Quad City Steamwheelers Huddle
June 19, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
1,000-Yard Club: Kris Peters became the first Steamwheeler to go over 1,000 receiving yards on the season on his first catch of the game against Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Tim Dodge and Jack Walker Jr., are both on pace to hit the 1,000 receiving yard mark this weekend at Tennessee Valley. If they do, the trio will become the third group in af2 history to have a 1,000 receiving yards in a single season for the same team. Tim Dodge and Kris Peters have both been a member of a trio that has accomplished the feat in the past. In 2003 Dodge, Jeff Hewitt and Ira Gooch became the first group to accomplish the feat in the af2. A year later while playing for the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Kris Peters teamed up with Al Hunt and Timon Marshall to become the second group to accomplish the feat.
Still on Record Pace: Tim Hicks is on pace to shatter the Quad City Steamwheelers passing yardage record in a single season of 4,357 by Tony Zimmerman in 2003. Hicks currently has 3,201 yards and at his current pass will surpass Zimmerman on July 22 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Steamwheelers quarterback is also on pace to break the league record of 4,489 total passing yards during the last game of the season at Manchester. Hicks is currently in a battle, however, with Albany quarterback Ryan Vena to hold the league record at the end of the season. Vena currently has 3,306 passing yards, 105 more than Hicks, and is one pace to finish the season with 4,809 passing yards, 320-yards more than Hicks.
Still Kicking Well: Kicker Kimo Neahu should keep his head up after a disappointing game last Saturday. Neahu is currently ranked eighth in the af2 in field goal percentage and is tied for ninth in the league on PAT conversions.
Immediate Impact: Ty Ardion has made an immediate impact on the Quad City Steamwheelers, since appearing in his first game on June 10th against Manchester. In the game Ardion was third on the team in total tackles with five. This past week against Manchester while Ardion did not record as many tackles, finishing the game with 1.5, he was all over the field helping the team by recording three pass breakups.
Third Quarter Blues: The Quad City Steamwheelers would prefer to skip playing the third quarter this season. The first frame of the second half as caused problems for the team all season long. Quad City has only scored more than seven points three times in the third quarter this season. The Steamwheelers scored 12 on May 31 vs. Arkansas and April 22 vs. Stockton, while scoring 14 on May 13 vs. Louisville. The Steamwheelers, who have been outscored in the third 178-76, have been shutout twice (on April 15 vs Green Bay and on June 17 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton).
Renewing the Rivarly: The Quad City Steamwheelers and the Tennessee Valley Vipers will renew their rivalry after a two-year absence this weekend. The two teams have had an intense rivalry since the Steamwheelers defeated the Vipers for the inaugural ArenaCup in 2000. While the Steamwheelers own a 6-3 record over the franchise the Vipers are playing for pride with a current four-game losing streak and a 2-9 overall record. Last week the Vipers made a coaching change replacing Chris Williams with Milt Theodosatos. With the coaching change, Theodosatos made several player moves. The team that is averaging only 39.5 points a game (21st in the af2) and allowing 54.5 points a game (22nd in the af2) responded to the coaching change scoring 40 points and dropping last weekend's game on the road by only three-points, after fighting back from a 24-7 deficit and taking a 40-37 lead with four minutes to play.
Chris Gunn is leading the Viper offense throwing for 19 touchdowns and 1,075-yards on the season. His favorite receiver is Torrey Day, who leads the team with 15 touchdown receptions and 867 yards on 68 catches.
Defensively, Trav Blanchard is leading the corps for the Vipers. Blanchard has tallied 42.5 tackles and two interceptions on the season, however, in their last game he did not record any tackles and registered a forced fumble. Last week Emman Franklin saw his first action of the season for Tennessee Valley and led the team with four solo tackles, an interception which he returned for 26 yards and a pass breakup.
Recent Steamwheeler Transactions: 6/15 Placed George Williams on Re-Assignment, Activated Jermaine Petty from Refused to Report, Placed Jeff Macrea on Long-Term IR, Placed Lavar Stepter on Short-Term IR; 6/14 Claimed George Williams from Re-Assignment; 6/13 Placed Patrick Horne and Chris Chandler on Re-Assignment, Activated Alfonso Pugh from Long-Term IR; 6/8 Placed Maurice Harris on Short-Term IR, Assigned Ty Ardoin (DS); 6/6 Activated Maurice Harris from Short-Term IR, Transferred Alfonso Pugh from Short-Term to Long-Term IR; 5/24 Traded Future Considerations to Green Bay for Jermaine Petty; 5/22 Placed Gustavus Tyson on Recallable Re-Assignment.
Get 'em while their hot: Single game tickets are currently on sale. Tickets start as low as $13.00 for adults and $6.50 for children 14 and under. In addition, high school and college students with a valid student ID can purchase one upper deck ticket for $3.00 off the regular ticket price per ID.
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