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Portland "Thunders" past Tampa Bay Storm, 61-42

Saturday May 3, 2014

 TAMPA BAY, FL – Backup quarterback Danny Southwick passed for eight touchdowns, five of those to wide receiver Eric Rogers, as the expansion Portland Thunder defeated Tampa Bay, 61-42, Saturday in an Arena Football League game on the Amalie Motor Oil Field at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

The Storm (3-5) have now lost four in a row and were led by receiver Joe Hills five touchdown catches and 104 yards. Starting quarterback Randy Hippeard was 14 of 36 for 185 yards and four touchdowns.

Southwick ended with 24 of 33 for 307 and eight TDs.

The Storm’s Rod Issac had a touchdown interception return for 32 yards at the end of the third quarter. That closed Portland’s lead to 42-34, the closest the Storm came all night. Issac was named the Riddell Defensive Player of the game by adding another interception, three tackles and a pass breakup to his nights’ work.

Portland quarterback Kyle Rowley, who engineered the team’s first win of the season at Jacksonville, 69-62, last Saturday sat out with an array of injuries. Southwick didn’t disappoint leading the Thunder (2-5) to a 33-14 halftime lead on 10 of 13 completions, five of those for touchdowns.

Next week the Tampa Bay Storm will have the first of its two bye weeks this season. The team will then return to action Saturday, May 17 at Philadelphia Soul in the Wells Fargo Center with a 6:00 p.m. ET kickoff.