Blizzard honors Frazier in victory

Originally published on ArenaFan.com

The Green Bay Blizzard honored former Quad City Steamwheeler’s coach Rick Frazier, who passed away last November at the age of 53, before Friday night’s game at the Resch Center.

One of his former players did the same by his play on the field in the Blizzard’s 52-35 win over the ‘Wheelers.

Wide receiver Coco Blalock, 32, played his rookie season in the Arena Football League in 2000 under Frazier with the Milwaukee Mustangs.

After a seven year AFL career Blalock was told he couldn’t play anymore because of a back injury in 2006 when he was with the Las Vegas Gladiators.

But the injury got better, and he was able to continue playing, but no AFL team wanted him. He did get to play, however, in 2007 with arenafootball2’s Rio Grande Valley Dorados.

He started this season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, but things didn’t work out there, so as faith would have it, he found himself in Green Bay on a night his former coach was honored.

After only a few practices with the Blizzard, Blalock would get the start because of injuries to the team’s top two receivers, Steve Gonzalez (sprained ankle) and Scott Burnoski (deep thigh bruise).

Blalock didn’t disappoint, as he had 13 catches for 124 yards and one touchdown, and ignited the Blizzard offense.

“I go to practice every day and go a 100 miles an hour because you never know when it’s going to be your last down,” Blalock said. “I want to leave on my own terms, but I left it in God’s hands.

I just said I’ll do what he wants me to do, if he wants me to be done, I’ll be done...he blessed me and gave it back to me, I’m just so happy to be out there with those young guys, because they’re hungry.”

One of those young guys that Blalock is referring to is wide receiver Anthony Crissinger-Hill, who also saw more action because of the injuries to Gonzalez and Burnoski.

Crissinger-Hill had four catches for 72 yards and two acrobatic touchdown catches over ‘Wheeler defenders.

“He was Randy Moss out there,” Blalock said. “I was happy for that man. I didn’t know him, but he became my friend real quick.”

Both Blalock and Crissinger-Hill are Wisconsin natives, but neither knew that about the other till after the game in the post-game press conference. Crissinger-Hill also nearly played his last down three years ago.

After a successful collegiate career at Florida Atlantic, Crissinger-Hill got a few looks from NFL scouts, but didn’t get any offers and stopped playing football for three years.

His best friend owns a pizza parlor in Madison, and it’s also where Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee goes every Friday during the off-season, and how Crissinger-Hill got another shot at playing.

“You never know when it’s going to be your last play,” Crissinger-Hill said. “A lot of people say that, but when you really go through it, not playing for a little while, you can’t take this game for granted.”

While Crissinger-Hill and Blalock stole the show in this game, the Blizzard defense, which coming into the week was ranked number one in the af2, again played outstanding.

Defensive end Joe Sykes had two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Most of that came against ‘Wheeler guard Albert Stinson, who was in an AFL training camp earlier this year.

Edward Kwaku, who moved to Jack linebacker last week when defensive back Donnie Amadi returned to the team, had two interceptions.

Quad City’s offense did make plays, however, and wide receiver Jesse Schmidt found himself beating Blizzard defenders for most of the night on deep post and corner routes.

He collected 10 catches for 156 yard and three touchdowns.

But four turnovers by the ‘Wheelers was just too much for the team to overcome.

Quarterback Ryan Porter got the start for Green Bay and saw his first significant game action since the second game of the season against the Tennessee Valley Vipers. He is the third quarterback that has started a game for the Blizzard this season.

At times he over threw his receivers, but did a good job of escaping pressure, which mostly came from ‘Wheeler defensive end Adam Vogel, and didn’t make the mistake of turning over the ball, and it allowed him to throw for 270 yards and five touchdowns.

Landsee said the quarterback situation is still an issue for the team, however, and will continued to be evaluated in practice. Shane Adler started the last three games, and the team also has Collin Drafts, who is on the refused to report list and could be brought in.

One problem that appeared to get solved in the game was the snaps and holds on extra points, which have been a problem all season for the Blizzard.

The only special team miscue came in the second quarter when there was confusion with the protection and Quad City defenders came free on a field goal attempt and holder Nate Green scrambled and threw an interception. That could have swung momentum greatly in Quad City’s favor, but the Blizzard overcame the mistake and took over in the third quarter to create a lead and get the win.

Overall Landsee said he was happy to get the win over a division-rival and start off 1-0 within the Midwest division, but isn’t happy with the team’s execution. 

Execution will probably be addressed in the Blizzard’s AFL-like practices this week.

