Quad City Steamwheelers game notes

Published on May 20, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Quad City Steamwheelers (6-1) vs.
San Diego Riptide (1-5)
Date: Saturday, May 22, 2004
Kickoff: 9:00 p.m. CDT
Site: San Diego Sports Arena (12,920)
National Anthem: TBA
Coin Toss: TBA
Officials: (Referee), (Umpire), (Head Linesman), (Line Judge), (Back Judge)
Radio: WFXN 1230 AM and KWPC 890 AM (Jim Albracht – Play-by-Play, Jim Foster-Color)
TV: None
Series Record: The two teams have only gone head-to-head twice, both contests were at The MARK of the Quad Cities with the ‘Wheelers taking both games.
Last Meeting: The Steamwheelers used last season's matchup against the Riptide as a tune-up for the next weekends contest against the undefeated Tennessee Valley Vipers. The Steamwheelers jumped out to a 21-7 lead and pushed it to 56-20 early in the fourth, before running away with a 69-36 victory.
Streaks: The Steamwheelers now have what is called a winning streak, winners of three straight. Their only loss of the season came on the road at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Riptide are have lost two straight and their last three losses have been lost by a combined seven points.
Coaches:
Quad City — Rich Ingold (6-1; 30-10, Third season)
San Diego — Mouse Davis (1-5; 1-5, First Season)

THE STAKES: The Steamwheelers will be looking to hold onto the No. 1 ranking and win their fourth straight game, while the Riptide are looking to turn things around and win their first game in three tries.
THE SERIES: The series is in strong favor of the ‘Wheelers, who have won both contests by an average margin of 25 points. This is the first meeting in San Diego.
THE IFs:
If Quad City defeats San Diego, it would ...
· Give Quad City a 3-0 all-time series lead
· Give the Steamwheelers their fourth consecutive victory
· Give Rich Ingold a 31-10 record as a coach

QUAD CITY STEAMWHEELERS (6-1, Won 3)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/3 Manchester 7:30 WIN 71-32
4/10 @Manchester 7:30 WIN 45-42
4/17 Tennessee Valley 7:30 WIN 47-29
4/24 @W-B Scranton 6:00 Loss 40-27
5/1 Green Bay 7:30 WIN 47-26
5/7 @Peoria 7:00 WIN 47-20
5/15 Wichita 7:30 WIN 73-39
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
5/22 @San Diego 9:00 W-3 QC leads 2-0
5/29 BYE
6/5 @Louisville 6:30 W-1 QC leads 4-0
6/12 W-B Scranton 7:30 L-1 QC leads 1-0
6/18 @Green Bay 7:30 W-1 QC leads 3-0
6/25 @Arkansas 7:30 L-3 QC leads 4-1
7/2 Peoria 7:30 L-1 QC leads 4-2
7/10 @Tenn. Valley 7:30 W-3 QC leads 6-2
7/17 Birmingham 7:30 W-4 QC leads 2-0
7/24 BYE
7/31 Louisville 7:30 W-1 QC leads 4-0

SAN DIEGO RIPTIDE (1-5, Lost 2)
Date Opponent Time Result Score
4/3 @ Arkansas 7:00 Loss 48-38
4/9 Green Bay 9:00 Loss 67-49
4/17 @ Bakersfield 9:00 Loss 57-54
4/23 Central Valley 9:00 WIN 59-34
5/1 BYE
5/8 Hawaii 9:00 Loss 55-54
5/15 @ Bakersfield 9:00 Loss 39-36
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
5/22 Quad City 9:00 L-2 QC leads 2-0
5/28 @ Hawaii 11:30 HAW leads 5-2
6/5 @ Central Valley 9:30 SD leads 5-3
6/12 BYE
6/19 @ Hawaii 11:30 HAW leads 5-2
6/26 Bakersfield 9:00 BAK leads 1-0
7/3 Hawaii 9:00 HAW leads 5-2
7/10 @ Central Valley 9:30 SD leads 5-3
7/17 @ Green Bay 7:30 GB leads 2-1
7/24 Bakersfield 9:00 BAK leads 1-0
7/30 Central Valley 9:00 SD leads 5-3

