Blizzard looks right at home in arena, routs Cedar Rapids

ASHWAUBENON – The Green Bay Blizzard might want to think about playing every game at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena.

In its first game at the facility in its 10-year history, the Blizzard dominated the Cedar Rapids Titans to win 64-12 in its Indoor Football League home opener in front of 3,557 on Friday night.

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P-G article: Blizzard blasts to the past with uniforms, play calls

ASHWAUBENON — The Green Bay Blizzard will be playing indoor football like it's 1999 again during the home opener against Cedar Rapids at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday night.

It will be the first time in the franchise's 10-year history it will host a game at the Brown County arena instead of the Resch Center, where the Blizzard's six other home games will be played this season.

The last time the arena hosted an indoor football game was when the Green Bay Bombers played there from 1998 to 2000 as members of the Professional Indoor Football League and Indoor Football League.

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Listen to the 2012 debut of FrostBite

For the first time in three years, FrostBite is back.

Listen as Andrew and Mitch discuss all the news notes and concerning the Green Bay Blizzard as it prepares for its home opener against the Cedar Rapids Titans at the good old Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday night.
You'll also hear an interview with first-year head coach Robert Fuller and the Blizzard Bio of wide receiver Bryan Pray.

Also, stay tuned to the blog for updated posts previewing Friday's game and discussing the old Green Bay Bombers. There will also be an article about it in the P-G on Friday.

A closer look at the Blizzard’s 55-32 win at Reading

Moving the pile

After averaging 1.9 yards per rush and allowing three sacks at Sioux Falls, the Blizzard had a much stronger game up front against the Express. Green Bay only netted 57 yards on 22 carries (2.6 average), but those numbers are a bit misleading considering it lost 24 yards on a bad exchange at the end of the first half and also accounts for two kneel downs at the end of the game. Takeaway those three attempts, and add on the 24 yards, and it comes out to a healthy 4.3 average.

Running back LaRon Council rushed for 81 yards on 18 attempts and three TDs with his longest run being 16 yards, so it wasn’t like he broke a long one, mostly consistent gains throughout. All three of Council’s scores came on first-and-goal, where it can be difficult to pass because there is less space. The Blizzard’s lone third-down conversion also came on a Council run, while it was 0-for-4 trying to pass for a first down. Leading the way for Council in short-yardage situations at fullback was Andrew Verboncouer, who was inactive at Sioux Falls.

The Blizzard offensive line of Seth Smalls, Nick Thornton-Jack and new center Shannon Breen also allowed just one sack, which came on a fourth-down play.

Read and react

Reading’s defense was prepared for the amount of play-action passes it would see from Blizzard quarterback Donovan Porterie, who with Fairbanks last year threw for over 200 yards and five touchdowns against the Express.

As the team’s defensive coordinator last season, Reading head coach Mark Steinmeyer remembered that performance and this time around got his line to get its hands up or drop into coverage when Porterie rolled out.

The latter happened at the end of the first quarter when defensive end Michael London returned an interception 35 yards for a TD. Porterie’s initial read on the rollout wasn’t there, so he threw back to the shallow middle of the field not expecting London to be there. Porterie had his only interception at Sioux Falls returned for a score on a similar throw to the shallow middle the previous week, but the difference was a safety came up in coverage to make the pick.

It was an effective strategy by the Express, utilizing the IFL rule which allows the three-down linemen to drop into coverage only after the quarterback has left the pocket.

Hill makes most of chances

Reading was doing a good job of not kicking to B.J. Hill for over a half. Erik Rockhold’s first three kickoffs went out of bounds, and the first field goal he missed was strong enough to reach the stands. Given that it was only down 27-19, it was a bad decision trying to actually make the 51-yard attempt knowing that Hill was back there if it came up short – like it did. The missed field goal and kickoff 5 minutes later were the only return chances Hill had in the game. The third-year player brought both back for scores to push his career TD returns total to 17 (8 kickoffs, 6 missed field goals, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble).

Quick hits

-Blizzard defensive back Aaron Moore had a game-high six tackles against his former team.

