Steamwheelers Make It a Dozen, Set-up Showdown

July 13, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


MOLINE, Ill. – Quad City Steamwheelers head coach Rich Ingold will no longer have to worry about his team looking ahead on the schedule. With a Steamwheelers 69-36 victory over the San Diego Riptide (5-9, 3-5) the Steamwheelers can concentrate on the one game that they have been looking forward to since April 11th.

That was back when the Steamwheelers dropped a heartbreaker 62-59 to the Tennessee Valley Vipers in Huntsville, Ala. The Vipers, who improved to 2-0 with that victory, have now won 14 straight games after a 41-36 victory over the Florida Firecats Saturday night and will now bring their winning streak into Titletown, QCA The Vipers will look to extend their winning streak to 15 while the ‘Wheelers will look to defend their perfect regular season record of 16-0 set in 2000 and continue their winning streak to lucky 13. The game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m.

But before any of that could be established, the Steamwheelers had a stingy Riptide team to go to battle with. On a night where the ‘Wheelers welcomed their 250,000th fan in team history, and in front of the largest crowd of the season at 6,471, the ‘Wheelers washed the Riptide away behind a full-out team effort.

QB Tony Zimmerman got things started early, hitting OS Ira Gooch in the back of the end zone on a 15-yard strike. Zimmerman, who finished the game 18-of-28 for 288 yards, eight of them touchdowns, broke the Steamwheelers record for touchdown passes in a season and came within five of the league record of 86 touchdown passes in a season set by Matt Sauk of Tennessee Valley in 2001. He will need to average just 2.5 touchdown passes per game to tie the record.

Zimmerman also moved closer to the league record for passing yards in a season, bringing his season total to 3,839 passing yards, leaving him 578 yards shy of the 4,417 yards set by Jon Nielsen of the Arkansas Twisters, who set the record in 2000.

Gooch exploited the Riptide secondary, catching seven passes for 107 yards, four of those touchdowns. Gooch also added three kickoff returns for 97 yards, one of those a 57-yard return for a touchdown. His five touhcdown performance earned hiim Game MVP honors.

The "60-Minute Man" proved to us once again why he is the "60-Minute Man." WR/DB Tim Dodge caught five passes for 110 yards, two of those for touchdowns, led the game in tackles with nine and added an interception which was returned 22 yards. Put all of this together and you have your Ironman of the Game.

The Steamwheelers defense had probably its best game of the year. As a team, the ‘Wheelers defense came away with five sacks, which tied for their biggest of the season. DS Asa Francis had two of the five sacks, adding those to his 9.5 sack total, which now brings him to 11.5 on the season. Francis earned ADT Defensive Player of the Game honors while adding 4.5 tackles and a QB hurry to his list of stats.

The win also clinched a first-round playoff bye for the Steamwheelers who will host a National Conference semi-final contest on August 9th. The Steamwheelers will now welcome the Tennessee Valley Vipers to The MARK in hopes of upsetting their perfect season. Good tickets are still available and can be purchased at The MARK box office or through TicketMaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling them at 563.326.1111.



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