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Photo by Eric Engman

Anthony Parks made a promise to his roommate and quarterback, Bo Bartik, before the game.

Parks promised him that he wasn’t going to see just another game out of the wide receiver.

He was going to see Beast Mode.

“Beast Mode is a little thing we have behind the scenes, no one really knows about it,” Parks said. “It’s something I thought up with some of my friends and introduced it to here. It means I’m ready to go, I’m in Beast Mode.”

Now everyone knows what it means, including the Wild.

Parks blitzed Alaska for 11 receptions, 201 yards and three touchdowns as the Grizzlies won their second game in team history with a 33-27 triumph Saturday over their rivals from Anchorage at the Carlson Center.

Fairbanks lost badly the first two times it took on Alaska.

“I tip my hat to the players. They won this football game out there,” coach John Fourcade said. “They played their hearts out. They’ve done everything we asked of them all week.”

Never trailing at any point in the entire game, the Grizzlies went into halftime tied, but found their stride in the second half as Bartik and Parks hooked up for big plays.

Bartik found his roommate on a 42-yard strike to put Fairbanks up 27-20 midway through the fourth quarter, and their 39-yard connection proved to be the difference-maker, giving Fairbanks a 33-20 edge.

“We told each other before the game, ‘Lets put this in Beast Mode,’” Bartik said. “I put all my trust in him, and he got it done.”

It’s a trust the pair have been slowly building over their time with the Grizzlies — a trust that was slowed by injuries to both Bartik and Parks.

“I think this is the first year me and Bo really played together. We’re finally coming to,” Parks said. “He understands me more and I understand him more.”

While Parks provided the offensive fireworks, it was Daniel Dumas on the defensive end who provided one of the game’s biggest plays.

Alaska had found a way to answer every Fairbanks score, frustrating every Grizzlies chance to put the game away.

But after Parks gave Fairbanks its 27-20 lead, Dumas came up big on the next play from scrimmage, intercepting Alaska quarterback Keith Smith in the end zone. Two plays later, Bartik and Parks hooked up for their 39-yard score.

“I was playing too tight and I was biting to the quick moves. My coach told me I needed to make them think they were open and trust my speed,” Dumas said. “So, I trusted my speed, pursued the ball ... and that allowed me to get that last interception.”

It was the crowning moment of a much-improved defensive unit.

After getting burned by Smith on the ground and in the air the last time the two teams met, the Grizzlies held the quarterback to 8-of-21 passing and 142 all-purpose yards.

The Grizzlies then survived a late scare. Leading by two scores with just more than a minute left and the Wild out of timeouts, Bartik threw an interception that led to Alaska’s final score.

The Wild’s onside kick attempt went out of bounds and Fairbanks held on to the win.

“I’m going to have a long talk with Bo,” Fourcade said. “He’s doing some crazy things he doesn’t need to be doing.”

Bartik finished the game with two interceptions, going 18-of-30 for 290 yards and three passing touchdowns. He added a rushing touchdown on a quarterback sneak.

“We came out more ready (Saturday) than we have any other game,” Bartik said.

The Grizzlies bucked their recent trend of big halftime deficits, going into the intermission tied 14-14 after holding two first-half leads.

Bartik found emerging threat Kenny Wilson to put the Grizzlies on the board first.

Working from their own 19-yard line, Bartik hit the former Lathrop speedster over the middle near the Alaska 20. Wilson shook the defender in front of him, cutting toward the left boards, then drug a Wild defender the final 3 yards into the end zone to finish off the 31-yard play.

Fairbanks had a chance to extend its lead on their following drive when Bartik took them deep into Wild territory with a 40-yard strike to Parks.

But Bartik’s next pass — a crossing route to Donnie McCumby — went off McCumby’s fingertips and into the hands of Wild defensive back Delvin Myles.

One play later, Smith found former Fairbanks wideout Thomas Ford for a 35-yard touchdown connection, and the teams then traded touchdowns to finish off the half.

But in the end, Beast Mode — and one timely pick — proved enough to put Fairbanks over the top.

And after it’s debut success, Parks is promising more Beast Mode in the near future as the Grizzlies look to win out and capture a spot in the Intense Football League playoffs.

“You might see Beast Mode and more, getting in the playoffs,” Parks promised. “That’s our goal from here on out, getting the W’s, no matter how it comes.”