-Unlike the previous week at Sioux Falls, the Blizzard made frequent substitutions on its defensive line. Jordan Lardinois, a Green Bay Notre Dame alum, was activated for his first game and substituted regularly into the rotation with starters Junior Aumavae, Tyron Hurst and P.J. South.

-The Express’ new helmet decals kind of copied what the Blizzard changed to last season with the player’s number on one side and the city’s initial(s) on the other.

- Reading is one of the few teams in the IFL which employs a two-linebacker look for a majority of the game. Like last year, Michael Thompson played a ‘Rover’ role, and rookie Troy Epps was used as the Mac. Thompson and Epps are both quicker defenders (Comparable to the size of outside linebackers in a 3-4 defense in the NFL), but don’t necessarily provide the range of a DB.

Hill’s returns down Express to get Blizzard back on track

Giving B.J. Hill a chance to make one return is risky.

Deciding to kick to him again after he’s already taken one back for a touchdown is just plain fatal to a team’s chances of winning.

The Reading Express found that out the hard way in a 55-32 loss to the Green Bay Blizzard at the Sovereign Center on Friday night in an Indoor Football League matchup.

Hill, the 2011 IFL special teams player of the year, returned a missed field goal 57 yards and a kickoff 40 yards for scores to go along with a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions to propel the Blizzard (1-1) to its first victory of the season.

The dominating finish by the third-year defensive back began following Josh Floyd’s 27-yard kick return, which gave the Express the football at the Blizzard 17, down 27-19 midway through the third quarter.

The Green Bay defense forced Reading to lose a combined 19 yards on the next three plays, including a 3-yard tackle for loss by Hill on first down and the Blizzard’s only two sacks of the game on second and third down.

If taking a two-TD lead on Hill’s return of a missed 51-yard attempt by Erik Rockhold didn’t seal the Express’ fate, his second return surely did.

It came after Reading (0-2) had responded to the first return by putting together a 7-play drive of over 5 minutes that culminated with an A.J. McKenna 3-yard TD run to close the gap to 34-25 less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

Hill stole the momentum for good by returning the ensuing kickoff and coming up with two of the Blizzard’s four turnovers.

Linebacker Greg Jackson recorded the other two on a fourth-quarter fumble recovery and third-quarter interception. He also shared a sack with Junior Aumavae to lead a defensive unit which allowed just four rushing yards and 3.3 yards per play in the game.

The dominating play of the defense and special teams in the second half made up for the sporadic play of the Blizzard offense, which was stopped on downs on the opening possession after halftime and had to settle for an Adrian Trevino field goal following Jackson’s interception. It was also 1-for-6 on third-down conversions.

Running back LaRon Council had a strong game, rushing for 81 yards on 18 attempts and three TDs. The Blizzard’s net rushing total (57 yards on 22 attempts) took a hit on the final drive of the first half when a bad exchange resulted in a 24-yard loss.

Quarterback Donovan Porterie threw touchdown passes on the Blizzard’s first three drives of the game. However, one was a 35-yard interception return for a score by defensive end Michael London on the Express’ lone turnover of the game.

Porterie, who completed nine of 20 passes for 107 yards, threw TD passes to Desmond Tardy and Bryan Pray, who had a game-high five catches for 81 yards.

Box score

Forward Motion: Green Bay (0-1) at Reading (0-1)

The Forecast: The Blizzard won all three meetings against the Express last season, including a second-round playoff game. This should bode well for Green Bay as it tries to avoid a 0-2 start, which hasn’t happened since its inaugural season in 2003.

After combining to outscore Reading 202-110 at the Resch Center last year, the Blizzard is making its first visit to the Sovereign Center. First-year coach Robert Fuller won, 60-45, at Reading last season as head coach of the Fairbanks Grizzlies. Quarterback Donovan Porterie threw for 205 yards and five touchdowns in the game.

In his Green Bay debut last Sunday at Sioux Falls, Porterie completed 50 percent of his passes for 144 yards with three TDs and an interception, which was the only turnover by either team.

