Blizzard Bury \'Tide, 67-49
April 10, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release
SAN DIEGO â The Riptide were met with an avalanche of touchdowns Friday night, getting trounced by the Green Bay Blizzard, 67-49, in their home opener. Green Bay wide receiver Randall Lane reeled in six touchdown receptions and the âTide once again changed quarterbacks in mid-game, dropping their record to 0-2.
The Riptide drew first blood when Brad Greetis blocked a Green Bay field goal attempt that ran out of the back of the end zone for a safety, but the Blizzard came roaring back with some standout defense of their own. Green Bay linebackers picked off Kevin Feterik on each of the âTide's next two drives, returning the first for a touchdown, and scoring on a Dennis Gile-to-Lane connection on the latter.
The Riptide finally found the end zone with 1:09 left in the first quarter, as Feterik atoned for his earlier mistakes by hooking up with Dwight Carter for a 32-yard touchdown pass, making the score 12-9 with the extra point.
Green Bay came right back to start the second quarter, however, changing quarterbacks but meeting with similar results. Backup Chris Greisen entered the game and promptly found Lane for another touchdown. This time the extra point cleared the pipes to give the Blizzard a 19-9 lead.
Week One Starter Kane Claunch entered the game for San Diego on their next drive and the two teams exchanged touchdowns from there, and with a missed extra point by each team the score stood at 32-22 Green Bay with under a minute remaining in the half. With just nine seconds left to play, however, Greisen hooked up with Lane once again, giving the Blizzard a 39-22 halftime lead.
Claunch got the âTide off to a good start to start the second half, tossing a score to Carter on San Diego's first drive of the half to pull to within eleven, 39-28. Once again, however, the Blizzard came right back, putting another seven points on the scoreboard when Greisen hit Robert Garth in the end zone to put Green Bay back up by 18.
San Diego wouldn't say die, scoring 14 unanswered points on touchdown passes from Claunch to Carter and Ryan Smith, respectively, pulling to within four as the third quarter ended, but once again, Lane proved he couldn't be stopped. The red-hot Blizzard receiver hauled in his fifth touchdown reception of the day, this time a 40-yarder from Greisen, and the Blizzard went back up by 11.
The Blizzard continued to pile it on after that, switching QB's back to Gile, and adding another seven points on a TD pass to Garth, then Lane reeled in yet another score with 6:38 left to play to put Green Bay up by 25. San Diego added a late score, but it was a moot point, losing by a final of 67-49.
Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game: Randall Lane (GB)
U.S. Army Ironman of the Game: Robert Garth (GB)
ADT Defensive Player of the Game: Brad Greetis (SD)
SHARK BITES: The Riptide's 0-2 start is the worst in franchise history... Smith's two touchdowns give him five for the season, just two shy of his career high in a season... Lane's six touchdown receptions are a new record for a Riptide opponent... all four quarterbacks on the rosters of the two teams threw a TD pass... Nakou McElrath and Mike Wessell were placed on the injured reserve before the game... The game was Kevin Williams first start at quarterback for the Twisters, after being the team's top receiver in 2003...
NEXT GAME: The Riptide hit the road again in week 3 to play first intra-division game of the season. They'll head up the 15 to take on the Bakersfield Blitz on Saturday, April 17 at 7 p.m. Although the Blitz may seem familiar to Riptide fans, they are actually an expansion team in 2004. The original Bakersfield franchise left for Fresno and are now the Central Valley Coyotes. This will be the first of four meetings between San Diego and Bakersfield this year. Fans can catch all the action for all 16 Riptide regular season games at www.WorldTalkRadio.com.
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