Unbeaten SaberCats pose another road test for Portland Thunder

The Portland Thunder's triple-headed road monster -- consecutive away games against Arizona, San Jose and Philadelphia -- is one-third complete.

The second-year Thunder (2-2), who lost 65-47 last week at three-time defending Arena Football League champion Arizona, will face potent San Jose at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the SAP Center.

The SaberCats are 4-0. They are only undefeated team in the National Conference and one of only two undefeated teams in the 12-team AFL (the Philadelphia Soul of the American Conference also are 4-0).

Thus, Portland's back-to-back-to-back road foes are a combined 11-1 this season.

"We understand we have an extremely tough conference," Thunder coach Mike Hohensee says, "and San Jose is a team that has everything in place -- they expect to win, they work hard, and they've been good for a long time.

"But our guys are fired up about going to San Jose and seeing if we can improve."

San Jose is coming off a 68-48 victory on the road against the Jacksonville Sharks, who were expected to be one of the top teams in the league but are 0-4.

The SaberCats have defensive end Donte Paige-Moss, who played for the Thunder last season and was traded before the start of the 2015 campaign.

Also making an impact for San Jose is former Thunder defensive back Eric Crocker, who had an interception last week.

"Those guys are solid players, but there's nothing special we're doing for them -- it's about us. We need to play up to our standards," Hohensee says.

The SaberCats boast the AFL's all-time leading rusher, Derrick Ross. But the guy who makes them go is often veteran QB Erik Meyer. The 6-2, 215-pound former Eastern Washington Eagle has been in the AFL since 2010 and spent the previous five seasons with the Spokane Shock. He was the AFL MVP and offensive player of the year in 2013.

The following year, a broken collarbone shortened his playing time, but despite missing six games he broke the Spokane single-season rushing touchdown record with 20 TDs.

Meyer has thrown for 21 touchdowns, with only one interception, in four games this year.

"He understands the throws you've got to make in arena football," says Hohensee, a former quarterback. "He's a smart kid and has good talent around him.

"San Jose is playing well in all phases of the game. Defensively, they're strong. They've got a lot of experienced players, and their coaching staff is very experienced."

Portland went 0-3 against San Jose last season. The teams will play three times again this year.

The Thunder and SaberCats are both in the Pacific Division; the winner of each division, plus the other two teams with the best regular-season records, will qualify for the league playoffs.

Portland has the AFL sack leader in defensive end Marquis Jackson, who has registered four sacks. He also leads the Thunder in pass breakups with seven. Jackson, however, was slowed by a cold last week. "He felt dehydrated a bit (at Arizona)," Hohensee says. "I don't think he was at full strength."

Portland has added two players since its loss at Arizona  defensive back Quincy Butler, formerly of TCU, and receiver Jared Perry, the 2012 AFL rookie of the year out of the University of Arizona.

Butler could help in a secondary that is relatively inexperienced and had starter Allen Chapman hobbled in the Arizona game.

Perry "is having a good week of practice," Hohensee says, "and he's an experienced receiver in this league, a very skilled route runner with good speed, and a very intelligent kid."