Wheelers Struggle in Road Trip in Jacksonville
June 24, 2025 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
On a hot Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida, the Quad City Steamwheelers fell on the road to an Eastern Conference foe, the Jacksonville Sharks, 65-33. Crucial turnovers and missed opportunities in the first half killed the Steamwheelers' ability to get anything going, and it proved to be too much. The high-powered Sharks' offense also showed why they are one of the league's best, but despite the loss, the sQUAD remains in first place in the Eastern Conference.
After getting the ball to start the game, the Wheelers got inside the Sharks' ten-yard line, but a sack on third down held Quad City to a field goal to take a 3-0 lead, their only lead of the game. However, Sharks quarterback Tyler Huff drove the Jacksonville offense right down the field for a touchdown on their first drive to make it 7-3. With the Wheelers longing to respond, quarterback Daquan Neal found receiver Tamorrion Terry downfield for what would have been a first down. Still, a peanut-punch from the Sharks jarred the ball free, and Jacksonville recovered the fumble, foreshadowing what was to follow.
Once again, Huff and running back Larry McCammon drove the Sharks down the field, and Huff later found receiver Jaedon Stoshak for the touchdown to make it 14-3. The Wheelers saw the need to score, and in a drive where penalties ran rampant, it resulted in a Daquan Neal quarterback sneak for a touchdown to cut it to 14-10. Huff continued to get whatever he wanted on the ground and, after a few plays, kept it himself to extend the Jacksonville lead again.
A quality kick return from Camron Harrell gave the Steamwheelers good field position, Neal found DeQuan Dudley open inside the ten. On tThe next play, Dudley took the handoff, but fumbled on the attempt to reach over the goal line, and the Wheelers squandered another drive. Huff took advantage of the opportunity and ran in a score from 49 yards out, and right before half, Kyle Kaplan nailed a field goal, which made the score 28-13 at halftime, Jacksonville leading.
The first Jacksonville drive out of halftime jumpstarted a scoring barrage from both teams, with both teams scoring on the rest of their drives besides two. After Stoshak caught another touchdown pass from Huff, Jarrod Ware Jr. ran it in from five yards out, which got the Wheelers back on the board. The Sharks then scored on back-to-back drives after Neal threw an interception, which ballooned the score to 50-19.
The sQUAD ended the game with two touchdowns, a Neal 20-yard strike to Keyvan Rudd, and a Neal quarterback keeper, while Jacksonville scored on Huff and Demontre Tuggle runs. In the end, the final score was 65-33, in favor ofJacksonville.
Neal went 16/24 and threw for 188 yards, one touchdown and one interception while rushing for 22 yards and two touchdowns. Jarrod Ware Jr. took six carries for 23 yards and a touchdown, and caught two passes for 14 yards. Keyvan Rudd was the leading receiver for the Wheelers' offense and caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown, while DeQuan Dudley caught three passes for 46 yards, Tamorrion Terry caught two passes for 35 yards and Jordan Vesey caught five passes for 32 yards.
Defensively, Bubba Arslanian recorded 9.5 tackles and a 0.5 tackle for loss, while Trey Smith had 4.5 tackles and a tackle for loss. KeShaun Moore tallied four tackles and a 0.5 tackle for loss, and Chima Dunga, Malik Duncan, David Cagle and Camron Harrell also had tackles for loss.
Despite the loss, the Steamwheelers remain in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 9-3 record and an 8-3 record in conference play. Next week, the sQUAD will travel back home to Moline when they face off against the Massachusetts Pirates on Saturday, June 28 at 7:05 P.M. at XUSD Field at Vibrant Arena at The MARK.
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