HEAD COACHES: Rich Ingold is in his third season as the Steamwheelers head coach after guiding them to a 2003 National Conference Midwest Division championship. Ingold has a 30-10 record in his two-plus seasons at the helm and has posted nine straight regular season home victories.
San Diego's Mouse Davis has been in coaching for over 40 years and has coached in four different leagues (NFL, CFL, USFL, WLAF) as well as the NCAA. He is known as the "Father of the Run-‘N-Shoot" offense. Davis has plenty of experience coaching in Arena Football. He was the head coach of the Detroit Fury for two seasons and led them to the playoffs his first year. Prior to that, Davis was the quarterback's coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 1994-95.

LAST SERIES MEETING: In a game that had little impact for the Riptide, other than pride, the Steamwheelers manhandled the Riptide 69-36 at The MARK of the Quad Cities. ‘Wheelers quarterback Tony Zimmerman threw for eight touchdowns in the win, which added to his season total. With those touchdown passes, Zimmerman broke the Steamwheelers single season record for touchdown passes.

SERIES NOTABLES: With the teams only playing twice prior to this, both games being played at The MARK of the Quad Cities, there has been little fire between the teams. This weekend's contest could change that with two former Riptide players taking on their former team.

LEAGUE TOP 10s: Players from this week's matchup who rank among af2's statistical leaders:
STEAMWHEELERS' LEADERS
Player Rank Category Stat
Jeff Hewitt 4 Scoring 96
Ryan Geisler 5 Scoring (Kick) 43
Tim Dodge 5 Receptions 48
Tim Dodge 3 Receiving Yards 770
Jeff Hewitt 5 Receiving Yards 650
Matt Forbes 2 Interceptions 4
Jeff Hewitt 6 Kickoff Ret. Avg. 24.9
Ronnie Gordon 8 Passing Yards 243.1
Jeff Hewitt 3 All-Purpose 189.3
Ronnie Gordon 1 Total Offense 248.9
Ryan Geisler 4 PAT Kicking 37-48
Matt Forbes 1 Fumbles Forced 3
Danny Thomas 5 Fumbles Recovered 2
Matt Forbes 2 Passes Defended 16
Matt Forbes 2 Tackles 39.0
Danny Thomas 34 Tackles 21.5
Chazz Moore 38 Tackles 20.0
Brian Berg 11 Sacks 3.0
Harvie Herrington 21 Sacks 2.0
FAMILIAR FACES: This weekend's game will feature all kinds of familiar faces. For the Steamwheelers, two players will be returning home and take on their former team. For the Riptide, their kicker will be taking on his former mates. Steamwheelers fullback/linebacker Brian Berg and kicker Ryan Geisler are both making their return to their off-season home and will be taking on the Riptide for the first time in the San Diego Sports Arena. Riptide kicker Rich Ehmke was in uniform for two Steamwheelers games last season, prior to being reassigned.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Steamwheelers and Riptide stack up:
Statistical Steamwheelers Riptide
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 7 51.0 12 48.3
Scoring Defense 1 32.6 15 50.0
Total Offense 14 258.4 10 265.8
Total Defense 9 228.0 11 250.5
Pass Offense 11 244.3 6 260.7
Pass Defense 8 211.9 15 238.7
Rushing Offense 20 14.1 23 8.0
Rushing Defense 10 16.1 4 11.8
Scoring (Non-Kick) 2 308 11 254
Scoring (Kicking) 5 43 14 34
Pass Rating 10 108.9 12 106.0
Pass Def. Rating 2 87.1 21 114.6
Kickoff Returns 8 20.4 6 21.0
MFG Returns 12 19.0 1 30.2
Turnover Margin 1 +12 16 -3
Field Goals 16 2-9 6 3-8
PAT Kicking 9 37-48 20 25-36
Sacks By 4 14 11 9
Sacks Against 18 9 20 14
First Downs 10 93 16 84
Opp. First Downs 20 98 3 75
Penalty Yards 21 432 15 371
Opp. Penalty Yards 21 425 14 356

