2004 Roster Is Set, Steamwheelers Gear Up For Manchester
March 29, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa â Training camp is over for the Quad City Steamwheelers and coach Rich Ingold has the 21-men that he plans to "go to battle with."
"This is what I got, I like âem, I like our guys," Ingold said. "Where do you question our team?
"We just have to get better and we'll just have to see how they play in the games."
The 2004 season is the third for Ingold and despite only reassigning four players, it was his toughest cut down to date.
"I hate this part (of training camp)," Ingold added. "The last two years were easy."
With that, the four players that Ingold reassigned to the arenafootball2 league office were: offensive lineman/defensive lineman and Moline, Ill., native Ricardo Harris, fullback/linebacker and Davenport native James Houston, and defensive specialists Michael Allen and Steve Monson. Monson, a former Ball State star, was the most difficult for Ingold.
"Steve Monson was the toughest decision that I had," Ingold said. "The kid was getting better and believe me he will be the first guy back if something happens."
Ingold had to make only four cuts to get down to the league mandated 21-man active roster due to some injured players.
Offensive specialist Carmelo Ocasio, from Indiana (Pa.), (hamstring), wide receiver/linebacker and former Louisville Cardinal Charles Sheffield (shoulder) and offensive lineman/defensive lineman and St. Ambrose product Brandon Graves (ankle) will all start the season on the two-week short-term injured reserve list.
Ingold likes what Graves can bring to the table once he returns.
"Brandon Graves has a good motor, he's working," Ingold said. "He needs some work until I feel comfortable to put him in a game offensively; he's good on defense."
Ingold also placed wide receiver/defensive back Billy Cook, from Grand Valley State, on suspension. Cook is a track coach in Rockford, Ill. and will miss the first two games due to track meets.
Offensive lineman/defensive lineman Brandon Williams has already been place on the long-term injured reserve list as he tore his Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) early on in camp.
With that, the roster shakes out like this.
For the first time in Steamwheelers history, there will be three quarterbacks on the 21-man active roster to start the season.
Last season's backup to af2 Offensive Player of the Year Tony Zimmerman, Ronnie Gordon has all but been named the opening night starter. The only way that Gordon, a former Vanderbilt starter, would not start at quarterback would be due to injury, according to Ingold.
Battling for the backup roll the rest of this week will be Arena Football veteran Matt Pike, out of Purdue, and rookie Brian Eyerman out of Indiana (Pa.). Ingold was quick to refer to the 2002 season, when he ran into trouble at the quarterback position when he lost Zimmerman for the season, just six games in, with a broken leg.
"I been down that road" Ingold said. "I kept two my first year and I got jammed up. The hardest thing to do if you lose a quarterback is to go out and find another quarterback.
"I like all three of these guys and I am going to do what I can to keep all three of these guys, so I am going to do what I can to keep them around. If I let one of these guys go, they are going to end up with someone else immediately."
Ingold had even received calls from opposing af2 teams asking for the quarterback that he released.
Along with Gordon, the other starters include: offensive specialist, third-year Steamwheeler, Jeff Hewitt (Northwest Missouri State), and second-year Steamwheelers, wide receiver/defensive back and former Iowa Hawkeye starter Tim Dodge and wide receiver/linebacker LaRico Cole from the University of Indianapolis.
Backing up the three will be former Duquesne consensus All-American standout and rookie wide receiver/linebacker Jeremy Conley.
The line will be anchored by of the only Steamwheelers player who has played all five seasons in team history, Damon Williams. He will be joined by af2 veterans Jon Verdegan (Wis.-Stevens Point) and former 2001 Steamwheeler Chris Smith and fullback/linebacker Brian Berg.
"Our line is solid, I like our line," Ingold said. "I like the way they are working, I like everything about them."
The defensive specialist position will be filled by two names familiar to the Quad City area; Davenport Assumption star Matt Forbes and returner Danny Thomas will start in the defensive backfield.
Backing up the starters will be: former Iowa Hawkeye and Steamwheelers offensive linemen/defensive linemen Pete Traynor, Jason Weite, Bear Brown, and Harvie Herrington, a former AFL player.
Iowa Hawkeyes all-Big 10 standout Fred Barr and Iowa State product Jesse Beckom will back up Brian Berg at fullback/linebacker.
Chazz Moore is the third defensive specialist and was the player that Ingold chose to keep over Monson.
"They both kept getting better, but Moore made more plays," Ingold said. "He had five or six interceptions in this camp; he's made some big plays and he' s physical."
One player who did not have to worry over the weekend was kicker Ryan Geisler. The af2's fourth best kicker last season had already won the job a week prior when Ingold tried the four kickers last Sunday at an intrasquad scrimmage at The MARK of the Quad Cities.
Geisler is battling a head cold as he is adjusting to the midwestern weather as he comes to the Quad Cities from California.
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