Blizzard Sinks Pirates
May 31, 2008 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Green Bay Blizzard News Release
Bye weeks in professional football are a chance for players to regroup, take a breath from the daily grind of practice, meetings, and interviews and in theory come back stronger for the remainder of the season. The Green Bay Blizzard proved this theory in all facets of the game on Friday night at the Resch Center. In front of 5,190 screaming fans, the Blizzard rolled over the visiting Peoria Pirates 51-33.
The Blizzard, who had a bye week last week after a heartbreaking loss to the Lexington Horsemen on the last play of the game, looked to take full advantage of the opportunity.
"During the bye week, everyone of us has a chance to check ourselves out. After a rough start, we put things together," Head Coach Bob Landsee agreed.
Putting things together is exactly what the Blizzard accomplished. QB Colin Drafts cemented himself as the quarterback to lead the Blizzard to another American Conference Championship, passing 25 times for 18 completions with 227 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Drafts got the Blizzard on the board first with a 15 yard scoring strike to WR Antoine Burns (4-64, 2 TDs). The Blizzard kept things rolling with a safety by LB Gus Tyson.
The Pirates answered that with two rushing touchdowns by WR Phillip Brock. The Blizzard would have their hands full with Brock, who had 8 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown along with four rushing scores on the night.
The second quarter was full of missed opportunities as the Blizzard squandered two scoring chances on two fumbles and a slew of penalties. The Blizzard revamped and overcame their mistakes to pull ahead 24-20 at the half.
The third quarter seesawed between the two with Peoria scoring on a 22 yard pass from QB Justin Rascati (14 for 24, 142 yards and 1 TD) to WR Brock Phillip, his lone receiving TD. The Blizzard quickly answered back on a strong rushing drive capped by FB Tyree Young's 2 yard TD (12 carries for 43 yards and his 1st touchdown of the evening).
Green Bay opened the fourth quarter with a 23 yard strike from Drafts to WR Scott Burnoski (6-60, 2 TDs), which allowed the Blizzard ground game to grind the remainder of the clock down. The Blizzard defense, led by a steadfast secondary, held the Pirates scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Green Bay has now improved its record to 6-3 and is 4-1 in their division. After the next two games on the road, the Blizzard will return to the Resch Center June 20th to battle the Mahoning Valley Thunder. Aurora BayCare Medical Center will present "White Out Night" by giving away 7,000 T-shirts. For tickets, call TicketStar at 800-895-0071.
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