Season Ends As Blizzard Falls To Pioneers
August 8, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Green Bay Blizzard News Release
The Green Bay Blizzard went to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take on the Pioneers on Saturday night looking for a victory in their first-ever postseason game, but they came home eliminated from the playoffs.
In a game that saw the Blizzard battle valiantly, the Pioneers were able to break a 41-41 tie with only 43 seconds left to win 48-41 and advance to the second round of the af2 American Conference playoffs, where they will face the reigning af2 Champion Florida Firecats.
Blizzard QB Johnny Turman was 25 of 42 for 255 yards, with 5 TDs and no INTs. WR/DB Brent Holmes had a stellar game, pulling in 8 receptions for 131 yards and 4 TDs. WR/DB Lance Taylor caught Turman's other TD on his way to 5 receptions for 24 yards.
The Blizzard defense harassed Pioneers QB Bryan Snyder all night, posting 3 sacks, one each by OL/DL Chris Eggleston, FB/LB Tito Hannah and FB/LB Dustin Sagedahl.
Fumbles were the name of the game, as the Blizzard put 4 balls on the turf, losing 3. The Pioneers also fumbled twice, but the Blizzard was only able to recover one of them.
The 2005 season was a definite success for the Blizzard, who set numerous franchise marks, including number of wins in a season (9), longest winning streak (5 games), wins at home (5) and wins on the road (4). The team also set new attendance records, including 3 new single-game marks. The Blizzard also enjoyed their first-ever winning season (9-7) and playoff berth.
Since the team's inception in 2003, the team has improved their win total each season, from 2 in 2003 to 6 in 2004 to 9 this season. Attendance has also steadily risen, reaching a new single-game mark of 5,632 at the Resch Center on July 23rd against the Florida Firecats.
On two separate occasions, a Blizzard player was named ADT Defensive Player of the Week by the af2 league office: DS Ryan Bowers, for his 2-INT, 8.5 tackle performance against the Louisville Fire on May 14th; and DS David Crocker, for his 2-INT, 6 tackle performance against the Birmingham Steeldogs on June 24th. The Blizzard won both of those games.
Bowers and Crocker were not the only Blizzard players to win accolades. In just his first year at the helm, Blizzard Head Coach Bob Landsee was nominated for Coach of the Year. Additionally, three Blizzard players were nominated for year-end league awards: DS Ryan Bowers for ADT Defensive Player of the Year; K Henrik Juul-Nielsen for International Player of the Year (Denmark); and OL/DL Joe Peters for Lineman of the Year. Throughout the course of the season, several other Blizzard players were finalists for weekly awards, including OL/DL Chris Eggleston, WR/LB Robert Garth, FB/LB Tito Hannah, OS Gerald Harris, WR/DB Brent Holmes, FB/LB Matt Huebner, OS Troy Mason, WR/DB Lance Taylor, and QB Johnny Turman.
As the Blizzard heads into the off-season, they do so with a solid season behind them. Even though the 2005 season ended before the team would have liked, the future looks bright, and the Blizzard is already looking forward to 2006. The 2006 Blizzard schedule will be available when the 2006 af2 schedule is released some time in December.
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