Quad City Steamwheelers game notes

Published on July 13, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Birmingham Steeldogs (9-4) vs.
Quad City Steamwheelers (8-6)
Date: Saturday, July 17, 2004
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CDT
Site: The MARK of the Quad Cities (9,437)
National Anthem: Day Kelly
Coin Toss: Celby, US Cellular Mascot
Officials: Tony Canella (Referee), Pat Bayers (Umpire), Donald Rager (Head Linesman), Reggie Smith (Line Judge), Larry Orrico (Back Judge)
Radio: WFXN 1230 AM and KWPC 890 AM (Jim Albracht – Play-by-Play, John Furlong – Color)
TV: None

Series Record: The Steamwheelers hold a 2-0 edge over the Birmingham Steeldogs. Both meetings came in the af2's inaugural season, which Quad City won by overwhelming margins.

Last Meeting: It was the final game of the 2000 regular season where the Steamwheelers won 67-37 to cap their perfect 16-0 regular season.
Streaks: After a three game skid, the Steamwheelers were trying to counteract the losses with a three game winning steak but were ousted by the Tennessee Valley Vipers 48-41 in the last three seconds of last weekend's game. The Steeldogs are coming off a loss as well, a 55-28 loss to the Florida Firecats.

Coaches:
Quad City — Rich Ingold (8-5; 31-14, Third season)
Birmingham — Bobby Humphrey (9-4; 46-31 Fifth Season)

THE STAKES: The Steamwheelers are a game and a half back of the Louisville Fire for the Midwest Division lead and need to win out to win the Division. The Steeldogs are looking to earn a playoff berth.

THE SERIES: The Steamwheelers have a 2-0 edge against the Steeldogs with the only two meetings coming in 2000, which Quad City won handly.

THE IFs:
If Quad City defeats Birmingham, it would ...
· Give Quad City an 3-0 all-time series lead
· Inch the Steamwheelers closer to a playoff berth
· Give Rich Ingold a 33-15 record as a coach

QUAD CITY STEAMWHEELERS (8-6, Lost 2)
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
5/22 @San Diego 9:00 Loss 62-52
5/29 BYE
6/5 @Louisville 6:30 Loss 62-61
6/12 W-B Scranton 7:30 Loss 46-39
6/18 @Green Bay 7:30 WIN 62-53
6/25 @Arkansas 7:30 WIN 54-29
7/2 Peoria 7:30 Loss 29-13
7/10 @Tennessee Valley 7:30 Loss 48-41
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
7/17 Birmingham 7:30 L-1 QC leads 2-0
7/24 BYE
7/31 Louisville 7:30 W-1 QC leads 4-1

BIRMINGHAM STEELDOGS (9-4, Lost 1)
Date Opponent Time Result Score
3/27 @ Bossier City 7:00 Loss 41-63
4/10 Memphis 7:30 Won 21-44
4/17 @ Arkansas 7:00 Won 56-40
4/23 Columbus 7:30 Won 45-77
4/30 BYE
5/8 Macon 8:30 Won 27-55
5/14 Florida 7:30 Won 34-55
5/21 @ Manchester 7:30 Won 52-49
5/29 Tennessee Valley 7:30 Won 30-36
6/5 @ Columbus 7:30 Loss 42-44
6/12 Green Bay 7:30 Won 54-56
6/19 @ Tenn. Valley 7:30 Loss 64-67
6/26 Rio Grande 7:30 Won 58-59
7/3 BYE
7/10 @ Florida 7:30 Loss 28-55
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
7/17 @ Quad City 7:30 L-2 QC leads 2-0
7/24 Peoria 7:30 W-4 BIR leads 2-1
7/31 @ Macon 7:30 W-1 Tied 2-2

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 32-15 record in his two and a half seasons at the helm and has posted 11 of 13 regular season home victories.

Birmingham coach Bobby Humphrey was named head coach of the Birmingham Steeldogs on August 12, 1999. During his three seasons as head coach, Humphrey has guided the Steeldogs to a 32-19 mark and two postseason appearances. Prior to taking the Steeldogs head coaching position, Humphrey was a standout running back for the University of Alabama. In four years with the Crimson Tide, he amassed 3,420 rushing yards, second in school history. He racked up 15 100-yard games and four 200-yard games.

LAST SERIES MEETING: You have to go all the way back to the arenafootball2's inaugural season for the last meeting between these two teams. It was the final game of the regular season with the Steamwheelers looking to go a perfect 16-0 on the season. The Steamwheelers had beaten the Steeldogs 82-21 one-week prior at The MARK and were looking to make it two straight against the Steeldogs. Backup quarterback Mike Gluski started in place of Billy Dicken, who was given the night off as the ‘Wheelers had already locked up the league's top seed for the playoffs. Gluski threw for five scores to lead the Steamwheelers to a 67-37 victory.

SERIES NOTABLES: By the time the game kicks off on Saturday night, it will be just 12 days shy of being exactly four years since the last time these two teams played. This matchup will be a little different from the first two and almost assuredly the best game this series will see. The Steamwheelers won the only two meetings by an average of 45.5 points.