“This af2 team goes at it just like an arena one team,” Blalock said. “A lot of af2 teams will watch a little bit of film and they’re done for the day. Here, they get on it. It’s like an arena one team.”

The Blizzard is in the af2, but have that strong connection from coach Frazier and the AFL.

Frazier was responsible for not only bringing Blalock to the arena game, but also three of the Blizzard’s coaches, which include Landsee, offensive coordinator Mark Stoute and defensive coordinator Doug Lytle.

All three were part of the Mustangs in 2000. Landsee and Stoute were assistants and Lytle was a defensive tackle. The Mustangs didn’t have a great season record wise, but the lessons taught by Frazier during that season are still helping the Blizzard today.

Frazier's coaching career, which spanned 30 years at the pro, college and high school levels, included four and half seasons as a head coach in the AFL (Milwaukee 1998-2001, Grand Rapids 2004) and three years at the af2 level (Norfolk 2003, Quad City 2005-06). 

Green Bay’s Kwaku blends in well

Originally published on ArenaFan.com

The tattoo on the left bicep of Green Bay Blizzard defensive back Edward Kwaku tells his life story better than this article will. It represents what he’s been doing his entire life, adapting.

The tattoo is a picture of a chameleon, which is a lizard that changes the color of its skin to adapt to its surroundings.

Kwaku was born and grew up in Nigeria. He lived with his mother and loved to play soccer. His life would change as a teenager, however, when his mother died and he moved to the United States to live with his father and brothers in Florida.

That’s when he had to start adapting.

“I was a soccer fan, but I had brothers that played football.” Kwaku said. “They told me, ‘you’re in America now and you have to play football’. I thought it was a maniac sport, but I learned to love it.”

He also excelled at it and would get a scholarship at Florida A&M, but drew little interest from any professional leagues after his college career was over.

Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee saw him at an AFL team’s tryout in the spring of 2006 and offered him a chance to play, a chance to adapt to the arena game.

In Green Bay, Kwaku learned the game from Blizzard defensive backs coach Sammy Walker, who Kwaku said has become a mentor for him in the arena game.

The Blizzard made the ArenaCup in 2006, which was played in Puerto Rico, and Kwaku’s personal success got him a tryout with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

The experience with the Dolphins didn’t last long, but he was told to go to NFL Europa to fine-tune his skills, but after the season the NFL didn’t come calling.

Today, Kwaku is back with the Blizzard, but had to adjust to new teammates because he is the only player still remaining from the 2006 ArenaCup team.

“He fits into the scheme, so a chameleon is a good way to describe him because you know what chameleons are in football? Team players,” Landsee said. “He’s a classy individual...he’s on the top of the list around here.”

Besides acting like a chameleon, Kwaku also serves as the team’s comedian.

“He’s always barking at people and wisecracking with guys,” Landsee said. “But he knows when to do it, and when he gets between those boards he’s a totally different person.”

If you look for Kwaku on the arenafootball2’s statistical leaders you won’t find him at the top in defensive categories. He tends to blend into the middle.

It’s probably not because he isn’t as talented as the league leaders, but he would rather hit people than go for the ball. 

“He’s that guy that’s going to be the hammer instead of the nail,” Walker said. “Last game he knocked a guy out. He could have probably got the pick, but he wanted to nail that guy into the ground and that’s what happened.”

Looking back at his life so far, Kwaku can say he grew up in Africa and has played professional football in three different countries, but one of his favorite accomplishments involves being in a place he never thought he would be.

“I’m on Madden,” Kwaku said. “I’m in two video games as a matter of fact. I’m on Madden 08 with the Frankfurt Galaxy and I’m on the arena game with Green Bay. I never thought that would happen.”

Looking back at his accomplishments, Kwaku credits everything that has happened to him to his mother because without her he probably wouldn’t have been able to adapt to all the situations he has faced in his life.

It’s only fitting that on his right bicep is an image of his late mother, which is where he draws his strength to adapt.

Green Bay Blizzard (2-1) at South Georgia Wildcats (2-1)

Series: Green Bay leads 2-0, last game was in 2006 when Green Bay won 52-50.

Three Things to Watch

The quarterback situation in South Georgia

Cecil Lester has put up solid numbers, but struggled against Daytona Beach on Monday and was pulled in favor of Walter Washington who sparked the Wildcats to the win. Washington was released this past week and Andrico Hines was picked up. Hines started for the Spokane Shock last season and his main target was current Wildcat’s receiver Antwone Savage.

