No eye to this Storm; Blizzard falls to Sioux Falls in opener

It’s tough to keep serve with the Sioux Falls Storm.

The Green Bay Blizzard found that out in a 73-43 road loss to the defending Indoor Football League champions on Sunday at Sioux Falls Arena.

Not including its possessions at the end of each half, the Storm scored touchdowns on nine of its 10 offensive series.

Sioux Falls quarterback and three-time IFL MVP Chris Dixon was flawless, completing 19 of 20 passes for 268 yards and five touchdowns to go along with 50 rushing yards and two more scores.

Defensive back Donta Moore provided the decisive blow for the Storm early in the fourth quarter when he stepped in front of a Donovan Porterie pass and returned the game’s only turnover 45 yards to extend the lead to 59-30 with 12 minutes, 17 seconds remaining.

Sioux Falls, who out-gained Green Bay 349-160 in yards, was scoring at such an alarming rate that it faced just two third-down attempts (0-for-2) in the game.

Meanwhile, the Blizzard was 3-for-11 on third-down conversions and averaged 1.9 yards on 19 rushing attempts.

Green Bay scored TDs on six of 12 possessions, converted one of three field goals and got stopped on downs twice.

In his Blizzard debut, Porterie was 13 of 23 for 144 yards and three TDs with the one

interception. He also added a pair of short rushing scores.

After deferring to start the game, Green Bay matched score for score with Sioux Falls, who won both meetings last season, including the United Conference championship.

But the Blizzard’s pace began to slow in the second quarter when back-to-back false start penalties turned a third-and-6 from the Storm 12 into a third-and-16 from the 22. The drive ended two plays later with a missed field goal by Adrian Trevino.

Sioux Falls then went 45 yards in under 2 minutes and took a 24-10 lead with the first of James Jones’ two TD runs on the day.

Trailing 31-10, Green Bay appeared to get its first break of the game in the second quarter when a Porterie interception was overturned due to a roughing the passer penalty by former Blizzard defensive end Jeremiah Price, making it first-and-goal from the Storm 8.

However, Scott Burnoski dropped a TD in the back of the end zone on second down and a halfback-pass attempt by LaRon Council on third down never got off like it was supposed to.

Then on fourth down, miscommunication led to Trevor Glomski snapping to Burnoski, the holder, when he was looking at Trevino, who ended up taking the bad snap and getting tackled for a loss instead of adding a 21-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half.

Down 38-16 at halftime, the Blizzard went 27 yards in nine plays and took 6 minutes, 39 seconds off the clock to score on a 1-yard scamper by Porterie on the opening possession of the second half.

The Storm, though, quickly responded again four players later with Jones’ second TD run, and maintained its three-score advantage after the teams exchanged TD again in the third quarter before Moore’s interception.

Box Score

BY THE NUMBERS

3-Sacks given up by the Blizzard

4-6-Blizzard’s all-time record in season-openers

10:58-Advantage in time of possession for Green Bay, who also ran 10 more plays

19.5-B.J. Hill’s average on four kick returns

182-93-Combined scores of the Blizzard’s three losses to Sioux Falls

DID YOU NOTICE?

Without a true center on the roster, LeRoy Auguste moved inside to play the position after sitting out most of the past two seasons. Auguste played tight end for the Blizzard in 2009 and briefly was with the team at the start of the 2010 season. The University of Buffalo alum did a solid job lined up against Corey Johnsen, knocking off the rust that comes with not playing for about two years.

Donovan Porterie did a great job of carrying out play fakes. A big part of coach Robert Fuller’s offense is using play-action, particularly on rollout passes, and you could see Porterie is adept at it after doing so in Fairbanks last season. Play-action passes are a tricky proposition in the indoor game when you consider the reduced space and angle a defensive end has on the play. But Porterie did a solid job, even though Sioux Falls’ line was able to recover and contain him on many occasions. Expect big plays down the field to come against teams not as talented as the Storm.

The three-point stance from running back LaRon Council. You almost had to scratch your eyes for a while when Council lined up that way directly behind Porterie in what looked like the formation used in arena rules, where the fullback rides the back hip of the quarterback in the ‘offensive box’. Most times in the indoor game, a single halfback simply lines up with their hands on their knees, but Council lined up directly behind Porterie on several occasions. It changed the depth from which he took handoffs and allowed him to dart up the middle of the line on pass routes. Trevor Glomski also lined up in a three-point stance behind Porterie, but he did so as a fullback and lead blocker for Council in I-formation.

