Steamwheelers Weekly Report

Published on July 7, 2003 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


Recap: The Steamwheelers won their 11th straight last Saturday night in a 75-29 rout of the Green Bay Blizzard. QB Tony Zimmerman was almost perfect going 17-of-20 for 278 yards, throwing five touchdowns while rushing for two more and received Game MVP honors. Ironman Jeff Hewitt caught three passes for 49 yards, one a touchdown while adding an interception returned for a touchdown, three pass deflections and two tackles.

Next Up: The ‘Wheelers will take on conference rival San Diego this Saturday night at The MARK of the Quad Cities. The ‘Wheelers finally return home to the friendly confines after a 28-day break from the building after a bye week and two road games. The game between the Steamwheelers and Riptide will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. The Riptide are coming off a bye week after defeating the Wichita Stealth 60-53 the week prior. The Riptide sit at 5-8 and in last place of the West Division.

Last Time: The last time these two teams met, the ‘Wheelers knocked off the 2002 playoff bound Riptide 58-41 behind WR/LB Chris Anthony who caught three touchdown passes, had one interception and batted down five passes to earn Game MVP and Ironman honors.

Zimmerman Record Watch: With the victory over the Blizzard, Zimmerman moved closer to the passing touchdowns season record and is still slightly off the passing yards for a season record. Zimmerman currently has 73 passing touchdowns and 3,551 passing yards and is on pace to throw for 90 touchdowns and 4,371 yards. The current af2 records are 86 touchdowns thrown by Matt Sauk of the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the 2001 season and 4,417 yards thrown by Jon Nielsen of the Arkansas Twisters in 2000. Zimmerman will need to average 4.3 touchdowns and 288.7 yards per game to break the records.

History Made: When WR/DB Tim Dodge caught his eighth pass this past Saturday night, Dodge eclipsed the 1,000 receiving yard mark and was the third Steamwheelers receiver to do so, something that has never happened in arenafootball2 history. This marks the first time that one team has had a trio of receivers eclipse the 1,000 receiving yard mark in a single season.

Upcoming Steamwheelers Appearances: After a couple of weeks off, the Steamwheelers will have a busy week with three different appearances to make this week. Starting on Monday, July 7th and running through Friday, July 11th, Steamwheelers players will be assisting in the YMCA Football Camp. The camp runs from 9-11 am each day. On, Thursday, July 10th in the District of Rock Island, players will be on hand for the Rock Island Summerfest from 12-2 pm. Then on Friday, July 11th players will be at the Coke Fun Zone at the Fareway grocery store in Davenport, Iowa.

Practice Times: With the ‘Wheelers at home for the next two weeks, practice will be back to normal schedule this week with players given Monday off and returning to practice on Tuesday through Thursday from 5-7 pm. On Friday, the team will have a walkthrough at 6 pm. They will have film from 5-5:30 p.m. with practice going from 5:30-6:45 p.m. Players and coaches start arriving at The MARK between 4-4:30 pm and are available for comment until 4:55 pm. After film, players are available for some quick comments and then will be made available again following practice.

Travel Plans: With the team at home for the next two weeks, players and coaches will be available throughout the week. Contact Steamwheelers Media Relations Manager Ryan Holtmann to set-up interviews outside of practice.

"In the Boiler Room": This week's coaches show will be just down the block from the Steamwheelers front office at Dalton's located at the corner of Third and Harrison Streets. The "Voice of the Deuce" and Steamwheelers play-byplay man Jim Albracht will still be in Wisconsin, therefore Steamwheelers sideline reporter Pete Ivanic will take over the hosting duties this week. Ivanic will welcome head coach Rich Ingold and select players who will be on hand at Dalton's. The show will air from 7-8 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230 and can also be seen "live" at Daltons. Come join in the fun, as there will be prize giveaways as well as players and coaches available for autographs and pictures.

On the Air: This Saturday's game, as well as every other Steamwheelers game, can be heard on WOC 1420 AM with Jim Albracht making the call and John Furlong on color with the pre-game show starting at 7 pm. You can also listen in to Q106.5's Dwyer and Michaels every morning as they discuss the ‘Wheelers periodically on the "Mornings with Dwyer and Michaels" show that runs from 5:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Also, the "Voice of the Steam" Jim Albracht also hosts "Albracht in the AM" from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on WOC 1420 AM. Throughout the show he discusses a variety of topics as well as the Steamwheelers. Also, every Sunday night on the NBC affiliate KWQC-TV6 following the 10:00 p.m. news, sports director Thom Cornelis hosts "Wheeler Watch" which features highlights of the previous weekends game and a discussion with head coach Rich Ingold.

Tickets: Good tickets are still available for the Steamwheelers two remaining home games vs. San Diego and Tennessee Valley and can be purchased at The MARK of the Quad Cities box office or through TicketMaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 563.326.1111.

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