Another close one, Thunder falls by two to Spartans in opener

February 12, 2007 - World Indoor Football League 2 (WIFL 2)
Daytona Beach Thunder News Release


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - New league. New coach. Same old story for the Daytona Beach Thunder.

In their first game in the World Indoor Football League under head coach Leon Bright, the Thunder dropped a 49-47 loss to the Augusta Spartans, the franchise's seventh loss by six points or less.

The Thunder closed to 49-47 on Bo Bartik's 17-yarder to Blake Broadhurst with 7:21 remaining and had a chance to win after a defensive stop, but Jaye Tyroff's field goal attempt was blocked by Voncellis Allen and the Spartans ran out the final seconds.

"We were so close,'' said Thunder coach Leon Bright. "I felt like the game was ours. We'll come around and get better from this."

The first quarter started with both teams scoring on their opening drives, Augusta with an eight yard Brandon Satcher pass to Richard Dykes, and Daytona Beach with a 26-yard pass from Bartik to Broadhurst.

The biggest lead of the game came with 11:19 left in the second quarter when Satcher threw to Anthony Young for a 14-yard touchdown pass, making it 25-12.

At the half, the score was 31-25 with the Spartans in the lead. Thunder found themselves in the lead for the first and only time of the game after a one yard run by Bartik to make the score 32-31. The lead only lasted for a few minutes because the Spartans came back with a touchdown by Satcher, making the score 37-32.

Extra point misses were a big factor in this game. The teams combined for ten misses, three of them blocked. The game also filled with a total of five turnovers, two by Augusta and three by Daytona Beach.

With ten seconds left in the third quarter, the Thunder's Joe Giddens intercepted a two point conversion attempt and ran it back making the score 43-34. The Thunder kept that momentum for their next drive when they narrowed the lead to two with a 34-yard pass to Cory McKinney.

After the Spartans answered back with 33-yard touchdown pass to Young, the Thunder's time was running out. Down by eight points, they needed to score a touchdown then convert a two-point conversion to tie it up. With 7:21 left in the game, Daytona Beach scored a touchdown off a 17-yard pass to Broadhurst again but had the two-point conversion intercepted.

For the Thunder, Bartik threw a team-record six touchdowns, five to Broadhurst.. He also went 15 for 26 with 195 yards passing. McKinney caught seven passes for 116 yards. Kenon Atkins rushed for 25 yards. Clinton Crump, who was the game's special teams MVP, had 118 return yards with a long of 28 yards.

For the Spartans, Satcher went 16 for 25 with 243 passing yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. Young had six receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

The Thunder hosts the Columbus Lions Feb. 26.



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