X’s and O’s

Out of the 25 players on the roster, 21 are allowed to dress, which always makes it interesting to see who a coach uses for his reserves. When you consider there are 16 starters (8 offense, 8 defense) and a kicker, that leaves just four reserves. When you look at your game-day roster, you have to consider all the possibilities if injuries were to occur.

In his first game as Blizzard coach, Robert Fuller decided not to dress backup quarterback Reid Herchenbach and opted to rely on wide receiver Scott Burnoski as an emergency quarterback to maximize those spots.

As a former offensive lineman himself, Fuller dressed four of them as well. It’s a good move when you consider the proposition of having one of your three starters going down and having to rely on a defensive lineman to protect your quarterback. Frank Toarmina only played on special teams, providing solid protection on field-goal attempts, but the insurance he provides is invaluable.

There was a nice rotation in the defensive backfield between Kenny Viser, Aaron Moore and Mike Turner, while B.J. Hill and James Romain manned the corner positions. Trevor Glomski stepped in for one of the safeties in goal-line situations.

Linebacker Greg Jackson and the defensive line of P.J. South, Tyron Hurst and Junior Aumavae played the entire game, which was different from the past two years under Rik Richards, who liked to rotate four players on the defensive line to keep them fresh.

Burnoski, Bryan Pray, Desmond Tardy and Marquel Willis dressed as receivers, which is a position Hill can play in addition to running back, where LaRon Council dressed and Andrew Verbencouer was inactive.

Obviously, each game is different when it comes to personnel. But it’s always interesting to see how a coach utilizes those 21 spots for games.

GREEN BAY STARTERS

Offense

15 QB Donovan Porterie

6 RB LaRon Council

2 WR Scott Burnoski

9 WR Bryan Pray

7 WR Desmond Tardy

50 LT Seth Smalls

69 C LeRoy Auguste

77 RT Nick Thornton-Jack

Defense

56 DE P.J. South

98 DT Tyron Hurst

99 DE Junior Aumavae

11 LB Greg Jackson

3 CB B.J. Hill

5 CB James Romain

17 Rov Aaron Moore

21 S Kenny Viser

Reserves

19 K Adrian Trevino

1 DB Mike Turner

44 LB/FB Trevor Glomski

18 WR Marquel Willis

66 OL Frank Toarmina

Inactives

16 QB Reid Herchenbach

55 DL Jordan Lardinois

34 RB Andrew Verbencouer

PLAY OF THE GAME

Donta Moore’s interception at the start of the fourth quarter ended any hopes of a comeback for the Blizzard. Even being down 52-30 before it happened, there was a sense that if Green Bay’s offense could keep matching TDs to keep it a two-score game, the defense or special teams would eventually land a turnover of some sort because Sioux Falls had been playing mistake-free football up to that point. The Storm just never made that mistake.

NEXT UP

A road game against the Reading Express, who lost, 54-40, at Bloomington on Sunday. Green Bay won all three games versus the Express last season, including a 68-51 victory in the playoffs. This will be the Blizzard’s first trip to Reading, who coach Robert Fuller defeated on the road last season with Fairbanks.

P-G article: Fuller ready for latest challenge with Blizzard

ASHWAUBENON — Robert Fuller wasn't sure how to prepare his team for it.

As the coach of the Fairbanks Grizzlies last year, Fuller could handle a nine-day road trip to play a pair of games against their closest opponents some 2,300 miles away.

But he didn't know how to tell his players that the Alaska franchise likely was folding at the end of it, ... Read the rest

Green Bay's growing pains

Originally published on ArenaFan.com

It was an ugly Friday night for the Green Bay Blizzard in front of 7,231 of its fans at the Resch Center.

But as disappointing as the 53-28 loss to the Manchester Wolves was, it was probably just what the young team needed after beating the Tennessee Valley Vipers, the defending ArenaCup champions, two weeks ago.

Why? Because you learn more from a tough loss than a big win, and Friday’s contest was about as tough a loss as there is to swallow.

