Post by Nevadanut on May 29, 2018 21:45:35 GMT -8
Sioux Falls Storm at Green Bay Blizzard
What: Sioux Falls storms into Green Bay to face the Blizzard for the second of three meetings this season.
When: Friday, June 1 at 5:05 p.m. pacific (7:05 p.m. central).
Where: Resch Center; Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Stream: IFL Official YouTube Channel.
2018 Head to Head: March 24 - Storm 39, Blizzard 23. June 16 - Blizzard at Storm.
Note: These teams play two of the final three weeks of the season.
HELPFUL LINKS
Indoor Football League Rules
Indoor Football League Schedule and Results - 2018 Season
Sioux Falls Storm 2018 Schedule
Sioux Falls Storm - Vital Statistics
Green Bay Blizzard 2018 Schedule
Green Bay Blizzard Vital Statistics
IFL Franchise Index
The Storm are 8-3 overall and 5-1 on the road. They are coming off a 56-45 road win over the Cedar Rapids Titans on May 18. They are averaging 49.5 points per game and are allowing 40.5 points per game.
The Blizzard are 2-9 overall and 1-3 at home. They are coming off a 41-14 road loss to the Iowa Barnstormers on May 25. They are averaging 28.4 points per game and are allowing 43.8 points per game.
2018 REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN
Total Yards per Game - Storm 240.5; Blizzard 184.3
Pass Yards per Game - Storm 135.6; Blizzard 100.7
Rush Yards per Game - Storm 104.9; Blizzard 83.5
3rd Down Conversion - Storm 42%; Blizzard 38%
4th Down Conversion - Storm 56%; Blizzard 33%
Total Tackles - Storm 398; Blizzard 407
Tackles for Loss - Storm 29; Blizzard 39
Total Sacks - Storm 11; Blizzard 12
Fumble Recoveries - Storm 8; Blizzard 5
Interceptions - Storm 7; Blizzard 3
Note: Both teams have played 11 games.
SIOUX FALLS STORM
Storm DB Trey Wafford (Photo by Josh Jurgens/Jurgens Photography)
ROSTER
# - name (pos)
2 - Jabari Gorman (DB)
3 - Lyle McCombs (RB)
6 - Dillion Turner (QB)
8 - Lorenzo Brown (QB)
11 - Damien Ford (WR)
12 - Marques Rodgers (RB)
13 - Trey Wafford (DB)
16 - Miles Bergner (K)
18 - Lorenzo White Jr. (DB)
20 - Judd Harold (WR)
22 - Damond Smith II (DB)
23 - Mike Tatum (WR)
24 - Marlon Moore (DB)
44 - Dezmin Reed (LB)
47 - Kwame Bell (DL)
55 - Chad Stoterau (DL)
56 - Andre Monroe (DL)
58 - Owen Williams (DL)
65 - Lawrence Martin IV (OL)
69 - Jabari Buckley (OL)
71 - Darrien Oliver (OL)
74 - Rashaud Mungro (OL)
95 - Claude Davis (DL)
N/A - Damond Powell (WR)
N/A - Charles Williams (DL)
Short Term IR
19 - Chris Martin (DL)
75 - Forrestal Hickman (OL)
Season Ending IR
11 - Jatavius Steward (WR)
44 - Jordan Stanton (LB)
56 - Phillip Williamson (DL)
N/A - Eldrick Bright (DB)
Transfer
18 - Jermaine Robinson (DB) [CFL - Montreal Alouettes]
22 - Ace Clark (LB) [AFL]
RTR
None
Coaching Staff
Kurtiss Riggs - Head Coach
Brian Hermanson - Defensive Coordinator
Jared Fredenburg - Linebackers Coach
Paul Keizer - Offensive Line Coach
Cory Johnsen - Defensive Line Coach
Blake Wilson - Wide Receivers/Special Teams Coach
Terrance Bryant - Quarterbacks Coach
Shannon Poppinga - Defensive Backs Coach
2018 REGULAR SEASON STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Yards - Lorenzo Brown 1,509
Passing TDs - Lorenzo Brown 27
Passing INTs - Lorenzo Brown 6
Rushing Yards - Lorenzo Brown 495
Rushing TDs - Lorenzo Brown 18
Receptions - Mike Tatum 39
Receiving Yards - Mike Tatum 617
Receiving TDs - Judd Harrold 12
Total Tackles - Jabari Gorman 58.5
Sacks - *Chris Martin 3.5
Interceptions - Jabari Gorman 4
KO Return Ave - **Daniel Lindsey 19.6
KO Return TDs - **Daniel Lindsey 1
*On Short Term IR
**Traded to Cedar Rapids Titans
Roster information is subject to change and is presented here as a basic guide for following the game. Rosters and team information is gathered from the IFL's 2018 Media Guide, as well as other sources, and will be updated as further roster information becomes available.
