Quad City Steamwheelers Defense Holds On for a 62-59 Victory Over Manchester
June 10, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
(Moline, Ill.) - The Quad City Steamwheelers defense held on to a slim, three-point margin as the Manchester Wolves tried a last ditch effort to win the game with just five seconds remaining in the game. The 62-59 final score kept the âWheeler's hopes for a playoff berth alive for another week. The Wolves took the ball within 26-yards of the end zone on their final drive. Instead of opting for a game-tying field goal, though, the Wolves decided to throw for the win in regulation. The pass from Manchester QB D. Bryant to WR David Bailey was good for a first down, but Bailey was swarmed by four Steamwheeler defensive players, bringing the exciting game to an end. Bryant finished with 393 yards and seven touchdown passes. The Steamwheelers took the lead for the last time on the play of WR/DB Tim Dodge, who finished as both the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game and the U.S. Army Ironman of the game. Dodge ran the ball in for the Steamwheelers with 20 seconds remaining in the game. The Quad City Steamwheelers were led by Dodge, who rushed for a touchdown and paced the team with 143 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Dodge scored three of the first four Quad City touchdowns, a 20-yard pass with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter, a three-yard pass with 6:45 left in the half and an acrobatic 27-yard catch in the endzone with just 15 seconds remaining in the half - good for the Cutter's Catch of the Game. With 11:04 left in the half Jeff Macrea was injured after he caught a pass near midfield and ran toward the sideboards and had his knee taken out by a Manchester player. Macrea had to be carted off the field and taken to a local hospital. The first half ended in a wild frenzy of plays with tempers flaring following a blocked field goal by OL/DL Kika Kalaululaau who went on to fill in for the injured Macrea through the rest of the game. The second half saw 10 lead changes between the two squads. With the Wolves trailing 29-26 to start the second half, they took a 33-29 lead when Bryant hit Marc Bacote for a 15-yard pass. Five plays later, the Steamwheelers regained the lead on a 3-yard, quarterback keeper by QB Tim Hicks. Then WR Steve Gonzalez gave Manchester the lead again heading into the fourth quarter, 39-35. Play came to an abrupt end as the third quarter wound down as Hicks, who finished the game with 186-yards and three touchdowns on 23 attempts, suffered a helmet-on-helmet collision on the final play of the quarter. Hicks did not return to the game. With the game on the line, backup quarterback Matt Pike came in to finish the game for the Steamwheelers. Pike, who finished the game with 104-yards and two touchdowns on 8-6 passing, wasted little time giving Quad City a 42-39 lead on a two-yard run just over two minutes into the final frame. Two plays later, Bryant hit Gonzalez again. The Manchester receiver finished with 102 receiving yards and two touchdowns. His second TD on the night gave Manchester a 45-42 lead over Quad City with 11:39 left to play, but two plays later Dodge caught his fourth touchdown pass of the night. The throw from Pike located Dodge streaking down the sideline for a 40-yard TD completion. After giving up another touchdown to Manchester, Steamwheeler's OS Kris Peters put the QC squad back on top 55-51 after Pike found him for a 25-yard pass. Manchester took the lead for the final time on a two-play, 45-yard drive when Bryant his David Bailey for a 24-yard touchdown reception. Troy Graham, who was playing with a broken hand, lead the Quad City defense with 9.5 tackles, while his counter part from Manchester, Brian Mance finished with 8.5.
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