|
Danger 82
Cavalry 53 |
Fever
Ice |
Titans
Blizzard |
Slaughter Storm |
Cavalry
Danger |
Titans
Storm |
Blizzard |
Ice |
| Final | 5/18 | 5/18 | 5/18 | 5/24 | 5/25 | 5/25 | 5/25 |
Green Bay, WI - There is an old adage that says it's hard to beat a team three times in one season. The Green Bay Blizzard (12-3) put that belief to the test on Saturday night as they welcomed the Bloomington Edge (10-5) to the Brown County Arena for a first-round playoff match up. The Blizzard had swept the Edge in their two regular season meetings. Five total touchdowns by quarterback Donovan Porterie and a big turnover late by James Romain helped push Green Bay to a 51-30 victory. The Blizzard advance to face undefeated Sioux Falls in the Conference Championship next week.
La'Ron Council again surpassed the century mark on the ground as the Blizzard featured a powerful ground attack in an effort to both run clock and give their defense a rest whenever possible. A stingy defensive effort was led by Greg Jackson who tallied 10 stops on the night. The Blizzard defense held Bloomington 18 points under their season average of just over 48 points per game.
The game got off to a positive start for Green Bay when Donovan Porterie scrambled three yards to the end zone on the first possession of the game to grab an early 7-0 advantage. The Edge answered with a 16-yard field goal by Pete Christofilakos. Just three plays later, Porterie struck again by finding Marquel Willis for an 18-yard score to stretch the early lead to 14-3. Edge quarterback Dusty Burk responded quickly near the conclusion of the quarter by hitting John Cooper on a 12-yard touchdown connection.
The teams exchanged heated words on their way to the locker room at the break and as a result both squads came out of the half with something to prove. Bloomington struck the initial blow as Burk and Ricardo Lenhart hooked up on a 12-yard touchdown pass less than three minutes in. That score cut the lead to just three points. The rest of the quarter belonged to Green Bay, however, as Porterie scored with both his arm and his legs. The first was another short dive across the goal line from a yard away and the pass was from three yards out to John Halman. As a result of Porterie's pair of Td's the Blizzard held a 37-20 lead heading into the final period. Of his multitude of rushing scores Porterie said, "It's the playoffs now, I'm just trying to help out the team in any way I can. If that means throwing to open receivers I will do it. If it means handing off to La'Ron or keeping it myself then that's what has to be done."
Blizzard Head Coach Robert Fuller was happy with his team's 14 straight points after the initial Lenhart score, "We knew a quality team like Bloomington was going to make some big plays and get back in the game, but we needed to take care of ourselves and that's what we did during that stretch."
The playoff journey continues for the Blizzard next week Saturday in Sioux Falls against the Storm (15-0). Kickoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. James Romain likes his team's odds. "We would like nothing more than to shock everyone and pull off a huge win in South Dakota. Our goal is to win a championship."