to trim the Gladiator lead to 25-21 with 48 seconds left in the opening half. The Gladiators quickly answered with two touchdowns of their own as WR Amarri Jackson, making his debut for the Gladiators against his former squad, took a jet sweep for eight yards and his first score as a Gladiator. Then following Joe Phinisee's second fumble recovery of the night, Shane Austin threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game to WR Dominick Goodman as time expired to make the score 39-21 at the half and the Gladiators never looked back. Cleveland opened the scoring in the third quarter as Austin found Amarri Jackson for his first receiving touchdown of the season, a 20-yarder with 5:14 remaining. Boltus and the Storm offense trimmed it back down to an 18-point Gladiators lead when T.T. Toliver hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass at the 1:22 mark of the third quarter. Tampa Bay never seriously threatened the Gladiator lead in the fourth quarter as the Storm couldn't cut the deficit lower than 16 points. Austin found Jackson for his third touchdown of the night, a 23-yarder, just 30 seconds into the final quarter. Boltus countered by finding Toliver for a 25-yard touchdown pass, Toliver's third score of the night. The Glads found the end zone one last time on the night as Austin would find Collin Taylor for a four-yard touchdown. The catch was Taylor's second touchdown grab on the night. Tampa Bay capped off the scoring for the game when Boltus found Jarvis Williams for a three-yard score with 48 seconds left. NOTES: The Gladiators have now won three in a row over the Tampa Bay Storm... Mac Linebacker Tim Cheatwood's sack tonight was his first as a Gladiator since 2012, he spent the 2014 season as an Assistant Coach for the team... JLB Joe Phinisee led the team with five fumble recoveries in 2014, he recorded two of those tonight... Wide Receiver Andrae Thurman caught his first touchdown as a Gladiator, a 24-yarder from Austin in the second quarter Follow the Gladiators on Twitter @CLEGladiators and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/clevelandgladiators Press release from the Cleveland Gladiators