Following the 73-43 defeat to the IFL champions, the Blizzard will not only be looking to force its first takeaway of the season, but also record its first sack as well against a brand new offensive line and quarterback in Reading.

Expressing concerns: Scouting Reading

The Express is playing in its seventh season overall and second in the IFL, where last season it went 8-6 to win the Atlantic division in addition to defeating Chicago in a first-round playoff game.

Reading is coming off a 54-40 loss at Bloomington in its opener last Sunday in which it fell behind 21-3 in the first quarter.

Mark Steinmeyer was promoted to head coach after Chris Thompson accepted a front office position with the AFL’s Philadelphia Soul in August. Steinmeyer, a defensive coordinator and assistant the past four years, is the franchise’s fifth coach. Thompson has since become the head coach of the IFL’s Lehigh Valley Steelhawks.

Top returners for the Express this season include defensive lineman Mike Dell, linebacker Michael Thompson and receiver Elliott White.

Rookie quarterback A.J. McKenna completed 19 of 35 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns in addition to rushing for 55 yards on 12 carries and another score in the opener. A lot of his yards on the ground came as a result of being pressured out of the pocket against Bloomington. He spent time with the Saints in a minicamp in 2010.

The Express’ top veteran addition in the offseason was receiver/returner Josh Floyd, who led the IFL last year in all-purpose yards as a member of the West Texas Roughnecks. Floyd caught four passes for 53 yards with two touchdowns and returned nine kicks for 235 yards, including a 57-yard TD return at Bloomington.

Receiver Dominique Jones presents a unique matchup. The 6-foot-3, 255-pounder is used as a fullback in addition to splitting out wide. While he only totaled 50 yards last week (46 receiving, 4 rushing), he could be a threat in goal-line situations.

Following the retirement of FB/LB Matt Sola, kicker Erik Rockhold is the only player left from the Express’ inaugural 2006 team. He has tallied over 900 points in his career.

Center exchange

The Blizzard released LeRoy Auguste and signed Shannon Breen on Wednesday.

Auguste was making his first start since 2009 when he lined up against Sioux Falls on Sunday as a center, which is not his natural position.

Breen, who played center at West Virginia Wesleyan, went undrafted last year and was not signed by a NFL team after the lockout ended (Cincinnati contacted him but didn’t offer a contract.) The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder signed with the AFL’s Milwaukee Mustangs in October. He was suspended by the AFL on Monday, presumably for signing with the Blizzard.

With Nick Thornton-Jack and Seth Smalls manning the other two spots on the offensive line, Green Bay allowed three sacks and averaged 1.9 yards per carry against a tough Storm defensive line in the opener. Look for those numbers to improve this week.

Worth the trip

The Blizzard has to play a pair of away games to open the season for a third straight year, but the road will be less traveled for the remainder of the season in terms of miles. The trip to Reading is over 900 miles and takes 16 hours one way, making it the second-longest of the year for Green Bay.

The Blizzard will return to Pennsylvania for its longest trip of the season on June 2 when it plays the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, which is about 15 miles northeast of Reading. However, three of its other four away games (Cedar Rapids, Chicago and Bloomington) combine to be about 800 miles and 14 hours of travel one way. Green Bay also plays at Omaha, which is about 550 miles and nine hours.

Frozen in time

Including the playoffs, the Blizzard is 1-5 all-time when playing in the state of Pennsylvania. The previous six meetings all came against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers in arenafootball2. Green Bay’s last visit was a 72-67 loss in the American Conference championship game on Aug. 15, 2009, which was also its last game in the now defunct af2. The Blizzard’s only victory in the Keystone state was on April 30, 2005 when it defeated the Pioneers 48-40.

Quick hit

Blizzard defensive back Aaron Moore played four games with Reading at the end of last season.

Get my drift

Reading saw a lot of change in the offseason, including ownership, and many of the parts on the field are different as well. The Blizzard should be more efficient after facing the best team in the league in the opener. Look for the Green Bay defense to fly around and create turnovers (From LB Greg Jackson and DB James Romain), while the offense has a strong output on the ground, allowing it to convert on third-down and goal-line situations.

Pick: Blizzard 59, Express 44