Steamwheelers game notes

June 17, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


SOUTHAVEN. Miss. - The Quad City Steamwheelers suffered yet another exasperating defeat as they fell 61-54 in overtime to the Midwest Division leading Memphis Xplorers in front of 2,797 fans at the DeSoto Civic Center. Kevin Prentiss had the game-winning touchdown on the Xplorers first overtime possession and Deon Giddens intercepted a Sam Clemons pass in the back of the end zone on the Steamwheelers lone overtime possession to seal the win, sending the ‘Wheelers to a 4-6 record.

The Xplorers' Terrence Quattlebaum and the ‘Wheelers Tim Dodge traded touchdown receptions on the game's first two drives, however, the defenses then kicked in and the score would remain tied at 7-7 at the end of the opening quarter.

Memphis would be the beneficiary of some good fortune at the start of the second quarter as it once again pulled out in front. Quarterback Brian Jones hit Kevin Prentiss on a crossing route just across midfield. Matt Forbes was able to corral the Xplorers OS and force him to cough up the football. However, fullback Nick Stamper recovered the ball and made his way into the end zone, making the score 14-7 Xplorers.

The ‘Wheelers once again struck back quickly as Sam Clemons hit Torey Morris with a 26-yard bomb, making the score 14-13. The two sides again traded scores as Jones found Stephen Battle in the end zone before Travis Burns cut the lead with a three-yard scoring run.

On the Xplorers ensuing drive, the Steamwheeler defense came up with its first big play of the night as Matt Forbes grabbed his eighth interception of the year. Three plays later the Steamwheelers had their first lead of the night as Clemons hit A.J. Novak with a 16-yard toss, making the score 26-21.

For the first time on the night, the Xplorers were forced to show some resiliency, and they did just that as Jones hit Battle for the second time, this time from 29 yards out with one second left on the clock to send Memphis into the locker room with a 28-26 advantage. Quad City came out undeterred in the second half and quickly forged ahead. Clemons hit Dodge for the second time on the night, putting the ‘Wheelers in front 33-28. Kofi Smith then came up with his first interception of the season, which setup a 26-yard Burns reception giving Quad City their first double-digit lead of the evening, 40-28. Heading into the fourth quarter, Quad City had a 48-35 advantage. The two teams traded touchdowns to begin the final quarter before Battle grabbed his third scoring reception with 4:02 left, making it a one-possession game at 54-48.

The Steamwheelers looked like they would put the game out of reach with just over a minute left as they drove deep into Xplorer territory, but Novak fumbled the football at the four-yard line on a run which he injured his knee on, forcing him to the sidelines for the rest of the contest.

Memphis marched down field in search of a score, which it got with 24 seconds left as Jones scored on a nine-yard run to tie the score at 54-54. Hayes missed the extra point sending the game into overtime and giving the Xplorers a chance at their eventual victory.

MISCALLANEOUS TEAM NOTES

A.J. Not OK: After losing a total of just two man games to injury during the first 10 games of the season, the Steamwheelers were dealt their first real injury blow on Monday when it was confirmed that former AFL FB/LB A.J. Novak would be forced to the sidelines for the rest of the regular season. Late in last weekend's overtime loss to Memphis, Novak suffered a left knee injury, and tests taken in the Quad Cities on Monday confirmed that Novak had torn his ACL and LCL in that knee. The Cedar Rapids native will have surgery to repair the ligaments on Friday but will not be available to Rick Frazier for the remainder of the 2005 campaign.

Rush Party: The injury and the resulting fumble ruined what had been a wildly productive game for Noavk who had a 16-yard touchdown reception, as well as a short rushing touchdown for his first two score game of the season.

But Novak was not the only Steamwheeler to make his way into the end zone on the ground on the evening. Travis Burns had his third running score in the last four weeks, and his fourth for the entire season. Sam Clemons also scored on a 10-yard quarterback keeper for his sixth score in the last six games. It was the first time that the Steamwheelers had scored three rushing touchdowns in the same game since July 17 of last season and the first time that three different players had tallied rushing scores in a single game for Quad City since that same day. In that game, the ‘Wheelers used five rushing scores, three by Ronnie Gordon and one each by Fred Barr and Jeff Hewitt to cruise to a 56-22 win over the Birmingham Steeldogs at The MARK.

Cover Jinx For Walker Jr.: Ever since he appeared on the cover of the June 4 edition of The Navigator, the Steamwheelers game program, WR/LB Jack Walker, Jr. has seen a drop off in his production. That night, he caught four balls for 20 yards, setting what had been a season low. But last weekend those figures dipped even more as he pulled in just one pass for five yards, giving him five catches for 25 yards and no touchdowns in the two games after being featured on the cover of the Navigator.

In the eight games prior to that, Walker had 52 catches for 546 yards and a team-best 12 touchdowns.

Line Loses an Impressive Streak: With a host of high-flying offensive weapons on the field around it, the Steamwheelers offensive line does not typically garner that much attention. Therefore, it went largely unnoticed that when Clemons was pulled down by Memphis' Lavante Epson and Khreem Smith, the af2's current sack leader with 12.5, with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter of Saturday's game, it ended a streak of more than 94 minutes of game play in which the ‘Wheelers offense had gone without surrendering a sack. Prior to that sack, the last time that Clemons had gone down was midway through the third quarter of the ‘Wheelers 56-49 loss in Green Bay.

The Race to Seventy: Entering play on Saturday, the Steamwheelers and Tulsa Talons are tied atop the af2's leader board for most regular season wins in league history. The Talons can become the first team to get 70 wins if they knock off San Diego at home in a game which begins 30 minutes before the Steamwheelers kick off. Both teams have played in 90 regular season games and sport matching 69-21 records. The ‘Wheelers have 38 home wins and 31 road triumphs compared to the Talons 39 home wins and 30 road wins. Overall, the Steamwheelers have the most wins in af2 history, as their six postseason wins are one better than the Talons five, giving them a 75-74 advantage.

Going the Extra Mile: Saturday's overtime loss to the Xplorers was just the second game in Steamwheeler history to go to an extra session, and the first time in team history that they came out on the losing end.

The only other overtime game in Steamwheeler history came all the way back on May 19, 2000 in the af2's inaugural season. On that night, quad City jumped out to a 45-35 halftime advantage, only to see that lead slip away and the host Arkansas Twisters take 59-52 lead late in the contest. With just over a minute remaining, Billy Dicken hit Xavier Patterson for the third time on the night to tie the contest 59-59. The Twisters missed an attempted game-winning field goal as regulation expired, and the ‘Wheelers marched down the field in overtime for the victory, thanks to a five-yard rush from fullback Chad Buntin.

TALE OF THE TAPE: The Steamwheelers remained in 12th in the latest Weekly Coaches poll with 43 points while the Conquest again find themselves out of the Top 12.



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