Thunder's Goal: Make LA Stomach Upset Saturday

May 30, 2008 - Intense Football League (Intense)
Frisco Thunder News Release


LAKE CHARLES , La. (May 27, 2008) - Appalachian State beat Michigan . Boise State beat Oklahoma . The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots.

Feel free to insert your favorite football upset here, but the Frisco Thunder's trying to place a victory Saturday against the defending Intense Football League champions Louisiana Swashbucklers among the aforementioned games embedded in the memories of football fans every where.

The Swashbucklers are 9-0, lead the IFL in virtually every major stat category, and currently own a 19-game home winning stand. They've won all but one of their games by 10 or more points. Ouch.

Thunder head coach Troy Esprit won't resort to using the famed clichés of the late John Facenda ("On any given Saturday") or Lou Holtz ("They put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else") but knows what his team's up against.

" Louisiana 's 9-0 for a reason and it's our job to make them 9-1," Esprit said. "It's a simple game. We have to make the plays and find what it takes to get a victory.

"I respect Louisiana - they're a veteran team that's been together a long time," Esprit said. "They don't make many mistakes and when you make a mistake, they capitalize. We have a challenge ahead of us Saturday."

The challenge include dealing with a myriad of injuries - starting quarterback Wes Cooper (broken finger) is out along with wide receiver Richard Morris (neck).

"Injuries are part of the game, but we've had more than our share this season." Esprit said. ‘It something we have to deal with."

With Cooper out, another Wes - Wes St. Aubin - will get the nod at starting quarterback. Aubin came off the bench two weeks ago in the Thunder's 28-16 victory at San Angelo and had four touchdown passes last week at Katy.

"The one good thing about all this is players like Wes St. Aubin are going to get some valuable playing time," Esprit. "That'll come in handy when we're going into the playoffs.

Frisco (6-5) is currently fourth in the IFL, a half-game behind CenTex and ahead of Katy (4-5), Odessa (4-6) and Alaska (4-6) in the playoff seeding. The Swashbucklers and Corpus Chrisi (9-1) have clinched spots in the six-team field.



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