Blitz Fall to Marauders Late3/11/2018 By Matt Gabrielson- Chicago Blitz Staff Writer
March 10, 2018 Hoffmann Estates, IL: The Chicago Blitz (1-1) fell to the Midway Marauders (2-0) by a score of 38-28 in the Blitz home opener. In an exciting game with multiple lead changes and emotions running high the Marauders were able to pull away late securing the victory. When asked about the difference in the game Blitz quarterback Tommy Kudyba explained “They made more plays than we did and we didn’t make the plays we needed to at the end.” Chicago head coach Mike Oliver explained “We took some hits on the offensive line that really hampered our protection.” Chicago had success offensively early in the game jumping out to a 21-6 lead in the second quarter. Coach Mike Oliver praised his early offense saying “We had good tempo and good protection prior to the injuries on the offensive line,” Blitz quarterback Tommy Kudbya seemed to be seeing the field really well and was getting solid protection from his offensive line eventually leading to a 21-12 halftime lead before the injury bug began to bite Chicago’s offensive line. Early on in the third quarter Blitz center Brandon Holloway went down with an apparent shoulder injury. This unfortunate injury lead to some struggles in the center-quarterback exchange which halted all momentum that the Blitz had put together offensively. Ramon Lacy who normally plays on the defensive line was forced into the game at center to help get the snapping game back on track. Unfortunately it was a bit too late and the Blitz were never able to regain the lead. When asked about the line issues Kudyba stated “You saw tonight just how important offensive line is to anyone’s success on offense.” Defensively the Blitz played a strong game against a very good Midway offense and dangerous QB Andre Locke who can get things done both with his arm and his feet. The Blitz defensive line and linebackers did a great job of never letting Locke get comfortable, putting tremendous pressure on him and collecting multiple sacks throughout the game. This pressure lead to an early interception by defensive back Mitch Moore setting the Blitz up to take the early lead. Shutdown defensive back Deshon Conley collected a pick on the next series on a long pass by Locke that was hung up in the air just long enough for Conley to make the play. Midway was able to take advantage of good field position caused by the Blitz offense miscues to take back the lead 36-28 with just 3:08 to play in the game. Chicago attempted to answer back but the hits to the offensive line proved to be to much to overcome as Kudyba was sacked in the endzone for a safety leading to the final score of 38-28. When asked where his team goes from here Blitz coach Mike Oliver responded “We have to heal up and see where we are on the offensive line. We have a bye week next week before we head to Michigan and we will see where we are then.” The Chicago Blitz have an early bye week next week before traveling to Muskegon Michigan to take on the West Michigan Ironmen on Saturday March 24, 2018. Blitz travel to Cincinnati on Saturday2/27/2018 The Chicago Blitz will travel to take on the Cincinnati Flex on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at the Game On! Sports Complex. Game time is 7:15. The Flex were the MPIF runner-ups last season and look to take a step forward, while the Blitz begin their rise from the ashes, looking to make a name for themselves in this early season tilt.
Home Game Times Secured1/19/2018 The Blitz will call Grand Sports Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, home for the 2018 season. We have four scheduled home games at GSA. On Saturday, March 10th, we entertain the returning MPIF champions, the Midway Marauders. Kickoff will be at 6PM. Our second home contest will be against the Indianapolis Enforcers on Saturday, March 31st, again a 6PM kickoff.
In April we will host the Westchester Apaches on April 8th and the Windy City Ravens on April 22nd. Both of those games are on Sundays, and start at 1:30 PM. 2018 Schedule Announced1/19/2018 The Chicago Blitz are proud to release their schedule for the 2018 season in the MPIF. The Blitz will start with a preseason tilt on February 17th in Loves Park, Illinois, against the Madison Mad Dogs, who play in the Indoor Football Association. The MPIF league schedule starts on March 3rd, as the Blitz travel to Cincinnati to take on the Flex.
The Blitz will play all of their home games this year at Grand Sports Arena, 2350 Hassell Rd, Hoffman Estates, Illinois. More information on game times will be provided shortly. Blitz Set Date for Open Tryout11/24/2017 The Blitz will host tryouts & NFL style combine for the 2018 season on December 9, 2018. The tryouts will be held at the Libertyville Sports Complex on Rt. 45 in Libertyville, Illinois. Registration will open at 2:30 PM and will be $25 cash. The tryout will start at 4PM and run until approximately 8:00 PM. For more information, check out the Chicago Blitz Facebook page or email thechicagoblitz@gmail.com.