LEAGUE TOP 10s: Players from this week's matchup who rank among af2's statistical leaders:

STEAMWHEELERS' LEADERS
Player Rank Category Stat
Jeff Hewitt 9 Scoring 174
Jeff Hewitt 8 Scoring (TD's) 14
Ryan Geisler 6 Scoring (kick) 85
Ronnie Gordon 10 Pass Rating 110.6
Ronnie Gordon 10 Rushing 144
Tim Dodge 2 Receptions 1421
Jeff Hewitt 9 Receptions 1269
Tim Dodge 1 Receiving 1421
Jeff Hewitt 4 Receiving 1269
Matt Forbes 4 Interceptions 6
Ronnie Gordon 7 Passing Yards 248.3
Jeff Hewitt 2 All Purpose 2529
Ronnie Gordon 2 Total Offense 3620
Ryan Geisler 3 PAT Kicking 70-88
Matt Forbes 6 Fumbles Forced 3
Danny Thomas 10 Fumbles RCVD 2
Matt Forbes 2 Passes Defended 30
Matt Forbes 2 Tackles 68

FAMILIAR FACES: One of the faces that may be familiar to Steamwheelers fans is that of wide receiver/defensive back Anthony Jordan. Jordan was apart of the 2000 Steeldogs team and in two games against the Steamwheelers he had six receptions for 97 yards and four tackles on defense. So far on this season, Jordan has played in 13 games and has five receptions for 47 yards. Jordan has a lot better numbers on defense as he is tied for the league lead in interceptions with eight. He is second on the team with 54.5 tackles to go along with 10 pass breakups.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Steamwheelers and Steeldogs stack up:
Statistical Steamwheelers Steeldogs
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 12 48.5 9 51.2
Scoring Defense 4 39.8 10 45.6
Total Offense 10 263.7 13 257.5
Total Defense 10 243.1 12 249.2
Pass Offense 9 246.4 16 230.5
Pass Defense 12 229.3 14 231.9
Rushing Offense 15 17.4 5 27.1
Rushing Defense 5 13.9 12 17.3
Scoring (non-kick) 8 584 10 568
Scoring (kicking) 8 85 5 97
Pass Rating 9 109.7 14 105.9
Pass Def Rating 3 94.6 4 96.6
Kickoff Returns 10 20.2 12 19.9
MFG Returns 16 16.1 23 8.5
Turnover Margin 4 .64 19 -0.31
Field Goals 14 5-16 2 10-20
PAT Kicking 8 70-88 7 67-84
Sacks By 7 21 5 21
Sacks Against 14 15 12 13
First Downs 13 199 20 182
Opponent 1st downs 15 202 18 215
Penalties 13 54.8 5 47.3
Opponent Penalties 14 56.9 2 43.3

STEAMWHEELERS INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
WR/LB Carmelo Ocasio Knee STIR
OL/DL Pete Traynor Foot LTIR
OL/DL Brandon Williams Knee LTIR
DS Danny Thomas Knee LTIR
OL/DL Brandon Graves Leg STIR

MILESTONES: Three Steamwheelers are knocking on milestone doors — QB Ronnie Gordon, WR/DB Tim Dodge and OS Jeff Hewitt. Gordon broke the Steamwheelers single season rushing touchdown record and is adding to it with his season total climbing to 20. Dodge (1,421) and Hewitt (1,269) have both eclipsed the 1,000 receiving yards plateau and are looking to hit the 1,500 mark with two games to go.

DROPBACK: The Steamwheelers are now coming off a two-game losing streak and looking to avoid their second three-game losing streak of the season after falling 48-41 at Tennessee Valley this past weekend. The Vipers scored with three seconds remaining in the game when quarterback Josh Kellett found Jerrian James for a 25-yard score. The Steamwheelers had tied the game up at 41 after wide receiver/defensive back Billy Cook returned a kickoff 56 yards with 47 seconds remaining. But kicker Ryan Geisler missed the ensuing extra point to leave the game tied.

FORWARD MOTION: The Steamwheelers are home for the remainder of the season and after posting a 4-4 mark on the road, returning to The MARK of the Quad Cities is probably not a bad thing. The Steamwheelers will have a bye next weekend prior to returning for their final home game of the season when they will host Midwest Division leading Louisville Fire. The game could decide who wins the division.

TEAM NOTES/TRENDS: The Steamwheelers have three consecutive games twice in their history. The first time that it happened came in 2002. The Steamwheelers averted tying that mark in 2003 after starting the season 0-2, they went on a 14-game winning streak. This season the Steamwheelers lost three straight spanning May 22-June 12. They are now looking to avert making it a third time in team history to drop three straight. The Steamwheelers are coming off losses to Peoria (29-13) on July 2 and Tennessee Valley (48-41) this past weekend.

