Steamwheelers Takeaways Lead to 71-62 Win Over Albany
June 3, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
(Moline, Ill.) - The Quad City Steamwheelers tallied their third win of the season with a 71-62 victory over the Albany Conquest. The Steamwheelers, who have been struggling this season with turnovers, had a big pick at the end of the first quarter and a fumble recovery for a touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter.
With the Steamwheelers holding a 10-7 advantage near the end of the first quarter Jack Walker Jr., who finished the game with 48 yards and three touchdowns on six receptions, picked off a Conquest pass by quarterback Ryan Vena in the end zone setting up a Tim Dodge 30-yard touchdown reception to give Quad City a 17-7 lead.
Just three plays later, in the second quarter, Quad City extended the lead when Kika Kaululaau recovered a Vena fumble in the end zone to put the Steamwheelers up 24-7. The two teams traded touchdowns the remainder of the second quarter and combined for 87 points in the half. On the final play of the half Vena, who finished with 323 yards and seven touchdowns on 37 attempts, threw a 26-yard pass to Bakari Brown. With the pass Vena became the 10th player in the af2 to surpass the 10,000-yard career passing mark.
With Quad City holding a 52-35 halftime lead the Conquest would fight back near the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth with two straight scores.
Kendri Bournes rushed the ball for one-yard into the end zone to complete a four play 38-yard drive to make it a 58-49 game.
After a huge goal line stand by the Conquest, forcing the Steamwheelers to turn the ball over on downs, Vena hit Jim Jones for his third touchdown catch of the night pulling Albany to within two at 58-56.
With just under five minutes remaining Jack Walker Jr., caught his third touchdown pass of the night on an eight-yard pass from Steamwheelers quarterback Tim Hicks to give Quad City a 64-56 advantage.
The Conquest answered with a four-play 35-yard drive that lasted 3:19 when Bettendorf native Thomas Anthony rushed for a two-yard touchdown with only 1:26 left in the game once again pulling Albany to within two.
With the Steamwheelers clinging to a 64-62 lead thanks to a missed two-point conversion try by the Conquest, Jim Macrea would give the Steamwheelers the victory at 71-62 with a four-yard run with just 33 seconds remaining on the clock.
Hicks finished the game with 303 yards and six touchdown passes and no interceptions on 31 attempts. Patrick Horne led the Steamwheelers defense with 8.5 tackles (8 solo, 1 assisted).
For the Conquest DeOnte Taylor finished the game with five tackles (4 solo, 2 assisted), while Anthony finished with a team-high 107 receiving yards on seven catches.
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