Quad City Steamwheelers win against Pioneers
July 22, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
(Moline, IL) -- The Steamwheelers won a contentious contest against former head coach Rich Ingold and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers at home on OS Field at The MARK of the Quad Cities. The 55-34 victory kept the 'Wheeler's hopes for a spot in the af2's playoff picture alive for one more week while it dealt a blow to the Pioneer's plans to win the Eastern Division of the American Conference.
It was the Quad City defensive effort, lead by ADT Defensive Player of the Game, Sid Lewis and a defensive cadre that included DS Ty Ardoin, DS Troy Graham and LB Jermaine Petty that made the outcome of this game a certainty early in the fourth quarter by registering three stops in the first four Pioneer possessions of the second half. Wilkes-Barre managed only seven points in the second half of the game.
The Steamwheeler offense made their presence felt on the field throughout the entire game. Avoiding what has been a troubling third quarter all season long, the Quad City unit posted thirty-five points in the first half and followed up with another twenty in the following two periods of play. QB Tim Hicks threw for 320 yards on the night on 19 of 30 passing, with two interceptions.
Wilkes-Barre's QB, Kelvin Robinson, who was starting his first game of the season, threw for 206 yards on 13 of 28 passing. Robinson had one pass intercepted. Front line pressure by the 'Wheelers along with blanketing coverage provided by the Quad City secondary made for a long night for Robinson. Things became worse in the fourth quarter when the Pioneer's WR/LB Leroy McFadden was ejected from the game for hitting a fan in an end zone altercation.
The game started with a strong showing by the home team, taking just over two minutes for Hicks to throw a bomb to OS Kris Peters for a touchdown. The TD was the first of five for Peters who was rewarded with the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game honor. Peters also managed to lead all receivers with ten receptions, putting him over the 100 catch total for the season. WR/DB Tim Dodge also caught one pass on the night, but that was enough to give him 100 catches for the season as well. As a result, the Steamwheelers receiving corps of Dodge, Peters and Jack Walker, Jr. became the first trio in arena football history to log both 1,000+ yards and 100+ catches a piece in the same season.
The first half saw the lead change between the two teams three more times before the 'Wheelers started to pull away. It was Hick's pass to Dodge, followed by Dodge's juke and 20+ yard run half-way through the second period that shifted the momentum permanently to the Quad City side.
Last minute scores by both the Steamwheelers and the Pioneers kept the margin at halftime to only eight points - but the second half would prove to be a different experience, entirely.
Unlike other third-quarter lapses, this time the 'Wheeler "D" came up with big plays, forcing the Pioneers to turn the ball over on a Sid Lewis interception, then on downs and finally, early in the fourth quarter, on downs again.
The 'Wheeler defense put the game to bed when DS Troy Graham recovered a Robinson fumble with just over two minutes left to play in the game.
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