By Alvin Mallory 

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Cory McKinney lives to play football. On Saturday night, he gave the Daytona Beach Thunder's playoff hopes some additional life. 

McKinney's 182 yards receiving and five touchdown catches gave the Thunder a 53-47 victory over the Osceola Ghostriders. The Thunder (3-7) beat the Ghostriders for the first time in four tries this season and closed to within one game of Osceola for the World Indoor Football League's final playoff berth. 

He broke his own league record of 159 receiving and tied the TD catch mark held by former teammate Blake Broadhurst. 

In the first quarter McKinney had three catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. By the end of the half, McKinney had 7 catches for 144 yards and 4 touchdowns 

"The team was in sync and the quarterback and I just played catch tonight," McKinney said. "Bo Bartik threw the ball my way and I focused on catching it as I always do.” 

Bartik finished with 295 yards and 6 TDs, but the night belonged to McKinney, who went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season, and some key defensive plays. 

“We followed our game plan, the guys produced, made some big plays, and we came out with a great win,” said Coach Bright. 

One key play came on the final play of the opening half when Kwasie Kwaku picked off the pass at the 2-yard line and skated 48 yards for the score. 

Kwaku slowed down near Osceola’s 20-yard line before faking a move to the right and bouncing to the left. That gave him a clear path to the end zone, and, with the extra point, the Thunder led 40-27 at the half. 

Daytona Beach maintained the lead in the second half despite a few tense moments. Leading 47-40, the Thunder appeared to lose possession when Charles Jones picked off a deep pass by Bartik. A defensive penalty, though, gave the Thunder new life. 

Daytona Beach, though, fumbled the snap on a fourth-and-goal play, and Osceola again had a shot to tie. 

Stanford Ruhle, though, coughed up the ball after receiving the pitch on a second-and-1 play from the Thunder’s 10-yard line. It appeared that wide receiver Gerald Gales fell on it, but Thunder defensive lineman Aaron Suozzo came out of the pile with the ball. 

The Thunder took control at their own 6-yard line, and Daytona Beach scored on quarterback Bo Bartik’s 16-yard strike to McKinney to give Daytona Beach a 53-40 lead. 

Osceola (4-6) scored on its last possession to make it a 53-47 game, and the Thunder fumbled the snap with two seconds to play but recovered and ran out the clock. 

It was McKinney's fith 100-yard game of the season. 

"I would like to thank the Coach Bright and the rest of the coaches for giving me the chance to play the sport I love," McKinney said. "I live to play football and it’s a great feeling to do what I have done so far.” 

"We want to get Cory to the next level," Bright said. "He’s the top receiver in this league, bar none. If he keeps working hard, things will work out for him." 

Lineman Justin Brown rushed for one touchdown and Tarell Moore caught Bartik's other TD pass.
 
Osceola’s Robert Gordon had four catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns. Ghostriders quarterback Rob Harding was 17-for-29 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for two touchdowns.