Playoff ponderings

La’Run Council

La’Ron Council broke the IFL single-season rushing records for yards (1,040), attempts (256) and touchdowns (32) in a 72-41 victory against Wichita on June 16 by rushing for 148 yards on 30 carries and five TDs.

Council became the eighth player in any indoor league to reach the 1,000-yard plateau (See the list). Marquette Smith of the Green Bay Bombers in 2000 was the first. The last player before Council to accomplish the feat? Fred Jackson, who is now with the Buffalo Bills. That’s a pretty good omen for Council’s future.

Council needed only 45 yards to break the IFL record, which he accomplished midway through the second quarter. However, he was able to get to a 1,000 and break the TD record because Andrew Verboncouer sustained an injury in the team’s walk-through and was held out.

All-IFL teams

With the league downsizing this season, earning a spot on the all-IFL squad was a lot tougher this season with only 16 squads.

Council was an obvious first team choice at running back. Other Blizzard players getting recognized were offensive lineman Seth Smalls and defensive back/kick returner B.J. Hill on the second team.

Hill, the special teams player of the year last season, had limited return opportunities this season. He still returned four kicks and one missed field goal for scores, while also setting a league record for kick return average in a season (23.3 yards).

Getting an Edge

The Blizzard’s playoff opponent on Saturday is a familiar one.

The Blizzard defeated Bloomington twice in a seven-day span this season. It won 69-56 at the Resch Center on April 28 and 34-21 at Bloomington on May 5.

The Edge is led by veteran quarterback Dusty Burk, who came out of retirement this season at age 32 and surpassed the 10,000-yard mark for his career. Burk was third in passing yards (2,849) and fourth in TDs (57) this season in the IFL.

Bloomington also has a dominant defense, which led the league in sacks (40) and forced fumbles (14) in addition to be third with 24 interceptions. However, half of those picks belonged to James Temple, who was released last week (Bloomington Pantagraph article).

The Edge still has three players left on its defense who earned league honors, including defensive end Jeff Sobol, linebacker Ameer Ismail and defensive lineman Antonio Ficklin, a former Blizzard player. Ismail led the league with 167 tackles this season.

The interesting thing about Bloomington is it only played a total of six teams over the course of a 14-game season. Only three of those games were against teams who finished with a winning record and all three resulted in losses (two against Green Bay, one against Wichita).

Receiving help

The Blizzard has run into a rash of injuries at wide receiver. After Desmond Tardy was placed on season-ending IR two weeks ago, Bryan Pray sustained a separated shoulder late in the game against Wichita that ends his season.

With Pray being placed on IR, the Blizzard signed Daryl Robinson out of Temple this week. Robinson was briefly with the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks at the start of the season.

Playoff history

The Blizzard is 8-7 in the playoffs, including 4-2 at home. It would advance to its fifth conference championship game in its 10-year history with a victory against Bloomington, who is 0-3 in its previous trips to Green Bay.

The Edge (formerly known as the Extreme) is 2-5 all-time in the playoffs, including 0-3 since the inception of the IFL in 2009.

Playing in the old barn

This will be the first playoff game the Blizzard has hosted at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena. The Resch Center is being used by the Green Bay Gamblers junior hockey team for tryouts this week.

The Blizzard played its first game in team history at the BCA in its home opener this season, which it won 64-12 against Cedar Rapids on March 9. The last indoor football game played at the BCA prior to that was the Green Bay Bombers’ final home game in 2000 against the Dayton Skyhawks in the playoffs.

The BCA holds about 3,000 less people for indoor football compared to the Resch, so it should seem like a more intimate feel and make things a little bit louder. The scoreboard hanging a little lower and a different backdrop might also give B.J. Hill a chance for a return against veteran kicker Peter Christofilakos.