Can the Wildcats slow down the Blizzard’s pass rush?

The Wildcats have been banged up on the offensive line, most notably center Donald Usry, which bodes well for the Blizzard. Green Bay’s defensive line is probably the strength of the team and defensive end Joe Sykes is rapidly becoming a force in the af2.

Can the Blizzard slow down the Wildcat’s receivers?

The Wildcats probably have the best trio of receivers the Blizzard will face this year, along with the Quad City Steamwheeler’s. Savage, Buchie Ibeh and B.J. Perry will be the key to the Wildcat’s success on Saturday.

Blizzard rout Manchester, 72-31

Originally published on ArenaFan.com

Usually if a little mistake doesn’t get corrected it will lead to bigger mistakes over time, or take a lot of time to get sorted out.

That was the story for the Manchester Wolves as they listed fullback Dan Crozier as number 36 instead of his jersey number 39 in the roster that has to be submitted an hour before the game to the officials and the opposing team. By rule in arenafootball2 if the name and the jersey doesn’t match up that player is ineligible.

After a 15-minute delay to the start of the game and a call to the league offices, Crozier was allowed to play, but the Wolves had to change the sixes on his jersey with duct tape to look like nines, but the Wolves probably wish they could have changed the final score of the 72-31 loss they suffered at the hands of the Green Bay Blizzard at the Resch Center on Friday night.

The Blizzard (2-1) offense started off fast as quarterback Shane Adler, who earlier in the week was given the job after the Blizzard had used three different quarterbacks in its first two games, connected on an 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Steve Gonzalez on the first drive of the game.

On Manchester’s first possession quarterback Justin Rummel also threw a touchdown pass, but it was to Green Bay’s Jack linebacker Anthony Crissinger-Hill.

The rest of the game would be similar. Green Bay would make plays, and Manchester would make mistakes.

The Blizzard offense, which struggled in its first two games, produced eight touchdowns. Six of those were passes from Adler, who looked like he was more comfortable in the pocket compared to his previous outings.

“Our timing is coming around,” said Blizzard wide receiver Scott Burnoski, who had six catches for 115 yards and four touchdowns. “We’re comfortable and he kind of knows when we’re going to make our breaks and he’s putting the ball right there. There’s improvements that need to be made defiantly, but we’re defiantly coming around.”

Gonzalez, who played for the Wolves in 2006, said Manchester was playing a lot of man-coverage in the game, which meant he wasn’t double-teamed for the first time this season and it allowed him to catch 10 passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

“The offense really needed to pick it up and make a statement and say hey the offense is here too,” Burnoski said. “The defense can’t win all the games for us.”

Maybe not, but it sure looked like it could in this game.

The defense added two touchdowns of its own and forced a safety. The defensive line, which consisted of Kory Lothe, Quartez Vickerson and Joe Sykes, and Mac linebacker Tim Daniels provided consistent pressure all night.

“All three of those defensive lineman can be in arena one next year,” said Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee. “Those are three really, really good kids, not only on the field, but off the field and I think it’s really neat to see them grow.”

On a few occasions Daniels was untouched in getting to Rummel, and Sykes said that was because he picked up on which way the Wolves offensive line was sliding their protection based on their hand placement before the snap.

“He was holding onto the ball and padding it,” Sykes said of Rummel in the first half.

“My hats go off to the defensive backs, they’ve been doing good all year.”

The defense tallied four fumble recoveries and one interception, and totaled seven stops in the game.

“They were getting confused by the way we were rushing them,” Landsee said. “We kept changing it up, and a lot times they ended up having two guys blocking one...and that poor quarterback ended up having a long day.”

As for the Wolves (1-1), it’s never a good thing when arguably your two best players don’t finish the game.

In the second quarter, Wolves wide receiver Steven Savoy attempted to catch a pass on a slant route, but Blizzard defensive back Edward Kwaku was there to break it up, and Savoy would remain motionless on the turf after the play.

Thankfully, after a couple of minutes Savoy started to move his legs rapidly and squirm as the trainers tried to relax him to stabilize his head and neck as a precaution. After the game Wolves officials said Savoy suffered a concussion that temporarily knocked him unconscious.

The other player that didn’t finish the game for the Wolves was defensive back Dahn Singfield, who was the defensive player of the year in the af2 for the Memphis Xplorers in 2005, because he was ejected along with Blizzard defensive back Nate Green.

The two got in a scuffle after a kick off in the fourth quarter, but the score was 56-31, and the Wolves needed Singfield more than the Blizzard needed Green at that point in the game.

