BEAR FACTS: THUNDER BEAT GRIZZLIES BY 11

By Mike Kravik
North Texas Kids 

FRISCO, Tex. (March 29, 2008) --Throughout this season the Frisco Thunder have struggled with the annoying habit of leaving the door open to opponents brash enough to hang around and as a result they have had trouble closing out games.

On Saturday night before a noisy crowd of 2,014, the Thunder took a step forward and rolled to a 66-55 win over the Fairbanks Grizzlies at the Deja Blue Arena Dr.Pepper StarCenter.

The Thunder moved their record to 4-1 while the Grizzlies are 1-3.

Quarterback Wes Cooper punched several early holes in the Grizzlies defense as the Thunder grabbed a 42-28 halftime lead. The Grizzlies had no answers to Cooper's favorite weapons as Richard Morris (10 catches, 143 yards) scored four times and Jason Deml (7-80) registered three. Ricky Madison (10 catches,42 yards and one touchdown) led a quietly effective ground attack while Kevin Lenford (142 yards including a 50-yard touchdown) had another solid night on returns.

The highlight play of the evening was an impressive catch on a fade route to the end-zone where Deml found the corner of the end-zone, leaped high, hyper-spaced, and then grabbed what appeared to be a certain souvenir in the stands with one hand.

"It's a play Wes and I work on all the time, Deml said. “If I get position on the cornerback, I'm very confident that I can catch it."

The Thunder led by as many as 21, but took a 52-41 lead entering the fourth quarter with Fairbanks scoring on two consecutive possessions. Staring at the "Can they finish?" crossroads that separate teams learning to win at the highest levels, the Thunder objectives were to drain the clock, give their defense a blow and put points on scoreboard.

Cooper managed the critical drive to near perfection. On his first fourth and two, Cooper earned a first down by changing his cadence and drawing the defense offside. Faced with another fourth and two, Cooper caught the Grizzlies defense napping by taking the snap on the first sound and was able to dive for the first down. Objectives were met when Cooper capped off the 6:22 with a 5-yarder to Morris to give the Thunder what proved to be an insurmountable 59-41 lead.

While Frisco appeared to upgrade its return coverage – Fairbanks averaged just 17 yards a return and unlike CenTex, didn’t take one to the house – the Thunder struggled early with penalties, having two touchdowns called back.

Coach Troy Esprit was happy with the effort but stresses there is room for improvement. "We're a very athletic team that is still struggling with putting all the mental parts of the game together,” Esprit said “But we're getting better."

Cooper (18 for 35 for 223 yards and seven touchdown passes) was named the offensive MVP while Marcus Stiggers and LaMont Finley shared the Randy White BBQ defensive player of the game and Dennis Hopevac (9-9 on PATs and a franchise-long 45-yard field goal) was named the Coach Joe's Sports Grille Special Teams Player.

The Thunder hosts the Odessa Roughnecks next Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are available by calling (972) 731-6968 or visiting www.friscothunderifl.com.