Saturday, June 30, 2012

Storm ends Blizzard's season again

The Sioux Falls Storm scored 26 unanswered points to defeat the Green Bay Blizzard 61-42 in the Indoor Football League’s United Conference championship for a second straight season on Saturday.

The Blizzard (12-4) led three times and scored on its first eight possessions before Xavier Jordan returned a Donovan Porterie interception 10 yards for a touchdown to give the Storm a 48-36 lead with 1 minute, 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

After making his first five field-goal attempts of the game, Green Bay kicker Adrian Trevino then missed a 52-yarder and the Blizzard was stopped on downs on its next drive while Sioux Falls (16-0) scored TDs.

Not including its kneel down at the end of the game, the Storm scored TDs on eight of its 10 offensive possessions. Quarterback Chris Dixon completed 14 of 20 passes for 231 yards with five TDs and added two more scores on the ground.

Blizzard running back La’Ron Council rushed for 83 yards on 24 carries and had two scores, including one on the opening drive of the second half that gave Green Bay a 33-28 lead. Porterie was 12 of 22 for 165 yards with a passing and rushing TD.

The Blizzard, who has lost in a conference championship four of the past six seasons, stopped the Storm on back-to-back series in the first half with a fumble recovery on a kick return and a long missed field goal to stay within 28-26 at the half.

Calming the Storm

ASHWAUBENON — An Indoor Football League offense averages about 10 possessions per game.

The Green Bay Blizzard likely will to need to score touchdowns on all of them when it plays the Sioux Falls Storm in the United Conference championship game Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Having already lost to Sioux Falls twice, the Blizzard (12-3) knows it has no room for error against the most efficient and highest-scoring team in the IFL.

“It’s tough to keep pace with that offense,” Blizzard coach Robert Fuller said. “They don’t shoot themselves in the foot, and that’s how they are able to beat a lot of good football teams.”

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Tale of the tape

A detailed looked at the United Conference championship between the Blizzard and Storm, analyzing not only this season’s stats and trends, but also how things have played out in the previous four meetings over the last two years.

As the numbers show, Sioux Falls is an offensive juggernaut. You also have to remember the Storm’s numbers standout even against a Blizzard team that is no slouch offensively by any means as the No. 3 scoring team in the league.

Overall drive stats through 15 games

Sioux Falls
Possessions (Not including drives at end of first half or a game)
162 possessions, 131 TDs, 12 FGs, 7 MFG, 1 Blocked FG, 7 INT, 4 FUMB
Scored TDs on 81 percent of its drives

Green Bay
Possessions (Not including drives at end of first half or game)
170 possessions, 101 TDs, 15 FGs, 14 MFG, 2 Blocked FG, 18 INT, 5 FUMB, 1 Safety, 14 Downs
Scored TDs on 59 percent of its drives

-This just shows you how efficient Sioux Falls is on its offensive drives. You’ll also notice the Storm was never stopped on downs this season. It was 61 percent (54-for-88) at converting on third down and 91 percent (10-for-11) at converting on fourth down. The lone stop on fourth down ended in an interception.

Finals from first four matchups

Storm 57, Blizzard 38 from May 15, 2011
Storm 52, Blizzard 12 from July 9, 2011
Storm 73, Blizzard 43 from Feb. 26, 2012
Storm 66, Blizzard 39 from May 19, 2012

-More interesting than the finals is the scores heading into the fourth quarter, as the Storm had a two-touchdown lead by then each time. If the Blizzard is going to win, it’s going to have to be within one score entering the final stanza.

Combined stats from four games

Yards-1,208 SF to 764 GB
Sacks-8 SF to 3 GB
Turnovers-7 SF to 4 GB
Pts off TOs-35 SF to 3 GB
3rd Down-11-23 (48%) SF to 11-42 (26%) GB
4th Down-5-5 (100%) SF to 4-10 (40%) GB

-These pretty much show you how hard it is to get Sioux Falls’ offense off the field. Also, the sack count is the closest thing to measure QB pressure, but if QB hits were kept by the IFL, I’d venture to guess the Blizzard has totaled less than 10 knockdowns against Chris Dixon.

How offenses did in first-and-goal situations in four games
(Keep in mind first three were played at Sioux Falls with the narrow end zones)

Sioux Falls
15 first-and-goal opportunities (14 TDs, 1 FG)
G1-2 (2TDs)
G2-7 (6TDs, 1 FG)
G3-3 (3TDs)
G4-3 (3TDs)

Green Bay
13 opportunities (5 TDs, 3 FGs, INT, 2 FUMB, 2 DOWNS)
G1-4 (2 FGs, DOWNS, INT)
G2-2 (2 FUMB)
G3-3 (2TDs, DOWNS)
G4-4 (3TDs, FG)

-Given how shallow the end zones are at the Sioux Falls Arena, the success rate on first-and-goal situations will be huge. Even though the Blizzard is a run-heavy offense and has had a lot of success inside the 10, the shallow end zones mean defenders will be in more of an enclosed area and the threat of the play-action pass won’t be there the closer it gets to the goal line.

Possessions in the first four games

Sioux Falls
G1-12 possessions (8 TDs, 1 FG, 3 Stops)
G2-10 possessions (7 TDs, FG, 2 Stops)*Doesn’t include long MFG at end of first half
G3-10 possessions (9 TDs, FG)*" "
G4-10 possessions (9TDs, 1 Stop)*" "
Total: 33 TDs on 42 possessions (79%)

Green Bay
G1-13 possessions (3 TDs, 6 FGs, 4 Stops)
G2-11 possessions (TD, 2 FGs, 8 Stops)
G3-12 possessions (6 TDs, 1 FG, 5 Stops)
G4-11 possessions (5 TDs, 1 FG, 5 Stops)
Total: 15 TDs on 47 possessions (32%)

-This just shows you how efficient the Storm has been offensively against the Blizzard on a drive-by-drive basis.

The B.J. Hill factor

While he has never taken one back for a score against Sioux Falls, B.J. Hill has had ample opportunities for kickoff returns against the Storm, who haven’t been hesitant to kick it to him like most teams are.

Game 1-4 returns for 67 yards
Game 2-4 returns for 29 yards
Game 3-4 returns for 78 yards
Game 4-5 returns for 86 yards

Final analysis

After going through all the gaudy numbers above, Saturday’s game is going to come down to the big guys up front who don’t have any real measurable statistics – the offensive linemen. Coach Robert Fuller said the key to Sioux Falls’ offense is the guys protecting Chris Dixon. In order for the Blizzard to win, its going to have to get pressure on the three-time league MVP.

Meanwhile, the Blizzard offensive line really has to have its best game of the season, which is really saying something considering how dominant it has been all season. Green Bay doesn’t necessarily need to rush for over 100 yards, but it needs to average about 4 yards per carry and keep quarterback Donovan Porterie upright in the pocket.

Something else to keep in mind is Green Bay has never had a defensive or special teams’ TD against Sioux Falls. It has 14 D/STs scores on the season and maybe are do for one against the Storm that could change the momentum of the game.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Blizzard puts away Edge in final 6 minutes

ASHWAUBENON — The Green Bay Blizzard got its wish.

The Blizzard earned a third shot at the undefeated Sioux Falls Storm by defeating the Bloomington Edge for a third time this season in the quarterfinals of the Indoor Football League playoffs on Saturday.

Green Bay’s 51-30 victory over the Edge (10-5) at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena in front of 1,470 not only gives it a chance to redeem its two losses to the Storm, but sets up a rematch of last year’s United Conference championship game, which the Blizzard lost 52-12.

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