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Perfect 10, 'Wheelers Win Tenth Straight

June 30, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


DAVENPORT, Iowa – Revenge. Payback. Returning the favor. All of this has been on the Quad City Steamwheelers minds since April 4th, 2003. That was when the Hawaiian Islanders visited the Steamwheelers at The MARK of the Quad Cities and walked out with a 53-52 victory, giving the ‘Wheelers only their third home loss in team history.

The ‘Wheelers has two weeks to think about just this game as they had their bye week the week prior to this game. It must have ate at them long enough as they returned the favor, defeating the Islanders 54-36, winning their tenth straight and improving their record to 10-2.

Even before this game kicked off at 12:30 a.m. (CDT) Sunday morning, the Steamwheelers had clinched the division and a playoff spot with the Peoria Pirates dropping a 45-35 heartbreaker to the Bakersfield Blitz.

The Steamwheelers also received more good news before the game started; the former #1 seed in the National Conference Tulsa Talons were upset by the Arkansas Twisters 45-29. This dropped the Talons to 10-3 with their bye week coming up this week and coupled with the ‘Wheelers victory, put the ‘Wheelers in the drivers seat and into the #1 slot of the conference.

The ‘Wheelers control their own destiny now, as they hold the head-to-head match-up over the Talons and will only need to finish up with the same record as the Talons to lock up the #1 seed, a first round bye and home field advantage through the National Conference finals.

The Steamwheelers still remained the second best team in the af2 as archrival Tennessee Valley won its 12th straight game and remained unbeaten with a 60-58 victory over the Birmingham Steeldogs. Tennessee Valley controls their own destiny as well as they have the top seed in the af2 and home field advantage throughout the ArenaCup playoffs.

All of this before the Steamwheelers game even kicked off. Unfortunately the game did not start as good as the news they received. The ‘Wheelers won the coin toss and elected to receive. After a 23-yard return by OS Ira Gooch, QB Tony Zimmerman took the reigns over and on his first pass attempt he was intercepted by Isaac White, who returned the pick 20 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 Islanders lead. K Kimo Naehu's PAT attempt failed.

Zimmerman would finish the game 19-of-43 for 237 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. His performance put him on pace for 89 touchdowns and 4,326 yards for the season. His pace for 89 touchdowns would break the current af2 record and the 4,326 yards would be 91 yards shy of the af2 record. Zimmerman also rushed for a touchdown bringing his season total to 13.

The ‘Wheelers would strike right back as Zimmerman hooked up with WR/DB Tim Dodge for their first of three scores on a five yard hookup. Dodge, who was named Game MVP, caught ten of Zimmerman's passes for 118 yards, three for touchdowns while adding three tackles, a forced fumble and fumble recovery as well as a pass deflection.

Zimmerman and Dodge hooked up again 4:12 later on a 24-yard strike that put the ‘Wheelers up 14-6. On the next Islanders possession, Dodge got his forced fumble after Islanders QB Mike Tillis completed a pass to WR/DB Anthony Arceneaux who was met by Dodge and could not hold on. WR/DB Danny Thomas, who made his debut for the Steamwheelers against the Islanders, recovered the fumble at the one-yard line and returned it 27 yards to the Hawaii 22-yard line.

The Islanders were without star QB Darnell Arceneaux, who was placed on the long-term injured reserve list after breaking his pinkie on his throwing hand a few weeks back. Star OS Nian Taylor was knocked out of the game early on after being hit by Steamwheelers DS Leo FenceRoy. After four plays, FB/LB Josh Fourdyce rushed three yards for the score and a 20-6 lead. After the teams traded scores, the ‘Wheelers led 27-13 with 6:24 to go in the first half.

The Islanders then made a run. They would score the games next 23 points and led 36-27 with 10:32 left in the third quarter. Despite trailing, the ‘Wheelers offense would not give up so easily, nor would the defense. The Steamwheelers offense answered the Islanders 23 consecutive points scoring 27 consecutive points of their own en route to the 54-36 victory.

Included in the 27 straight points was a 23-yard Zimmerman to WR/DB Jeff Hewitt hookup that proved to be the game winning score as it gave the ‘Wheelers a 42-36 lead.

Hewitt caught seven passes for 78 yards, two touchdowns while adding 1.5 tackles, two pass deflections and an interception on the night.

The ‘Wheelers defense shut out the Islanders for the games last 25:32. DS Asa Francis led the defense with his 7.5 tackles; five of them for a loss of 53 yards, four sacks and two forced fumbles. Francis was named ADT Defensive Player of the Game.

The Steamwheelers will go for 11 straight this Saturday when they travel to Green Bay, Wis. to take on the Blizzard at the new Resch Center. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Fans who are interested in making the trip can visit www.steamwheelerfans.com for more information.

The Steamwheelers will then return home for two weeks, first taking on the San Diego Riptide on July 12th, then welcoming archrival Tennessee Valley on the 19th. Both games kickoff at 7:30 p.m. and good tickets are still available. Tickets can be purchased at The MARK box office during normal business hours or through TicketMaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 563.326.1111.

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