STEAMWHEELERS INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
OL/DL Bear Brown Knee Doubtful
OL/DL Pete Traynor Foot LTIR
OL/DL Brandon Williams Knee LTIR
FB/LB Fred Barr Knee Probable
DS Matt Forbes Ribs Probable

MILESTONES: Three Steamwheelers are knocking on milestone doors — QB Ronnie Gordon, WR/DB Tim Dodge and OS Jeff Hewitt. Gordon is on pace to crush Tony Zimmerman's record of 17 rushing touchdowns in a season as he has rushed for 11 already this season. Dodge and Hewitt both are well on their way to eclipsing the 1,000 receiving yards mark.
DROPBACK: The Steamwheelers have now won three straight games after last weekend's demolition of the leagues former top team, the Wichita Stealth. Wichita entered the game allowing 28.4 points a game, but gave up 27 points in the first quarter alone. The Steamwheelers offense did not let up from there as they went on to win 73-39. The ‘Wheelers defense entered the game second to the Stealth, but left as the leagues top defense and now hold the highest turnover margin.

FORWARD MOTION: The Steamwheelers will get a break next week before they close out this mini two-game road trip. Next week is the ‘Wheelers "bye" week and will not practice until Thursday. They will play Louisville on June 5th prior to returning home on June 12th against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

TEAM NOTES/TRENDS: For the second time this season, the Steamwheelers eclipsed the 47 points that they had been averaging. In three of their games this season the Steamwheelers have scored 47 points and entered last weekend's game averaging 47.3 points per game. They had their highest output of the season with 73 this past weekend. The only other time the ‘Wheelers have scored more than 47 was Week 1 when they scored 71 against Manchester.

GORDON BREAKS NAVIGATOR CURSE: When asked for an interview, quarterback Ronnie Gordon simply asked, "why?" The reason for the interview was that Gordon was going to be on the cover of the next Navigator, the Steamwheelers game night program. Gordon then responded, "No way, I don't want to be on the cover of that thing. It's cursed." There is some truth to Gordon's comment. After offensive specialist Jeff Hewitt graced the cover of the program, he was held scoreless for the next two games. Then wide receiver/defensive back Tim Dodge donned the cover of the next issue, and although having a decent game, Dodge was held scoreless for the first time all season. That would not be the case for Gordon. Gordon went out and completed his first nine passes and finished the night with 265 yards and six touchdowns on 19-of-24 passing and added two rushing touchdowns to earn Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game honors.

GETTING ‘KICKED' AROUND: It will be awfully strange at the San Diego Sports Arena on Saturday night when the two teams take the field. If you date back to last season, the Steamwheelers kicker was Rich Ehmke. The Riptide's kicker was Ryan Geisler. Fast forward to this season and you have Geisler kicking for the ‘Wheelers and Ehmke kicking for the Riptide. Also making his return is Steamwheelers fullback/linebacker Brian Berg, who spent a year and a half with the Riptide, prior to joining the ‘Wheelers midway through last season.

GORDON ON PACE TO BREAK ZIM'S RECORD: In the 2003 season, former Steamwheelers quarterback Tony Zimmerman rushed for 17 touchdowns, a Steamwheelers single season record. Through five games this season, quarterback Ronnie Gordon has accounted for 22 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing touchdowns. If Gordon continues at this pace, he will crush Zimmerman's rushing touchdown total and finish with 25, three shy of the af2 single season record.
THE ‘GOLD' TD RUSH:
Player Games Rush TD's Pace
Tony Zimmerman 16 39 17
Ronnie Gordon 7 31 11 25

PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Kickers
Steamwheelers K Ryan Geisler: In his first return to the San Diego Sports Arena Geisler will look to continue his pace on the road. So far this season, Geisler has been all but perfect. He was just that in his first two games, but had two blocked in the teams third road game. He is fourth in PAT kicking as he has connected on 37-of-48 attempts and has hit two fields goals on the season.

Riptide K Rich Ehmke: Last season Ehmke played for the Steamwheelers for two games, flying in all the way from San Diego the day before the game. That lasted four games before Ingold decided to let Ehmke go. Ehmke has since joined the Riptide and will be in uniform to take on his former teammates.

