Blizzard Continue Winning Streak by Smothering Slaughter
April 13, 2012 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Green Bay Blizzard News Release
After dropping their opening game on the road at Sioux Falls the Green Bay Blizzard faced a tough schedule in March and early April, playing only one of their first five games at home. The Blizzard returned home Friday night for the first time in five weeks and put on a show for 5,346 fans at the Resch Center by knocking off the Chicago Slaughter by a score of 63-36. The Slaughter jumped ahead immediately when they received the opening kickoff and four plays later Chris Nendick booted a 37 yard field goal. The Blizzard offense marched methodically down the field on their first possession by repeatedly pounding the ball with running back La'Ron Council. In fact, Council was the only player to touch the ball on that drive, which was capped off by his 3 yard TD burst. Those two drives were the only points for both teams in the opening quarter and Green Bay held a 7-3 lead after one.
The Blizzard dominated the second quarter from start to finish holding the Slaughter offense to only two Nendick field goals in the period. Nendick didn't help the cause as he also missed a total of four attempts in the first half. Three different Blizzard players reached the end zone in the second quarter beginning with wide receiver Bryan Pray, who scored on a 33-yard pass from quarterback Donovan Porterie. On the ensuing Green Bay possession Porterie found wide receiver Scott Burnoski streaking all alone to the goal line for an 18-yard score. Council tacked on his second touchdown of the night with just under two minutes remaining in the half when he fought off three Slaughter defenders on his way to the end zone. Kicker Adrian Trevino added a field goal with six seconds left to send the Blizzard to the locker room with a 30-9 lead. Green Bay again came out strong in the second half with another TD on the ground, this time courtesy of Andrew Verboncouer from 7-yards away. In an attempt to spark their offense Chicago moved starting quarterback Juice Williams to receiver and inserted backup quarterback Perry Patterson under center. The move paid off as Patterson connected with three different targets for scores in the third quarter. The passes were thrown to receivers Shatone Powers, Ernest Jackson, and the aforementioned Williams respectively. Despite their improved offense the Chicago defense couldn't hold up their end of the bargain, allowing the Blizzard to answer each Slaughter score with points of their own. After Powers' touchdown reception Porterie found Desmond Tardy wide open at the five and he easily coasted in to push the lead to 43-16. Then after Jackson's score trimmed the lead to 20, Porterie hooked up with Burnoski for his second TD of the game to grab a 49-23 advantage. Williams' leaping catch over the end zone boards cut the lead to 20 going into the final quarter, but that was as close as the Slaughter would get.
On the Blizzard's first drive of the fourth quarter Porterie yet again threw a strike to Burnoski to increase the lead to 56-30. Burnoski finished with four catches for 80 yards and three touchdowns. Any hopes of a Chicago comeback were snuffed when Slaughter running back Lucien Walker was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on a fourth down and three in their own territory. Council added his third scoring run of the evening from 11 yards out to remove any doubt remaining. As time wound down, the Slaughter added a final score on a Patterson toss to Eyad Salem from inside the ten. Their two-point conversion attempt was stopped by the Green Bay defense and the game was over with Green Bay on top 63-36.
Although the Green Bay defense did not force any turnovers, they came into the game second in the IFL in points allowed and did nothing to hurt their numbers in that department. Secondary mates B.J. Hill and Aaron Moore led the team in tackles with seven and six respectively. Donovan Porterie turned in his most efficient performance of the season completing 10 of his 14 passes for 160 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions. LaRon Council topped the century mark with 104 yards on 19 carries and scored three times.
These same two teams will meet again in a rematch on the opposite side of the border next week Saturday, April 21st at 7:05 p.m. at the Sears Centre in Chicago.
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