Thunder Struggle for Consistency, fall to Rattlers 65 to 47

Monday April 20, 2015

 PORTLAND – The Portland Thunder dropped their first road decision of 2015 to the three-time defending champion Arizona Rattlers, 65 to 47, in front of 8,815 fans at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Saturday evening.

“I thought we played hard enough,” stated Thunder head coach Mike Hohensee. “I just don’t think we played well enough. We didn’t execute the little things that you have to in order to win against a great football team.”

A difficult second quarter for the Thunder defined the game, and saw Portland surrender three unanswered scores to the Rattlers off of three total turnovers. The second of those turnovers was an Arizona goal line stand, with the Thunder unable to score despite starting the sequence with a 1st and Goal from the Rattler one yard line.

“We gave it away in the red-zone,” Hohensee explained, when asked about the opportunities squandered in the first half. “We got down there, and maybe forgot how to run a route, or forgot how to block. We made a mess of things, and you cannot give a team like that (Arizona) momentum.”

Thunder QB Kyle Rowley started the game completing six of his first seven passing, but was inconsistent throughout the rest of the first half, completing just seven of his next 20, seemingly unable to get on page with his receivers. He finished the evening 22 of 43, for 296 yards, and six touchdowns with one interception.

Rowley’s counterpart, Arizona Rattler QB Nick Davila took advantage of the Thunder miscues, throwing for 319 yards and nine scores off of 31 completions from 44 attempts. His favored target of the evening was WR Rod Windsor. The five year veteran led all receivers on the night, catching 14 passes, for 141 yards and six touchdowns.

Continuing to show well for the Thunder were WR Jamar Howard and JLB Bryce Peila.
Peila forced his third turnover in two games, intercepting Davila in the second quarter, just the third interception this season thrown by the Rattler signal caller. Howard tallied his fourth straight 100+ yard receiving performance to start the 2015 season, catching nine balls for 138 yards and four touchdowns.

The Thunder will head out for their second of three straight road games next Saturday, this time to San Jose to face the 4-0 SaberCats from the SAP Center. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm.

POSTGAME AWARDS:
Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game: Rod Windsor (AZ)
Riddell Defensive Player of the Game: Jeremy Kellem (AZ)
J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the Game: Nick Davila (AZ)
Cutters Catch of the Game: Kerry Reed (AZ) One handed touchdown catch late in the second quarter.
AFL Highlight of the Game: Jeremy Kellem (AZ) interception in the end zone and brought back past mid-field.

About the Portland Thunder
The Portland Thunder are back with a BOOM this 2015 AFL Season. Tickets and sponsorships are now available. For more information, email us at info@portlandthunder.com or call 503-773-4235. For all the latest news and discussion on the Portland Thunder, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@pdxthunder).