Former 'Wheelers Making Final Push To ArenaBowl
June 7, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa â This past weekend, eight teams began competing for the rights to the James Foster Cup, which is given to the winner of the ArenaBowl. Now that the weekend is complete, only four teams remain in the fight to be crowned champions of the Arena Football League. Four former Steamwheelers entered the weekend with a shot at hoisting the trophy, but now only two remain.
Former âWheelers offensive specialist Ira Gooch and his New Orleans VooDoo finished their inaugural season at 11-6 after a disappointing 47-44 loss this weekend against the Colorado Crush. In the quarterfinal game, Gooch had two receptions for 16 yards. Even a furious 28-point fourth quarter rally from New Orleans wasn't enough to knock off the Crush, who improved to 12-5 on the season. They advance to next weekends AFL semifinals against top seeded Arizona.
The Arizona Rattlers moved on with a defeat of the Los Angeles Avengers by the score of 59-42 on Sunday. Former âWheelers fullback/linebacker Frank Trentadue did not record any stats in the win. Trentadue and the Rattlers will host the Colorado Crush this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. CDT and will be seen nationally on NBC (KWQC-TV6 in the Quad Cities area). In Los Angeles' three playoff tries, they have yet to record a win.
The Chicago Rush and Orlando Predators played before a packed house at Allstate Arena on Saturday. The 13,171 screaming fans has something to cheer about when the Rush defeated the Predators 59-49. The victors had a knockdown, drag-out battle in the first three quarters of the game but then the Rush took over in the final quarter. Chicago's razor sharp quarterback, Raymon Philyaw was 20-of-26 with 203 yards and 4 touchdowns. They will play the San Jose Sabercats on Saturday at 2:00p.m. CDT, which will also be seen nationally on NBC (again on KWQC-TV6 in the Quad Cities area).
The No. 2 seeded San Jose Sabercats got quite a scare when they played the Tampa Bay Storm. Tampa Bay quarterback Shane Stafford threw for six, second half touchdowns to spark a comeback, but it wasn't quite enough, as the Sabercats won 56-52. The Storm end their season at 9-8, which included a six game winning streak. The Sabercats, who are 12-5, will enter the semifinals for their fifth straight year. Mark Grieb, who was the games Most Valuable Player, is trying to reach the ArenaBowl finals for second time in San Jose's history.
The AFL is on NBC every Sunday afternoon. Be sure to check your local listings for the times and games in your area.
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