Post by Gene on Jun 17, 2012 12:23:27 GMT -5
Green Bay, WI
Saturday night the Green Bay Blizzard (11-3) welcomed the Wichita Wild (8-6) to the Resch Center for an inter-conference regular season finale featuring two playoff bound teams. Although the Wild were playing for seeding in next week's first round and the Blizzard technically had nothing to gain, it was clear from the outset that Green Bay was not taking the game lightly. The Blizzard returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns and watched as running back La'Ron Council broke four different IFL records on their way to a definitive 72-41 victory.
Council broke the IFL record for rushing attempts in a season midway through the opening period. The previous record had been 231, but Council finished with 30 carries for 148 yards (team record and 2012 IFL season-high) to end the season with 256 carries. Then with 4:30 remaining in the first half Council toted the ball for 5 yards which was enough for him to surpass the IFL record for rushing yards in a season (previously 936). In an eventful second half Council passed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season, a first in IFL history, as well as set the single-season record for rushing touchdowns (42) on his fifth TD run of the game.
Head coach Robert Fuller had nothing but praise for his star running back, "It's been an absolute pleasure to coach La'Ron, he is probably the most unselfish football player I have ever coached and it couldn't happen to a better guy." Council finished the regular season with 1,040 rushing yards. Pondering all of the accolades coming his way and the amount of records he has broken Council said after the game, "Wow....It was a tremendous team effort; it took all of the guys who were out there, linemen, receivers, and coaches to accomplish these feats."
The game's opening quarter belonged to the Blizzard, largely as a result of their relentless defense. On the second play of the game Wichita quarterback Phil Staback had a pass intercepted by Aaron Moore at the Blizzard 15. Moore proceeded to weave his way through most of the Wild offense for a 35-yard touchdown return to give the Blizzard a quick 7-0 advantage. The Wild replaced Staback with backup quarterback Marcus Jackson on their next possession and he quickly led his offense deep into Blizzard territory. Defensive coordinator Chad Baldwin and his players would allow the Wild no further yardage however, and forced a turnover on downs inside the 5.
A few plays later Green Bay tacked on three more points courtesy of a 41-yard field goal by Adrian Trevino. Moments later Moore snatched his second pick of the evening by using a well-timed dive to scoop up a low pass by Jackson. Moore joked, "I'm not gonna lie my teammates were on me at the beginning of the season for dropping a lot of balls and that just drove me to have good hands. So I guess I have to thank my teammates." The interceptions were numbers six and seven on the year for Moore. Donovan Porterie wasted no time making the turnover hurt, as he threw a perfect pass into the corner of the end zone where Bryan Pray made a diving catch for a 17-0 lead.
Getting the ball after another defensive stop, the Green Bay offense decided to feature their powerful ground game on their first drive of the second quarter. The drive ended with a 4-yard scoring plunge from dynamic running back La'Ron Council. With just over eight minutes remaining in the half the Wild finally put points on the board. Those points came when 365 pound lineman Callahan Bright was given the ball in a goal line situation and plowed his way into the end zone from three yards out. Almost immediately the Blizzard got those points back as Bryan Pray made one cut on the ensuing kickoff and sprinted untouched into the end zone for a goal line to goal line return touchdown. James Chandler made up for his earlier miss by drilling a booming 49-yard field goal to cut the Blizzard lead to 30-9 on the next Wild possession.
Two plays after Council's record-breaking rush; John Halman made a textbook over-the-shoulder adjustment in order to catch a 30-yard touchdown bomb from Porterie to increase the advantage to 28 points. Wichita's offense continued its' improved play on their following drive, using the short passing game and a pair of costly penalties on the Green Bay defense. The 2-minute drive ended via a Jackson to Landon Turner 8-yard TD pass on 3rd and goal. The half ended on a positive note when the Green Bay offense drove 45 yards in just under 90 seconds to score on a last-second touchdown run by Council and grab a 44-16 lead.
The second half featured much less action as the Blizzard defense remained stifling and the offense used a more conservative approach. Nonetheless, Green Bay continued to dominate on the scoreboard, receiving a pair of touchdown runs by Council that book-ended a Curtis Thomas 10-yard interception return for a score to stake 65-16 lead after three quarters.
In the final quarter a game headed toward a blowout was made respectable as Wichita rallied to score three touchdowns and a field goal in the last 11 minutes of the game. All three touchdowns came on Jackson to Tim Simmons connections through the air of 26, 12, and 3 yards respectively. The only points Green Bay tallied came on Council's final and record-breaking 20-yard scoring run late.
Donovan Porterie had an efficient game under center, completing 10 of his 14 passing attempts for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Greg "The Hammer" Jackson led the defense by rounding up 11 tackles.
