BARNSTORMERS WEATHERED THE BLIZZARD
Des Moines, IA – Home field advantage seemingly made all the difference in the Week 11 and Week 12 match-ups between the Green Bay Blizzard and the Iowa Barnstormers. After pulling off a thrilling 30-27 home victory last weekend, the Blizzard’s troublesome second half performance in Iowa territory was just too much to overcome.
Green Bay got off to a good start, quickly notching the game’s first score. Quarterback Jack Sheehan found wide receiver Shaq Curenton in the back corner of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown.
The Barnstormers and the Blizzard then traded a pair of field goals – a 41-yarder by Iowa’s Gabriel Rui and a 28-yard kick by the reigning IFL Special Team Player of the Week, Nick Jaworski – to make it 10-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Iowa tied the game up at 10-10 with 12:30 left in Q2 following a score by Dom McNeil. Later on in the second quarter, linebacker James Brown picked off the Barnstormers’ QB Darius-James Peterson to give the Blizzard the ball back inside the Iowa 15. However, Green Bay didn’t convert on a 4th & Inches and ultimately failed to capitalize on the turnover.
After a few back-and-forth defensive stands, Sheehan drove the Blizzard downfield in the final minute of the half and connected with WR Steven Newbold for a 19-yard TD, putting Green Bay back in the lead 17-10 with 19 seconds remaining in the half.
It didn’t take long for Kezlow Smith – who played for the Blizzard last season – to steal all the momentum back, returning a 56-yard kickoff. As a result, Green Bay went into halftime tied with the Barnstormers 17-17.
Iowa began the third quarter with another field goal to make it 20-17. Sheehan then threw back-to-back interceptions on the Blizzard’s next two possessions, one in the end zone and the other over the dasher boards.
A huge kickoff return by Newbold propelled Green Bay all the way down to the 1-yard line, which led to a 4-yard rushing TD for running back Tim Whitfield – his first-ever IFL score – at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Blizzard’s 24-20 lead was soon erased, however, following an Antonio Wimbush touchdown; Iowa then tacked on another point with a rouge to make it 28-24. With one minute remaining in the game, Wimbush scored another TD, but Rui missed the extra point.
Following a last-second fumble by Newbold and recovery by Iowa, the Barnstormers ran out the clock en route to a decisive 34-24 victory.
With this loss, the Blizzard fell to 4-7 on the season while Iowa improved to 6-4. Green Bay will return home to the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon next Friday, June 3 for their third and final match-up against the 6-4 Quad City Steamwheelers, who are 2-0 against the Blizzard this year.