Blitz Drop Heartbreaker to River City5/16/2016 Photo Courtesy of Briane Amodeo Chicago Blitz/BriAmo Photography Blitz Fall in final Seconds to River City 37-31Villa Park IL-The Chicago Blitz (4-3) dropped a heartbreaker to the River City Raiders (7-1) by a final score of 37-31 at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center. For the second time this season the Blitz fell to the Raiders despite having a fourteen point lead in each of the games. “We let another one slip away to these guys, it is getting to be a bad habit getting up 14 and losing the game in the second half” recalled a disappointed Chicago Blitz head coach Mike Oliver. The Blitz got out to a great start scoring on the first pass of the game and rolled to a 24-10 halftime lead. Unfortunately the Blitz could not maintain their momentum in the second half being outscored 27-7 in the second half. When asked what changed in the second half Blitz coach Mike Oliver had this to say “There are some darn good coaches in this league and they made a good adjustment they started bringing pressure up the middle and spying the QB.”
Offensively it was an up and down game for the Blitz putting twenty four points on the board in the first half and only managing seven points in the second half. Quarterback Andre Locke had a very strong first half with three touchdown throws, two of which to Brian “Boobie” Miles and one to returning Blitz wide receiver David Brown. Locke’s lone touchdown pass in the second half was to Bryant “Speedy” Pascascio. “We had too many penalties, you can’t have those kind of mistakes when you have a young quarterback, you have to build a drive and we didn’t do that” shared Blitz head coach Mike Oliver on the difference for the offense between the first and second half. When asked for his thoughts on the game Blitz running back Keenan Miller replied “This was very similar to the first time we played these guys, we were high energy, we were up 14 points at the half and almost had the knockout punch.” Chicago’s offensive line had trouble with the Raiders pass rush giving up more pressure and sacks of the quarterback than usual. “We have to complete our drives and we have got to keep our energy up” was the response of Miller when asked what needs to change for the Chicago offense. The Blitz defense had a strong outing despite the loss. A few injuries in the second half of the game really affected the defenses effectiveness allowing the Raiders to claw back into the game and ultimately take the victory. An obviously frustrated Blitz linebacker Lorenzo Hood had this to say about the loss “We followed the fundamentals of what we talked about all week and we get on the field and didn’t do that tonight especially in crucial situations.” Much like the offense Chicago’s defense had a very strong first half only allowing one touchdown and one field goal. The Blitz defense continued forcing turnovers with two total interceptions in the defeat. Chicago’s defensive line had another strong game getting good pressure on the Raiders QB throughout. Lorenzo Hood had a thought on the game that seemed to echo throughout the Blitz locker room with both players and coaches saying “It’s disappointing to get this far and work this hard against a team we were beating twice.” Chicago’s special teams had a very difficult outing in Saturday night’s loss. River City came into the game with a very dangerous return man that presented the Blitz with many problems in the first matchup. He was very dangerous once again giving the Blitz kick coverage team fits all night long and even returning a missed field goal for a touchdown late in the game. The Blitz return team did a good job of giving Chicago’s offense good starting field position for much of the game. Kicker Igor Materic had an up and down night going 4-4 on extra point attempts and only 1 for 4 on field goal attempts. Disappointing does not even begin to describe the feeling around the team with this loss. Just when the Blitz seemingly had this game in hand River City dug deep and found a way to win. This loss was almost a mirror image of the team’s loss in River City back in late April. Coming into this game it seemed like a loss would knock the Blitz out of playoff contention in the AIF. However shortly after the game was over it was discovered there was an unfortunate situation with the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets making them ineligible for the playoffs and thus giving the Blitz new life. “We are still in the playoffs there is a situation with philly and as a result we are still in the playoffs and we have to beat West Michigan in two weeks” replied Blitz coach Mike Oliver when asked about the playoffs. So hold on to your seats Blitz fans as this could be a wild ride in the coming weeks and could lead to something very special. Should the Blitz beat West Michigan at home in two weeks the likely first round matchup would be against River City. And we all know what they say about beating a team three times in one season, but the Blitz need to get the win at home in two weeks first. If the attitude and feeling surrounding the team when news of this chance spread is any indication, the Blitz should put on quite the show in their final regular season game. The Blitz return home to the Odeum Expo and Sports Center on May 28 for a 7PM kickoff versus the West Michigan Ironmen Blitz Dominate Memphis at Home5/9/2016 Photo Courtesy of Briane Amodeo Chicago Blitz/BriAmo photography inc. Blitz Beat the X Sounds in convincing fashion |