GREEN BAY BLIZZARD
Blizzard LB Robert Metz (Photo courtesy Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
ROSTER
# - name (pos)
1 - Jereme Jones (WR)
2 - Manny Asprilla (DB)
3 - B.J. Hill (DB)
5 - Chris Malott (WR)
6 - Darrius Sims (DB)
7 - Serge Trezy (RB)
8 - Jeffrey Hall (DB)
12 - Andre McDonald (WR)
13 - Tyler Johnson (QB)
14 - Bryan Hicks (QB)
15 - Brandon Boudreaux (DL)
16 - Kezlow Smith (WR)
17 - Rykeem Yates (DL)
21 - Josh Jenkins (DB)
22 - Akim Francis (LB)
24 - Robert Taylor (DB)
34 - Robert Metz (RB)
50 - Deldrick Canty (DL)
69 - D'Mon Tucker (OL)
77 - Khalil Hunter (OL)
79 - Donovan Williams (OL)
97 - Xavier Dampeer (OL)
99 - Cory Grissom (DL)
N/A - Tony Smidl (K)
Short Term IR
4 - Tyler Williams (DB)
10 - Levi Copelin (WR)
94 - Jimmy Jean (DL)
Season Ending IR
77 - Kenneth Woodget (OL)
N/A - Jerome Junior (DB)
Transfer
55 - Sean Daniels (DL) [AFL - Philadelphia Soul]
RTR
7 - Josh Francis (LB)
Coaching Staff
Corey Roberson - Interim Head Coach
2018 REGULAR SEASON STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Yards - Bryan Hicks 847
Passing TDs - Bryan Hicks 13
Passing Ints - Bryan Hicks 6
Rushing Yards - B.J. Hill 263
Rushing TDs - *Christian Lemay 6
Receptions - Jereme Jones 28
Receiving Yards - Jereme Jones 328
Receiving TDs - Chris Malott 7
Total Tackles - Manny Asprilla 56
Sacks - Robert Metz 4.5
Interceptions - Manny Asprilla/Akim Francis/Darrius Sims 1
KO Return Ave - B.J. Hill 18.9
KO Return TDs - B.J. Hill 3
*Has been released
Roster information is subject to change and is presented here as a basic guide for following the game. Rosters and team information is gathered from the IFL's 2018 Media Guide and other sources, and will be updated as further roster information becomes available.
ANALYSIS
The series between these teams had been decidedly one-sided. The Storm have won all 17 meetings; 15 in the regular season and twice in the playoffs. Over the previous nine seasons, the teams have met no fewer than twice per season since 2011. The Storm won the first-ever meeting in this series, 57-38, on May 15, 2011. In three seasons, the teams met three times. The largest margin of victory for the Storm has been by 44 points (twice); a 86-42 win in 2015 and a 75-31 win in 2015. The Blizzard have been somewhat more competitive the past couple of years in their match ups versus the Storm, providing the narrowest margin of seven points; a 66-59 loss in 2016 and a 56-49 loss in 2017. The most recent match up came in week 5 this season, with the Storm coming away with the 39-23 win. That was the only game to be played in Sioux Falls this season. The teams also meet in the final week of the season, on June 16.
Sioux Falls has won four of their last five and eight of their last 10. The Storm have already earned playoff spot for the ninth consecutive season and are now fighting for home field advantage. They are a game-and-a-half behind the Arizona Rattlers, who lead the IFL standings. Per their two losses to the Rattlers this season, Arizona owns the tiebreaker. The Storm have a 1-1 split with the Iowa Barnstormers, whom they trail in the standings by a single game. The teams play in week 16 at Sioux Falls. A win over the Barnstormers would give Sioux Falls the tiebreaker. Depending on the outcome of this week's Rattlers-Barnstormers game in Des Moines, that tiebreaker could come into play. If the Barnstormers win, then the Storm could move into second place with a win over Iowa with a week 16 win. If the Barnstormers fall to the Rattlers, then the Storm could earn home field advantage and an outright second-place position with a win at home against Iowa. Four teams reach the playoffs in the IFL this season with the top two earning home field advantage in the Semifinals (a.k.a. the first round).
