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Thunder Press Release - June 25, 2008 >> VIEW IT HERE <<
Week 4 Wrap-Up:
- Offense: Saturday night at S.E. Williams stadium the Oklahoma Thunder offense set out to keep their perfect season intact, the obstacle in their way was the defending national champion and undefeated Austin Gamebreakers. The potent attack of the Thunder did not disappoint racking up 571 yards in a 44-19 final. Head coach and offensive coordinator Bruce Madden kept the Gamebreakers defense off balance all night. The options available to him at the running the back position are to many to name, but Saturday night coach Madden managed to see Kejuan Jones, Clinton Thomas, and Brandon Ishem all rush for over 100 yards, that marked the first time a Thunder running back had gone over 100 yards this season. Brandon Ishem stole the spotlight in the second quarter with an electrifying 80yard touchdown run. Clinton Thomas fought hard all night for ever yard he gained at one point dragging three tacklers into the end zone on his final carry of the night. Kejuan Jones shook off a little more rust leading all running backs with 121 yards and 3 touchdowns earning himself offensive player of the week. The Oklahoma Thunder look to be finding their rhythm on offense and are going to be hard to stop if they continue to progress at the same rate the rest of the year.
- Defense: The Oklahoma Thunder defense fought the high powered offense of the Austin Gamebreakers Saturday night. The Gamebreakers who had been averaging 42 points a week were held to their lowest point total of the year 44-19. The Thunder defense which had not allowed a point all season saw the Gamebreakers offense score twice in the first half, but that would be the only points the defense would allow. A special teams breakdown gave Austin their third score on an 80 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Defensive coordinator said "We had a little trouble adjusting to thier speed early, but once we saw what they wanted to do we did a good job of taking it away from them." The defense was led this week by Andrew Jones an all-American from Bacone College. Jones led the team with 10 tackles and played an important part in containing a very elusive quarterback who spent most of the night running from a dominating defensive line. Chris Chappell formerly of the University of Auburn and the Atlanta Falcons one of the Thunder pass rushers had an impressive performance, playing with a broken hand was able to recover two fumbles in the second half when the Gamebreakers began to move into scoring range. The Oklahoma Thunder run their record to 4-0 and maintain the #1 ranking by defeating the team most consider the best the WFL has to offer, if that's true then look out because the Thunder are headed to shrive port.
Week 3 Wrap-Up:
- Offense: The Oklahoma Thunder offense which has averaged just over 58 points per game this had to travel for the first time. A hot and humid Texas night proved not enough to slow down quarterback Rico Watkins who was 11/15 for 256 yards 3 touchdowns and no interceptions, on a field that more closely resembled a Louisiana swamp than a Texas football field. Saturday night was the regular season debut of former University of Oklahoma running back Kejuan Jones who showed that he is not done playing yet. Kejuan in limited action had 52 yards on 9 carries and found the end zone once on a 2 yard run. Micheal Swalley collected the offensive player of the game award by reaching the end zone twice. Once on a 17 yard completion and once on a 55 yard bomb from watkins. The Thunder, in what could be classified as their ugliest performance of the year still managed the win by a final score of 44-0. The schedule for the Thunder gets a little bit tougher the next week with the second ranked Austin gamebreakers coming to Tulsa in a match up of two undefeateds.
- Defense: A hot and humid summer night in Texas the Oklahoma Thunder defense put it's unblemished record on the line against the Texarkana Warriors. A defense that has not allowed a single point this season was put to the test early. The Warriors completed two long pass plays and found themselves with first and goal from inside the Thunder two yard line. Two plays later Taron Covington intercepted a pass in the end zone and kept the scoreless streak intact. Later in the same quarter they found themselves in a similar position only this time inside the one, and four plays later they turned away an offense that look as though it might end the steak. That was the last time the Thunder defense would be threatened. Taron Covington was named defensive player of the game he ended the night with three tackles two interceptions, and returned one for a touchdown putting an exclamation point on an impressive performance. The Thunder defense will face its biggest challenge of the year next week as they are set to face the prolific offense of the Austin Game Breakers who are averaging 42 points a game, it should be a great contest.
5/01/08 - Pre-Season Wraps-Up: Oklahoma Thunder completed their pre-season a perfect 2-0 by defeating the San antonio stars 48-3, and the Junction City Spartans 73-0. The newly formed team doesn't appear to have the traditional areas of weakness you would expect. They committed very few penalties and went the entire pre-season without a single turnover. While on the other hand thier opponents often times looked confused and disorganized as well as overmatched. The spread offense of the Thunder led by QB Rico Watkins has been virtually unstopable, scoring both on the ground and through the air. Lets not forget the defense that has allowed only 3 points in 120 minutes of football. The defense has a swarming attack style that does not give an offense any opportunity to get going. If the pre-season is any indicator of what is to come this is going to be a good year for a first year team trying to make its mark on a city and a new league.
3/27/08- Oklahoma Thunder sign QB Rico Watkins. Rico played recently with the Amarillo Dusters of the AFL2. This Tulsa Booker T. Washington product played his college football at North Carolina A&T university. Rico brings a physical presence to the offense at 6'7" 235 pounds.
02/07- The Oklahoma Thunder would like to welcome Sitendex into the Oklahoma Thunder family. Sitendex is a web site building and digital marketing company based out of Skiatook, OK and has signed a deal with the World Football League to do all of the team and leagues sites. The company is excited about the chance to team up with the Thunder "This is big! The Thunder organization is going to be a great part of the community of Skiatook and we are very excited about this opportunity," said James Ashford CEO of Sitendex.
01/26 -The Oklahoma Thunder held its 3rd and final open try-out Saturday Jan. 26th at Versus Athletic Training Facility. There were 37 in attendance, who all wanted a chance to become part of the Thunder. Each participant was timed in the 40 yard dash and the 10 yard short shuttle. As well as, tested on thier vertical jump, 225lbs. bench press reps and measured in their height and weight. “Once again we as a staff are very excited at the numbers and quality of these young men. This was our smallest try-out in the amount of guys but for such low numbers the quality was great,” Wide receivers coach Daniel Cornelison said. Six contracts have been offered to players from this try-out and the team is in talks with several more. “We would just like to thank Versus for allowing us to have our try-outs here and giving us a great place to get our players ready for the 2008 season.” added coach Cornelison.
01/02- Oklahoma Thunder join the World Football League. After many talks with other leagues around the country, the Thunder join a partnership with the World Football League to play in the 2008 football season. The WFL has a long history, starting play back in 1974, but due to poor management they were forced to shut down. Now the new World League is back, under new management and new structure. Thunder Assistant GM Gary Joice said of the new league, “WOW. This is a great opportunity for the Thunder organization and its players. The League has a player association that gives all the players some backing as well as full heath benefits for the player the whole season. That is something that other leagues around at this level just don’t do. We are very happy with the visions and direction the WFL is going and we are looking forward to growing along side the league.”
11/08- The Thunder opened weekend mini-camps. Thunder will hold 4 weekend mini-camps starting Saturday Nov. 10th and ending Sunday Dec. 15th. The coaching staff will be getting a better evaluation of players already signed by the team as well as some players who are on the bubble of making the team. There will be 42 players in camp learning the systems and philosophies of the Thunder organization. “This gives us a good chance to make sure the guys we signed are not only good people and good “testers” but good football players. Plus it gives the players a chance to see what we except out them.” Head Coach Bruce Madden said.
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