KEY DATES IN TEAM/LEAGUE HISTORY: May 24, 2003, the Steamwheelers notched their sixth consecutive victory, a 42-31 victory at Louisville. The win was the sixth of 14 straight for the Steamwheelers en route to finishing the regular season with the arenafootball2 leagues best record. The Steamwheelers held the Fire to single digit scoring in all four quarters. The Steamwheelers trailed 7-6 after the first quarter, but took a 23-15 lead into halftime.

GETTING TO KNOW A NEW STEAMWHEELER: This week's featured player is kicker Ryan Geisler. The former San Diego Riptide kicker joined the Steamwheelers this past offseason. His middle name is Dean and he is married to Courtney. He attended California-Lutheran University and received his B.A. in Social Science. He was all-conference for three seasons and a two-time NCAA Division III All-American. At Adolfo Camarillo High School he was a three sport star in football, baseball and soccer.
af2 BABY RUTH REAL DEAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
7 Green Bay Chris Greisen

af2 U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
7 Green Bay DeRonn Finley

af2 ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
7 Central Valley Ricky Leung-Wai

Trivial Pursuit
Oldest player: 32, Harvie Herrington – 2/4/72
Youngest player: 23, Brian Eyerman – 3/25/81
Tallest Player: 6'8" – Bear Brown
Shortest Player: 5'10" – Four Players
Heaviest Player: 350 – Bear Brown
Lightest Player: 175 – Matt Forbes
Native Iowans: 3
Colleges represented: 23
Iowa Colleges: 4
Illinois Colleges: 3
Players 300+ pounds: 3
Players 6'5" or taller: 1
2004 Roster Breakdown
By College/University
California-Lutheran Purdue
California-Berkley Cal. St. – Northridge
St. Ambrose Duquesne
San Diego State Eastern Kentucky
Simpson Southern Illinois
Grand Valley State SW Missouri State
Illinois Tenn. – Chattanooga
Indiana (PA) –2 Vanderbilt
Indianapolis Western Illinois – 2
Iowa – 4 William Penn
Wis. – Stevens Point Louisville

QC Home Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game (selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 Manchester Jeff Hewitt
3 Tenn. Valley Tim Dodge
5 Green Bay Jeff Hewitt
7 Wichita Ronnie Gordon
11 Wilkes-Barre
13 Peoria
15 Birmingham
17 Louisville

QC Home GAME U.S. Army IRONMAN AWARD (selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 Manchester Harvie Herrington
3 Tenn. Valley Bear Brown
5 Green Bay Brian Berg
7 Wichita Bear Brown
11 Wilkes-Barre
13 Peoria
15 Birmingham
17 Louisville

QC Home GAME ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER AWARD
Week Opp. Player
1 Manchester Danny Thomas
3 Tenn. Valley Matt Forbes
5 Green Bay Danny Thomas
7 Wichita Jamaal Cherry
11 Wilkes-Barre
13 Peoria
15 Birmingham
17 Louisville
Steamwheelers "When" Stats
4-0 at The MARK of the Quad Cities
2-1 on the road

3-0 vs. National Conference
3-1 vs. American Conference

2-1 vs. American Northeast
0-0 vs. American South
1-0 vs. American Mid-South
0-0 vs. National Southwest
2-0 vs. National Midwest
1-0 vs. National West

1-0 on Fridays
5-1 on Saturdays

3-1 in April
3-0 in May
0-0 in June
0-0 in July

5-0 when leading after the first quarter
0-1 when trailing after the first quarter
1-0 when tied after the first quarter

6-0 when leading at halftime
0-1 when trailing at halftime
0-0 when tied at halftime

6-0 when leading after the third quarter
0-1 when trailing after the third quarter
0-0 when tied after the third quarter

5-1 in games decided by 10+ points
0-0 in games decided by 4-9 points
1-0 in games decided by 3 points or less

0-0 when opponent scores more than 50 points
6-1 when opponent scores less than 50 points

2-0 when the ‘Wheelers scores more than 50 points
4-1 when the ‘Wheelers scores less than 50 points


4-0 when the ‘Wheelers scores first
2-1 when the opponent scores first

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