Blizzard Records First Road Victory Of The Season
Published on May 2, 2005 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Green Bay Blizzard News Release
The Green Bay Blizzard went on the road for the second time this season, and they came back with Head Coach Bob Landsee's first-ever road victory, in the fashion of a hard-fought 48-40 defeat of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers Saturday night in front of 4,846 at Wachovia Arena in Scranton, PA.
The Blizzard defense once again made its presence felt early on, as OL/DL Chris Eggleston recorded his first INT of the season when he plucked a pass by QB Kyle Rowley out of the air on the Pioneers' first play from scrimmage. Even though the Pioneers defense kept the Blizzard off the scoreboard after the turnover, it was only a matter of time until the offense got rolling.
After the Pioneers went up 7-0 on a 6-yard TD pass from Rowley to WR/DB Jurron Kelly, the Blizzard answered with a 10-yard TD pass from QB Johnny Turman to OS Troy Mason, and it would mark the last time the Blizzard trailed in this game. The see-saw battle would continue throughout the first half, as WR/LB Rocco Forgione pulled in a 28-yard Rowley pass for a TD early in the 2nd quarter. A missed extra point left the score at 13-7 in favor of the Pioneers. Turman got the Blizzard back on the board, driving the ball down the field and scoring on a 2-yard run. K Henrik Juul-Nielsen's PAT put the Blizzard up for the first time, 14-13. Rowley then threw his third TD pass of the night, hitting OS J.R. Thomas. Turman and the Mason kept pace, hooking up for another TD from 9 yards out as the first half drew to a close. The Blizzard went into the locker room with a 21-20 halftime lead.
WR/LB Robert Garth got into the act right out of the gate, pulling in a 24-yard Turman pass for a TD only 3 minutes into the second half, extending the Blizzard lead to 27-20. The Pioneers answered with Rowley's fourth TD pass of the game, his second to Forgione. After the successful PAT, the score was knotted up at 27-27. The Turman/Mason show wasn't finished, however, as the dynamic duo teamed up from 5 yards out for their third TD connection of the game and a 34-27 lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Garth found himself as the centerpiece of the night's most amazing play, recovering a fumble in the Blizzard end zone and taking it the length of the field for his second TD of the night. 50 yards and a successful PAT later, the Blizzard found themselves with a tenuous 41-27 lead.
Rowley led the Pioneers back to within 7, scoring on a TD on a run from the 1-yard line. Turman would then score his own 1-yard rushing TD and bring the score to 48-34. Then, with less than a minute to play, Rowley found Forgione once again for a 25-yard TD pass that would bring the Pioneers to within 8 at 48-40. Pioneers K Dave Davis executed an onside kick which was recovered by Kelly, and after two Blizzard penalties the Pioneers drove down as far as the Blizzard 7-yard line and were looking to close the 8-point gap. However, the Pioneers hopes of sending the game to overtime were dashed when FB/LB Matt Huebner intercepted Rowley at the line of scrimmage with only 14 seconds left on the clock.
Game honors were shared by members of both teams: for the Pioneers, Forgione was named Offensive Player of the Game; for the Blizzard, Huebner was named ADT Defensive Player of the Game and Garth was named U.S. Army Ironman of the Game.
Next week the Blizzard heads to Arkansas this Saturday night to take on the Twisters, who will be naming a new Head Coach Monday. A press conference will be held at Alltel Arena to name the successor to Gary Anderson, who was fired after the Twisters' 68-50 loss to the Florida Firecats left them at 0-4 on the season. In addition, GM Andy Haskell was relieved of his duties, but he will remain with the organization until the end of the season.
For more information, contact the Blizzard office at (920) 405-1264.
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