On a Saturday afternoon full of faith, family and Blizzard football, the Green Bay Blizzard earned their first franchise victory over the Frisco Fighters, 67-38 at the Resch Center.
Two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference exchanged blows early, with Frisco's Martez Carter ripping off a 30-yard touchdown run, followed by an 8-yard score by Green Bay's EJ Burgess, Jr. to tie the score at 7 apiece. Frisco would score touchdowns on their next two drives to take a 21-7 lead, made possible by a 4th Down stop by the Fighters defense in between scores.
The Blizzard showed their grit and fought back in a unique Indoor Football League way. Burgess ran for his second score of the game to narrow Frisco's lead to 21-13. Then, on the ensuing kickoff,
Andrew Mevis converted a Deuce by sending the kickoff through the far uprights. The 2-point Deuce forced the Fighters to begin their drive on their own 5-yard line. Two plays later, newly-acquired DL
Olalere Oladipo sacked Frisco's Larry Harrington in the end zone for a Safety, narrowing the margin to 21-17. The Safety gave the ball back to the Blizzard. QB
Max Meylor led a drive that was kept alive on 4th Down by an illegal defense penalty by Frisco and ended in Burgess Jr.'s third rushing touchdown of the night, giving Green Bay its first lead of the game, 24-21.
Like any good heavyweight bout, Frisco punched back, as Harrington ran for a score with just under two minutes left in the first half, giving the Fighters a 28-24 advantage. The Blizzard used the next 1:34 to orchestrate a scoring drive that culminated in a 1-yard plunge by Meylor, giving the Blizzard a 31-28 lead with nine seconds left in the half and the ball coming out of Halftime. But before the half was complete, Bryce Crawford showed why he is one of the best kickers in the IFL by nailing a 52-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to tie the game.
Scoring punches continued in the third quarter, first in the form of a Meylor-to-
Demetrius Moore 6-yard touchdown connection, next by a Harrington 32-yard rushing touchdown, and finally by Meylor's second rushing touchdown of the day. The score with 15:00 remaining was 45-38, Blizzard.
The Green Bay defense would clamp its jaws down in the 4th Quarter, not allowing another Frisco point for the rest of the game, thanks to interceptions by
Ravarius Rivers and recently-signed DB
Lakevias Daniel in the final frame. The Blizzard offense had other ideas, as they would add 22 points in the 4th Quarter, choosing to leave no doubt about their convincing win. Meylor connected with Moore for a second time with just under 10:00 minutes left in the game. EJ Burgess ran 31 yards for his fourth rushing touchdown with a little less than 6:00 minutes remaining and Meylor would deliver the final nail with a 1-yard rushing touchdown with just over 2:00 left in the game. Mevis added the icing to the cake with his second Deuce of the game on the ensuing kickoff.
Green Bay (6-2) now holds the tie-breaker over Frisco (6-2) and with the Massachusetts (5-3) loss to Northern Arizona, the Blizzard hold the #1-seed in the Eastern Conference. The Blizzard will travel to the rival Iowa Barnstormers (2-6) next Friday night, May 24th at 7:05 PM CST while the Fighters look to rebound against the Strike Force (4-3) in San Diego next Sunday, May 26th at 5:05 PM CST.
Written By: Ryan Napralla