The Blizzard turned the ball over four times and scored only one touchdown in the second half, which happened with only 3 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game, and after quarterback Gino Guidugli was benched.

“We didn’t put the ball in the end zone,” Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee said. “Our offense was absolutely pathetic, from top down.”

Guidugli threw three interceptions and completed just 47 percent of his passes. He took a seat midway through the fourth quarter after Manchester’s Jack linebacker Rob Green, who already picked off Guidugli twice in the third quarter, tipped a pass that almost turned into the signal caller’s fourth INT.

Guidugli had time to throw most of the night, but the Blizzard receivers didn’t find any openings in the Wolves’ defense, and the results were Guidugli forcing passes, running from pressure after holding onto the ball and misfiring passes in all directions.

“Everybody has those days,” Blizzard WR/LB Robert Garth said. “It wasn’t just Gino, we had receivers running into each other out there. You can’t put the whole thing on the quarterback.”

The Resch Center crowd, however, did put the blame on Guidugli, booing the QB after not being able to score on a fourth-down play inside the Manchester 10-yardline with 12:08 to play in the fourth quarter and the score 39-20.

Garth, the elder member of the Blizzard having played eight seasons in arenafootball2, has seen a lot of games where teams have comeback from a few scores down late, but his younger teammates haven’t.

“I think by us being young, a lot of guys revert back to the outdoor game when you are down 14-15 points it’s over.”

Garth also said the most disappointing thing was to lose that way at home, but hinted that the loss will serve as a motivational tool the rest of the season.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys. I’ve got more years by myself than everyone else combined.”

The man known as “Superman” was almost right. The Blizzard roster has 20 years of af2 experience;  eight of those years belong to Garth.

The other 12 years belong to eight players, and the team played 11 rookies on Friday night.

Also, years credited to the experienced players don’t account for full af2 seasons played, it simply signifies the player has played in at least one game in a previous season.

Guidugli, who has two years of credited experience, has never played a full season. He started eight games in 2007 before signing with the CFL’s B.C. Lions and came back last season to start the team’s final three games.

In those games, however, he looked like an unflappable veteran of 10 years, which is why his performance on Friday night was so surprising.

Despite the youthfulness of the Blizzard, Garth thinks this is probably the most talented team he’s been around.

Blizzard defensive tackle Zarnell Fitch, who spent time with three NFL teams, is one of the talented rookies on the team, and may not know everything about the Arena game yet, but does know what it’s not.

“We know this is not Green Bay Blizzard football. This is not what coach Landsee is teaching,” Fitch said.

The game played by the Blizzard on Friday night isn’t what Landsee is  teaching, but the pain felt from the lopsided loss will serve as a reminder as to what happens when you don’t follow the coach’s lessons.


Getting a little bit of redemption

Coming into the game, the Blizzard was hoping to get a little payback after Manchester knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs last season at the Resch Center by pulling out a 55-54 win.

But it was Manchester WR Steve Savoy who ended up getting some revenge instead. Last season, in the teams’ regular-season meeting in Week 3, which the Blizzard won 72-31, Savoy was knocked out of the game after receiving a hard hit while going over the middle.

Savoy didn’t play in the teams’ postseason contest, but was able to get some redemption on Friday night. The former Utah Ute caught 10 passes for 156 yards and two TDs.

He set the tone early, catching a 45-yard TD pass from James Pinkney on the first play from scrimmage. Then, on the 2-point conversion, Savoy was the holder and took the ball in what looked like a designed play instead of a bobbled snap, and plowed over Fitch, who is 6-foot-3, 323 pounds, to give the Wolves the 8-0 advantage.

Another season in the af2, but the same goal in mind

Originally published on ArenaFan.com

Gino Guidugli thought he was going to be throwing touchdown passes for the Cleveland Gladiators this season.

Bradley Chavez expected to catch his first TD of 2009 in a New York Dragons’ uniform.

Instead, both were on opposite sides of the field Saturday night in front of 5,596 fans at the Resch Center in the Green Bay Blizzard’s season-opening 53-40 win over the Tennessee Valley Vipers, the defending ArenaCup champions.

Guidugli, Chavez and many others playing in arenafootball2 this season had plans of making the jump to the Arena Football League before the cancellation of the 2009 season. But that’s in the past, along with the honeymoon period for the 2008 champs, whose title defense got off to a rough start from the get go.