The Wolves were also without veteran wide receiver/defensive back David Bailey, who didn’t make the trip because of an ankle injury and after Savoy was injured it forced Manchester to play Will Evans, who primarily is a defensive back.

Evans did have a 48-yard touchdown catch to start the fourth quarter to make the score 50-31, but the Wolves could not overcome the pass rush of the Blizzard in the second half.

Even though the Blizzard played its most complete game of the season, Landsee said there are still mistakes that need to be fixed.

These include the snaps and holds on extra points, quarterback protection and keeping focused after gaining a large lead.

The biggest thing Landsee will take away from this game, however, is confidence.

“They quit thinking,” Landsee said. “If you think about things you’re a step slow...I think tonight they finally got to the point where things started to click and they saw the things we were talking about and they reacted and didn’t think about it.”

The Blizzard plays at South Georgia next Saturday in the team’s longest road game of the year.

Blizzard's Vickerson looks to make impact on and off the field

Originally published on ArenaFan.com

It should be no surprise that Green Bay Blizzard defensive tackle Quartez Vickerson’s goal after football is to open a shelter to help troubled youth.

He’s been helping people his entire life.

In fact, his job as a defensive tackle for the Blizzard is to help open lanes for the Mac linebacker to run through to get to the quarterback.

Vickerson started helping others as a youth growing up in the Detroit area. He said he enjoyed teaching things to younger kids that he picked up on.

His first pupil was his younger brother, Kevin.

Kevin would go on to play college football at Michigan State, and Quartez was the anchor on the defensive line at Grand Valley State that won a Division-II National Championship in 2005, but the National Football League didn’t come calling after that season.

Vickerson would go to NFL Europe and play for the Berlin Thunder, but it didn’t result in an NFL contract.

In 2007, he attended the Tennessee Valley Vipers training camp and after a few practices

decided to go back to Europe for another season.

His hard work paid off as he was invited to the NFL’s Tennessee Titans training camp last year, but he didn’t make the final roster. His younger brother Kevin, however, did.

“What he knows I know,” Vickerson said. “As far as speed wise, technique wise...we help each other out a lot and I’m proud of him.”

Entering this spring Vickerson was unsure what he would do because NFL Europe had shut its doors and the All-American Football League put off its inaugural season.

Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee saw the closing and delay of the leagues as an opportunity to bring talented players to Green Bay, so he called one of his former teammates Darryl Sims, who coached in NFL Europe, about which guys are on the cusp of making it to the next level and wanted to work hard to get there.

Vickerson’s name was the first to come up.

Both Landsee and defensive coordinator Doug Lytle feel the closure of NFL Europe has increased the talent level league wide in arenafootball2, and Vickerson is a perfect example of that.

“Everything is a learning experience. I take everything as a stepping stone and the deuce isn’t bad either,” Vickerson said. “It’s a stepping stone to learn this game and hopefully get a contract with the Arena Football League.”

“Under coach Landsee I’m doing real good,” Vickerson said. “He’s teaching me a lot since I’ve been here and it’s starting to show.”

Vickerson came to Green Bay to gain experience in the arena game, but also is getting a shot to do what he does best, help others. He is one of the few players on the team that has won a championship at any level and he said after this season he would like everyone to know what that feels like.

He also likes the fact that there is good fishing in the Green Bay area, and can’t wait to test the waters with teammate Adam Tadisch, who is a Wisconsin native and has a boat.

As for Vickerson’s playing future, it’s looking bright, according to Lytle. Lytle, a former AFL defensive lineman, said Vickerson has progressed in the arena game faster than he expected and compares him to James Baron, which is high praise considering Baron was voted as the sixth-greatest player in AFL history in 2006.

In the immediate future for Vickerson and the rest of the Blizzard is a game at Tennessee Valley tonight.

“They have a lot of speed,” Landsee said. “There coming off a tough loss just like us, and I’m sure their going to be mad, so we’ve got to be prepared to take them on.”

Landsee also said that the Vipers have a lot of guys with AFL experience, specifically mentioning two-way lineman Terrance Ford and quarterback Andy Hall.

The Blizzard’s starting quarterback for tonight is unknown. Landsee said he’s going to keep the media guessing, but he would tell either Matt Bohnet or Shane Adler who was starting on Thursday.

Last week, Bohnet got the start, but was replaced in the fourth quarter after throwing his second interception. Adler replaced him, but also threw two interceptions.

If Landsee needed any help to make a decision perhaps he should go to Vickerson because he seems to have this whole helping other people out thing down pact.