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Pioneers face former UK star

At 285 pounds, QB Jared Lorenzen poses a unique challenge for Ingold’s squad.

By Dave Rosengrant drosengrant@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

The Pioneers will have their biggest task of the season tonight, literally and figuratively.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton travels to historic Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., for its first road contest of the season.

Not only is the team traveling to face the Kentucky Horsemen at 7 p.m., it’s also contending with the biggest quarterback in the af2.

The Horsemen (0-1), who are playing their first home game of the season, are led by former New York Giants signal-caller, Jared Lorenzen.

The lefty, who weighs in at a hefty 285 pounds, was a star at the University of Kentucky before entering the NFL. He is in his first year of playing arena football, after being released by the Indianapolis Colts last August.

“We got to tackle him low. He’s strong,” Pioneers coach Rich Ingold said of the Horsemen passer. “He’s a real physical-type person. … He’s going to move around the pocket. If you tackle him high, he’s going to get away. He’s massive, so we’ve got to get to the guy.”

In his only start in arena football, Lorenzen was very efficient going 23-for-39 for 218 yards and five touchdowns in a 51-48 loss to Tulsa in Week 1. He also ran for a team-high 11 yards and a TD as the Horsemen moved to the shotgun formation when Lorenzen was in the game. Justin Rascati also played at QB for Kentucky in its loss and had one completion in seven attempts.

Even though the Horsemen only allowed one sack in their season-opening loss, Ingold said the key to stopping the big QB is getting a solid pass rush. That shouldn’t be too hard a task for the Pioneers, who have tallied a league-leading 12 sacks this season paced by Royce Morgan’s five. The next closest team to the Pioneers is Mahoning Valley with seven sacks this season.

“They’re in the shotgun which basically takes away the three-step passing game so our guys just have to pin back and go get ’em. Turn ’em loose,” the coach said. “They have a few gadgets that are going to keep us off-base, but I look forward to our guys getting after him pretty good.”

Notes: Pioneers quarterback Ryan Vena moved into third place on the af2 career list in passing yards and touchdowns in last week’s win. He currently has 20,090 yards passing in his career and 403 passing scores. The all-time leader in those categories with 23,764 yards and 519 TD tosses is current Florida QB Chris Wallace. Former Oklahoma City QB Craig Strickland is second on the list with 22,688 yards and 481 touchdowns.

•The Pioneers’ David Davis is the only kicker in the league with a perfect percentage, having attempted a combination of at least nine extra points and field goals. Davis is 18-for-18 on PATs and was successful on his lone field goal try this season.

Up Next

WBS Pioneers (2-0)

at Kentucky Horsemen (0-1)

When: 7:05 tonight, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky.

Radio: WILK (910-AM, 980-AM, 1300-AM, 103.1-FM) with Rob Neyhard

Internet: Live video streamed via af2 TV at www.niftytv.com

About the Horsemen: The team is led by former University of Kentucky standout and NFL QB Jared Lorenzen, who won a Super Bowl ring with the Giants in 2008. Kentucky is coming off a loss to Tulsa in Week 1 and had a bye last week. This marks the first meeting between the two teams. The Horsemen have been in the league since 2003 and the Pioneers are in their eighth season.

Prediction: Pioneers, 55-54