Next weekend the Blizzard will host a United Conference semi-final playoff match up. The game will be held at the Brown County Arena on Saturday, June 23 with kick off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT
www.goifl.com/news/news-archive/70-green-bay-blizzard/893-council-sets-ifl-records-as-blizzard-chill-wild-72-41
Saturday night the Green Bay Blizzard (11-3) welcomed the Wichita Wild (8-6) to the Resch Center for an inter-conference regular season finale featuring two playoff bound teams. Although the Wild were playing for seeding in next week's first round and the Blizzard technically had nothing to gain, it was clear from the outset that Green Bay was not taking the game lightly. The Blizzard returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns and watched as running back La'Ron Council broke four different IFL records on their way to a definitive 72-41 victory.
Council broke the IFL record for rushing attempts in a season midway through the opening period. The previous record had been 231, but Council finished with 30 carries for 148 yards (team record and 2012 IFL season-high) to end the season with 256 carries. Then with 4:30 remaining in the first half Council toted the ball for 5 yards which was enough for him to surpass the IFL record for rushing yards in a season (previously 936). In an eventful second half Council passed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season, a first in IFL history, as well as set the single-season record for rushing touchdowns (42) on his fifth TD run of the game.
Head coach Robert Fuller had nothing but praise for his star running back, "It's been an absolute pleasure to coach La'Ron, he is probably the most unselfish football player I have ever coached and it couldn't happen to a better guy." Council finished the regular season with 1,040 rushing yards. Pondering all of the accolades coming his way and the amount of records he has broken Council said after the game, "Wow....It was a tremendous team effort; it took all of the guys who were out there, linemen, receivers, and coaches to accomplish these feats."
The game's opening quarter belonged to the Blizzard, largely as a result of their relentless defense. On the second play of the game Wichita quarterback Phil Staback had a pass intercepted by Aaron Moore at the Blizzard 15. Moore proceeded to weave his way through most of the Wild offense for a 35-yard touchdown return to give the Blizzard a quick 7-0 advantage. The Wild replaced Staback with backup quarterback Marcus Jackson on their next possession and he quickly led his offense deep into Blizzard territory. Defensive coordinator Chad Baldwin and his players would allow the Wild no further yardage however, and forced a turnover on downs inside the 5.
A few plays later Green Bay tacked on three more points courtesy of a 41-yard field goal by Adrian Trevino. Moments later Moore snatched his second pick of the evening by using a well-timed dive to scoop up a low pass by Jackson. Moore joked, "I'm not gonna lie my teammates were on me at the beginning of the season for dropping a lot of balls and that just drove me to have good hands. So I guess I have to thank my teammates." The interceptions were numbers six and seven on the year for Moore. Donovan Porterie wasted no time making the turnover hurt, as he threw a perfect pass into the corner of the end zone where Bryan Pray made a diving catch for a 17-0 lead.
Getting the ball after another defensive stop, the Green Bay offense decided to feature their powerful ground game on their first drive of the second quarter. The drive ended with a 4-yard scoring plunge from dynamic running back La'Ron Council. With just over eight minutes remaining in the half the Wild finally put points on the board. Those points came when 365 pound lineman Callahan Bright was given the ball in a goal line situation and plowed his way into the end zone from three yards out. Almost immediately the Blizzard got those points back as Bryan Pray made one cut on the ensuing kickoff and sprinted untouched into the end zone for a goal line to goal line return touchdown. James Chandler made up for his earlier miss by drilling a booming 49-yard field goal to cut the Blizzard lead to 30-9 on the next Wild possession.
Two plays after Council's record-breaking rush; John Halman made a textbook over-the-shoulder adjustment in order to catch a 30-yard touchdown bomb from Porterie to increase the advantage to 28 points. Wichita's offense continued its' improved play on their following drive, using the short passing game and a pair of costly penalties on the Green Bay defense. The 2-minute drive ended via a Jackson to Landon Turner 8-yard TD pass on 3rd and goal. The half ended on a positive note when the Green Bay offense drove 45 yards in just under 90 seconds to score on a last-second touchdown run by Council and grab a 44-16 lead.
The second half featured much less action as the Blizzard defense remained stifling and the offense used a more conservative approach. Nonetheless, Green Bay continued to dominate on the scoreboard, receiving a pair of touchdown runs by Council that book-ended a Curtis Thomas 10-yard interception return for a score to stake 65-16 lead after three quarters.
In the final quarter a game headed toward a blowout was made respectable as Wichita rallied to score three touchdowns and a field goal in the last 11 minutes of the game. All three touchdowns came on Jackson to Tim Simmons connections through the air of 26, 12, and 3 yards respectively. The only points Green Bay tallied came on Council's final and record-breaking 20-yard scoring run late.
Donovan Porterie had an efficient game under center, completing 10 of his 14 passing attempts for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Greg "The Hammer" Jackson led the defense by rounding up 11 tackles.
Next weekend the Blizzard will host a United Conference semi-final playoff match up. The game will be held at the Brown County Arena on Saturday, June 23 with kick off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT
www.goifl.com/news/news-archive/70-green-bay-blizzard/893-council-sets-ifl-records-as-blizzard-chill-wild-72-41
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