Veteran quarterback Lorenzo Brown has been superb this season, and leads the IFL in passing yards per attempt (8.1) and yards per attempt (13.2). He also is third in touchdown passes with 27 while completing 61 percent of his passes. Brown is second in the league among quarterbacks in rushing yards with 495 and is tied with the Barnstormers' Drew Powell in touchdown rushes with 18. Brown has some help in the backfield with Lyle McCombs. The running back out of UConn averages 4.4 yards per carry and 41.3 yards per game, and has 11 touchdowns on the ground this season. The Storm also have Marques Rodgers, who came on like a storm (pun intended) with 111 yards on 20 carries with 2 touchdowns against the Titans in week 13. Mike Tatum is first in the IFL with 15.8 yards per catch and second in the IFL with 56.1 receiving yards per game. He remains a reliable target for Brown, as does Judd Harrold, who comes in with 14.1 yards per catch and 42.3 yards per game. Jabari Gorman has team highs of 58.5 total tackles, 4 interceptions and 10 pass break ups. Trey Wafford adds 53 total tackles and 4 tackles for loss, while Dezmin Reed has 3 sacks. Miles Bergner, is the league's most accurate field goal kicker, hitting 65.5 percent of his attempts. Six of his 10 misses have come from 50 yards or beyond (by IFL standards, essentially punts). Bergner has a long of 45 yards, which he has hit twice. He has converted 60 of his 70 extra point attempts.
Green Bay is still technically in the playoff race. They will need a significant amount of luck and quite a bit of help. The Blizzard are just two games back in win column to the fourth place Nebraska Danger. The Blizzard will need to nearly win out. That includes this game, in week 16 and in week 17 in Sioux Falls against this same Storm team. Provided the Danger defeat the 1-10 Cedar Rapids Titans this week, the Danger could earn their fifth win of the season. Nebraska still has a regular season finale against the Rattlers. So, the Blizzard would, under that scenario need to win all three of their remaining games. If the Danger go winless through the rest of the season, Green Bay would need to win two of its final three. The Blizzard own the tiebreaker over Nebraska due to their 2-1 season series win over the Danger. In fact, the Blizzard's only two wins of the season have come over the Danger; 47-25 in week 11 and 31-20 in week 13. Those wins have come over the past four weeks. Since taking over as interim head coach for the released Chris Williams, Corey Roberson is 2-4 at the helm of the Blizzard.
Bryan Hicks has started all six games since being brought on by Roberson. He is completing 56.8 percent of his passes and averaging 141.2 passing yards per game. That ranks third in the IFL. He's thrown for 13 passes against 6 interceptions. Cutting down of those interceptions and some other miscues will be vital to giving the Blizzard a chance to beat the Storm this week. In just five games as the starting running back since converting from defensive back, B.J. Hill is averaging 52.6 rushing yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry. While he had an off game last week against the Barnstormers, he could be primed to get back to form in this one. Hill is potent in the kick return game as well. The IFL Hall of Famer came out of retirement to re-join the Storm for this season. Jereme Jones and Chris Malott are averaging 11.7 and 11.5 yards per catch, respectively. Malott leads the team with 7 touchdown catches. Andre McDonald comes in with a 18.8 yards per catch average, and has 3 touchdown receptions in just 6 games. Manny Asprilla is a veteran who adds an interception and 7 pass break ups to his team-leading 56 total tackles. Linebacker Robert Metz leads the team with 4.5 sacks and has 8 tackles for loss. Brandon Boudreaux has 9 tackles for loss, and Josh Jenkins has recorded 52.5 total tackles and 5 tackles for loss. The Blizzard will be on their third kicker of the season as Jordan Endries was released and University of Wisconsin-Platteille product Tony Smidl has been signed.
FEATURED SOCIAL MEDIA
OTHER IFL GAMES THIS WEEK
June 2 - Nebraska Danger at Cedar Rapids Titans; 5:05 p.m. pacific (7:05 p.m. central)
June 2 - Arizona Rattlers at Iowa Barnstormers; 5:05 p.m. pacific (7:05 p.m. central)
STANDINGS
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