Thunder QB Glen Gauntt out with broken thumb

David Grimes
Wednesday May 23, 2007

This is not what the doctor ordered.  The Mahoning Valley Thunder placed QB Glen Gauntt and WR Chris Johnson on injured reserve.   

Gauntt, who has 1,684 yards passing and 34 touchdowns broke his thumb and will be out four to six weeks.  This leaves the Thunder with rookie QB Mike Schneider to start the game against the Manchester Wolves on Friday.  The former Duke quarterback only played briefly in the fourth quarter of last week’s game against the Florida Firecats. He finished the game 2-8 with 23 yards passing.  Unfortunately he was also sacked and fumbled the ball on the last play of the game.

Johnson, who went down last game in the fourth quarter, will be out at least eight weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Last week’s game against the Firecats was Johnson’s second game with the Thunder.  He brought in five catches with a touchdown in his debut against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers and caught six catches last week before his injury.

With Gauntt injured the team is left without their normal holder for kicker Derek Schorejs.  Schorejs, who was on Emergency-Hold for a little over two weeks, saw his first action since the end of April.  He had a slow start against Florida, missing two field goals and one extra point. Schorejs finished the game with two points.  With Gauntt missing action and Schorejs’ shaky start, the kicking game will be interesting to watch as the Thunder will need get all the points they can in order to snap their four game losing streak.

The Thunder’s losing streak started with the team they will face on Friday.  Manchester handed Mahoning Valley their first loss of the season, snapping a three-game winning streak.  The Wolves not only started the four game skid, but they also posted 67 points against the Thunder.  This is the most points scored against head-coach Mike Hold and his crew this season.  

The Upside

All is not grim for the Thunder though.  The Wolves have yet to win a road game this season.  Four times they ventured away from the Verizon Wireless Center and each time they found themselves on the losing end.  Hold also thinks playing the Wolves once before is beneficial to his team. 

“It helps because you have seen them live instead of only on film,” Hold said.  “We were able to pick up on some tendencies and that helps in the preparation for the game.  It is the same team, so not too much has changed.”

The one bright spot in the four game losing streak has been WR Chris Archie.  Archie has been playing consistent football for the past several weeks.  Even though the Thunder have fallen short on the scoreboard, Archie has been putting up the numbers week in and week out.

During the losing streak, Archie has pulled in nine touchdowns and is just shy of 500 yards receiving. He is also coming off one of his best games this season.  Last week against the Firecats, Archie grabbed 11 passes for 121 yards. The receptions and receiving yards are both game highs.

The Thunder and Wolves are both coming off of losing streaks and are tied for second place in their conference.  Both teams are looking for a cure to turn their season around and secure sole possession of second place in the American Conference East.