Blizzard Report
May 7, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Green Bay Blizzard News Release
Next Up: Blizzard (1-3) vs. Central Valley Coyotes (0-4)
The Central Valley Coyotes travel from Fresno, California to battle the Blizzard at The Resch Center Saturday, May 8th at 7:30 pm. The Coyotes are coached by Cree Morris and narrowly missed notching their first win last week against Peoria. The Blizzard is 1-3, but the three losses have come against the top three teams in the league according to the af2 coaches' poll. The Blizzard set an attendance record at their home opener, so let's continue that trend Saturday night as the team looks for victory number two!
Sponsor Spotlight: M&I Bank to Sponsor Kids Jerseys
M&I Bank will sponsor Saturday night's promotion â fantastic kids Blizzard jerseys. These were really a hit last year and the supply is limited, so get there early!
Extended Game Wrap: Green Bay Loses Slugfest to Quad City
Moline, Ill. â No one could accuse the Green Bay Blizzard of failing to come out swinging Saturday night in their match-up with the Quad City Steamwheelers. Unfortunately, for every punch they landed on their opponent, they landed one on themselves in the form of turnovers and missed opportunities as they fell to the Steamwheelers 26-47 at The Mark of the Quad Cities.
In the third game ever between the two Midwest Division rivals, Green Bay brought a physical presence and tenacity that kept the team within one point at the close of the first half. The Blizzard was without starting QB Chris Greisen, and alternate QB Dennis Gile stepped in for his first complete game in Arena Football. Gile, who finished the game 15 of 39 for 193 yards and four touchdowns, suffered a number of miscues during the evening but did turn in a gritty performance in the face of relentless pressure by the Steamwheelers defense. The contest also marked the return to the Quad Cities of offensive specialist Randall Lane, who played with the Steamwheelers in 2003.
Gile put Green Bay on the board first with an 11-yard pass to Robert Garth, but Quad City answered with a quick 30-yard TD strike from QB Ronnie Gordon to OS Jeff Hewitt. The Blizzard took the lead for the second time on a pass to Lane before Hewitt struck again with a two-yard run to knot the game at 14 each. After a defensive stop on downs by the Steamwheelers, they took the lead for the first time on yet another scoring pass to Hewitt. The Blizzard pulled to within one when Lane hauled in a long bomb from Gile, but failed to tie the score after a missed extra-point kick. The half then finished in wild fashion with one interception by Green Bay and two by Quad City.
Green Bay took the second half kick-off and tried to regain the momentum it had at the start of the game, but lack of execution at times and a burgeoning number of turnovers allowed Quad City to build up a comfortable lead and eventually win by 21 points. Although Gile threw three interceptions and lost one fumble, the Blizzard quarterback played his heart out and battled back after every hit he took. "I've got good guys around me," Gile said. "It (the game) didn't go our way, it didn't go my way especially, but I never gave up."
The pressure Gile felt as the game wore on was part of Steamwheeler Coach Rich Ingold's plan. "We got after the quarterback pretty good in the second half, and that's the motto of our team. You've got to put pressure on their quarterback, take him out of rhythm, and that's what happened."
For the Blizzard, Randall Lane continued his torrid receiving pace by snaring nine passes for 144 yards and three TDs. The Steamwheelers Hewitt also had nine catches for 128 yards and three TDs. Hewitt scored on a rushing play as well and won the Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game award. Quad City players Brian Berg garnered the U.S. Army Ironman of the Game award and Danny Thomas was selected as the ADT Defensive Player of the Game. Attendance was announced at 5,853.
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