KNOCKING ON HISTORY'S DOOR: So far this season, both Tim Dodge and Jeff Hewitt have already gone over the 1,000 receiving yards plateau. Dodge has 100 receptions for 1,421 yards and 22 touchdowns. Hewitt is not far behind and has 87 receptions for 1,269 yards and 24 touchdowns. Right now, Dodge is on pace to finish with 114 receptions for 1,624 yards and 25 scores, while Hewitt is on pace for 99 receptions for 1,450 yards and 27 touchdowns. If both can accomplish 100 receptions for 1,500 yards and 30 touchdowns, they will be only the second in Arena Football history to do so. The only other to do so were 2002 Steamwheelers offensive specialist Ira Gooch and wide receiver/linebacker Chris Anthony

FIVE IN A ROW: Steamwheelers wide receiver/defensive back Tim Dodge is on a tear as of late. Anymore, the arenafootball2 league office might want to rename the U.S. Army Ironman of the Game to Tim Dodge Ironman of the Game. For the fifth straight week, Dodge was named U.S. Army Ironman of the Game. This award could not suit Dodge any better as he has already received the nickname of the "60-Minute Man." Last weekend at Tennessee Valley, Dodge caught nine passes for 80 yards and a touchdown to go along with two tackles on defense.

GORDON ON PACE TO BREAK af2 RECORD: In the 2003 season, former Steamwheelers quarterback Tony Zimmerman rushed for 17 touchdowns, a Steamwheelers single season record. Through 14 games this season, quarterback Ronnie Gordon has accounted for 60 passing touchdowns and has now broken the Steamwheelers single season record as he now has 20. He will need to average three rushing touchdowns a game to tie the af2 single season record.

THE ‘GOLD' TD RUSH:
Player Games Rush TD's Pace
Tony Zimmerman 16 39 17
Ronnie Gordon 14 62 20 23

PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Kickers
Steamwheelers' Kicker Ryan Geisler: Up until last weekend at Tennessee Valley, Geisler had been perfect on all of his extra point attempts. After missing his first attempt against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton he made his remaining three kicks. He was then perfect the next two weeks against Green Bay, Arkansas and Peoria. He made his first against Tennessee Valley. That made it 20 straight. The streak was then snapped as he finished the game missing two of the remaining five. He is eighth in the league in scoring.

Steeldogs Kicker Rhett Gallego: Gallego has a leg and it shows. He is fifth in the league in scoring as he has connected on 67-of-84 extra point attempts and is exactly 50-percent on field goals hitting 10-of-20 attempts. His longest made is 46 yards. It will be interesting to see how Gallego kicks off to Steamwheelers offensive specialist Jeff Hewitt as many teams have elected to kick away from him.

KEY DATES IN TEAM/LEAGUE HISTORY: July 8, 2000 – On a 1-yard touchdown run by Steamwheelers quarterback Billy Dicken with 1:31remain in a game against Tennessee Valley, the Steamwheelers set the Arena Football record for touchdowns in a single season with 119. The Steamwheelers finished the season with 152 total touchdowns, breaking the record of 118 set by the AFL's Albany Firebirds.

GETTING TO KNOW A STEAMWHEELER: This week's featured player is offensive lineman/defensive lineman Harvie Herrington. Harvie is the second oldest player on the team behind 39-year old Flint Fleming. He played at Western Illinois University and was in camp with the Indianapolis Colts. He is engaged to Tishly Goldie. His nickname is Big Harv.

af2 BABY RUTH REAL DEAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
15 Columbus Troy Bergeron

af2 U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
15 Bakersfield Eric Mahanke

af2 ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
15 Peoria Brandon Campbell

Trivial Pursuit
Oldest player: 39, Flint Fleming – 3/17/65
Youngest player: 23, Fred Barr – 1/5/81
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: 3
Illinois Colleges: 3
Players 300+ pounds: 7
Players 6'5" or taller: 4
2004 Roster Breakdown
By College/University
California-Lutheran Purdue
California-Berkley – 2 Cal. St. – Northridge
Northern Illinois San Diego State Eastern Kentucky Simpson North Dakota State Grand Valley State SW Missouri State Illinois Indiana (PA) Vanderbilt Western Illinois – 2 SUNY-Morrisville 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 J.R. Thomas (WBS)
13 Peoria Frank West (PEO)
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 Tim Dodge
13 Peoria Tim Dodge
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 Jamie Hattley (WBS)
13 Peoria Enoch Smith (PEO)
15 Birmingham
17 Louisville
Steamwheelers "When" Stats
4-2 at The MARK of the Quad Cities
4-4 on the road

4-3 vs. National Conference
4-3 vs. American Conference

2-2 vs. American Northeast
0-0 vs. American South
2-1 vs. American Mid-South
0-0 vs. National Southwest
3-2 vs. National Midwest
1-1 vs. National West

3-1 on Fridays
5-5 on Saturdays

3-1 in April
3-1 in May
2-2 in June
0-2 in July

4-3 when leading after the first quarter
2-3 when trailing after the first quarter
2-0 when tied after the first quarter

7-1 when leading at halftime
1-5 when trailing at halftime
0-0 when tied at halftime

8-1 when leading after the third quarter
0-5 when trailing after the third quarter
0-0 when tied after the third quarter

6-3 in games decided by 10+ points
1-2 in games decided by 4-9 points
1-1 in games decided by 3 points or less

1-2 when opponent scores more than 50 points
7-4 when opponent scores less than 50 points

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


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

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



arenafootball2 Stories from July 13, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central