Steamwheelers Claim 75th Regular Season Victory in Franchise History with 59-52 OT Win
May 7, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
(Fresno, Calif.) - The Quad City Steamwheelers notched their first victory of the season and 75th all-time regular season victory with a 59-52 overtime victory over the Central Valley Coyotes on Saturday evening.
On third and one in overtime, with the ball sitting on the one yard line, quarterback Tim Hicks followed fullback Jeff Macrea into the end zone on a quarterback sneak to give the Steamwheelers a 59-52 lead. Quad City improved to 1-4 after holding the Coyotes to a four and out on the final Central Valley drive.
Things did not look good for the Steamwheelers as Hicks threw the only interception of the game when Maurice Taylor picked off a deep pass that was intended for Tim Dodge in the third quarter. The interception proved to be costly as it setup a James Lewis touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone giving the Coyotes a 45-32 lead.
After the two teams traded scores to start the fourth quarter and with the Steamwheelers trailing 52-38, Jack Walker Jr. would make two big plays to help Quad City get back into the game. Walker Jr., who finished the night with 60 yards and three touchdown catches, caught an 11-yard touchdown pass in the left corner of the end zone to pull Quad City to within seven at 52-45. Quad City would try their second onside kick of the night and this time Kimo Naehu placed it perfectly and Walker came up with it setting up 15-yard touchdown pass by Kris Peters with 3:07 remaining in the game and the score tied at 52 all.
On the ensuing kickoff, Naehu would hit the scoreboard giving the Coyotes the ball at the 20 yard line and a chance to win the game. After forcing the Steamwheelers to use all their timeouts and with one second remaining on the clock John Gockman, who made a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter, would line up to attempt the game-winning kick. The snap was high and Gockman was forced to jump on the football and send the game to overtime.
For the third straight game the Steamwheelers would get on the board first when Hicks, who finished with 292 yards passing and threw for seven touchdowns on the night, found Walker Jr., open on a slant play for an eight yard touchdown strike giving Quad City a 6-0 lead.
LaMonte Jones would answer the Steamwheelers when he caught his first of two touchdown passes on the night from Coyote quarterback Scott Rislov, giving Central Valley a 7-6 lead. Alfonso Pugh would catch a touchdown pass for the Steamwheelers to give Quad City a 12-7 lead at the end of one quarter of play.
Rislov, who finished the game throwing for 264 yards and seven touchdowns on 23 completions, would respond for the Coyotes after hitting Marvin Brown to give Central Valley a 14-12 lead early in the second quarter.
Peters would waste little time tying the game as he was wide open in the end zone and Hicks found him on a 34-yard bomb to put Quad City back in front 19-14.
Quad City would get a huge stop defensively as they held Central Valley to a 37-yard field goal by Gockman, keeping the Steamwheelers in front 19-17. With just 4:30 remaining in the first half Pugh caught his second touchdown pass by out-jumping the Coyote defender on the end line to put the Steamwheelers up 26-17. James Lewis caught a 19-yard pass to pull back within two of the Steamwheelers at 26-24 on a corner route.
Quad City had a chance to extend their lead right before halftime with the ball spotted on the X for a first and goal. However, a failed fourth down attempt gave the Coyotes a chance to take the lead into the intermission, but Gockman missed a 38-yard field goal, giving Quad City the 26-24 halftime advantage.
Reggie Perkins would lead Quad City defensively registering 7.5 tackles and four pass breakups. For the Coyotes Daniel Jones would notch seven total tackles. With the victory the 2006 Steamwheelers avoid becoming the first team in franchise history to lose five straight games. The Steamwheelers return home to face the Louisville Fire on Saturday, May 13th a 7:15 p.m.
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