After Green Bay scored a TD on its first drive, quarterback Kevin Eakin fumbled the first snap for the Vipers, which the Blizzard recovered, and four plays later, a one-yard TD run by Rod Olds gave Green Bay the early 14-0 lead.

Chavez, who was the af2’s Ironman of the Year last year and helped knock the Blizzard out of the playoffs as a member of the Manchester Wolves, got Tennessee Valley on the scoreboard with a three-yard TD catch from Eakin to pull the Vipers to within a TD, but that’s as close as they would get the rest of the night.

The Vipers had a chance to go into halftime down only eight points after Guidugli threw an interception to Travis Blanchard, however, Chavez couldn’t get a handle on a hold for a field-goal attempt and the Vipers went into the half down 24-13.

The errant pass was Guidugli’s only mistake of the night. The Blizzard QB was calm in the pocket, throwing away passes if receivers were covered, and finished with 223 yards and four TDs.

He didn’t see a lot of pressure from Eric Scott either. Scott, who was second in the af2 last season with 17.5 sacks, was held in check for the most part by two impressive rookies, Bill Bourdlais and Brandon Barnes.

“They did a great job,” Guidugli said. “I think I only got hit three or four times, and hopefully that continues throughout the season.”

The defensive end from Southern Mississippi did get his first sack of the young season, however, when a breakdown in protection left Scott one-on-one with fullback Orlando Medlock, who was no match for the 6-foot-2, 285-pounder.

Medlock fared better with the ball in his hands though, carrying the rock 15 times for 55 yards and found the end zone once.

The first play of the second half resulted in another turnover by Eakin. The Viper QB didn’t see Green Bay’s Robert Garth and threw it directly to the Jack linebacker waiting in the flats.

"In Arena Football, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win," Tennessee Valley head coach Dean Cokinos said. "We just turned the ball over too many times. We let the game slip away."

After a 36-yard field goal by Blizzard kicker Bob Forstrom, Vipers’ backup QB Tony Colston, last year’s ArenaCup hero, got a chance to rekindle the magic that helped the Vipers stun the Spokane Shock 56-55 in overtime to win the title.

Colston’s entrance into the game only seemed to spark the Blizzard’s pass rush, which was nonexistent in the first half. Colston nearly got sacked by Mac linebacker Craig Wilson on his first snap under center, and then threw away a pass before DE Byron Tinker came free on his blind side.

The lefty was called for intentional grounding and Tinker was awarded a safety on the play, which gave the Blizzard a 29-13 lead with 10 minutes, 33 seconds left in the third quarter.

Green Bay put the game away on the following possession when Guidugli hooked up with Nate Forse for an 11-yard score. Forse, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound WR, finished with nine catches for 109 yards and three TDs.

Eakin returned to the game after Colston’s safety and finished with 166 yards and two TDs, hitting 17-of-23 passes, but had two interceptions.

“It’s a new year,” Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee said.

“We beat them the second game last year. (Then) they went out and won the championship. We need to continue to get better every game. We can’t live on a big win early.”

The Vipers started last season 0-3, which included a 37-35 loss at home to Green Bay in Week 2, before winning 14 of their next 17 games to win ArenaCup9.

It was Green Bay’s first season-opening win since 2005, Landsee’s first year as head coach, when it beat the Albany Conquest 49-41. The fast start for this year’s Blizzard team can be credited largely to Guidugli’s return.

“It was nice not having to teach a quarterback how to play the Arena game,” Landsee said.

In each of the Blizzards’ previous six seasons, the team started with a new QB, and after starting six different QBs last season (Guidugli started the last three), it was a defiant boost to have a veteran under center.

For as good as Guidugli’s night went, it didn’t go as well for his fellow AFL-hopeful on the opposite side of the field, who watched the end of the game from the bench with his shoulder pads off after being injured. Chavez finished with five catches for 44 yards and the touchdown from the first quarter.

Still, Guidugli and Chavez both have the same destinations in mind, winning ArenaCup10 this season and then proceeding with their original plans of joining the AFL when it opens up again in 2010.

“We don’t have to be stars,” said Landsee about his players. “We all have to just get better and we will win, and when we win, everyone will get the accolades at the end of the year.”