Wheelers fall in regular season finale but clinch number one overall seed in East

In the Quad City Steamwheelers' final game of the 2025 regular season, the team lost in a tight 49-48 home shootout against their Eastern Conference foes, the Tulsa Oilers. Despite the loss, due to the two-seed Green Bay Blizzard's loss against the Jacksonville Sharks, the sQUAD clinched the number one overall seed in the Eastern Conference, their highest placement in the conference since joining the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2018. 

Right out of the gates on the game's first offensive play, quarterback Daquan Neal found receiver DeQuan Dudley downfield for a touchdown, and after kicker Kyle Kaplan nailed the deuce on the ensuing kickoff, Quad City took an early 9-0 lead. On the first drive for Tulsa, quarterback Sam Castronova showed why he is one of the best quarterbacks already in the IFL and drove the Oilers down for a touchdown. Not wanting to let up on the gas, the Wheelers drove down the field again, and the drive ended when Neal scrambled into the end zone for a touchdown. After yet another Kaplan deuce, the Wheelers led 18-7.

The potent Oilers offense got right back to business, and despite having to start their drive at their own five-yard line, Castronova found an open JuJu Augustine from five yards out for a touchdown, which cut into the Steamwheelers' lead at 18-14. After a good kick return from Dudley, the Wheelers were able to respond back with a Jarrod Ware Jr. rushing touchdown which extended it back up to 25-14. Following another Oilers' touchdown from Castronova and a missed PAT, the Tulsa defense forced the first defensive stop from either team when they forced Quad City to kick it away out of the end zone. Tulsa drove down the field with the help of a facemask penalty and scored a touchdown on a Castronova keeper with only 15 seconds left, which gave them a 27-25 lead, but the Wheelers would respond with a Kaplan field goal as time expired. 

The Oilers did not waste time right out of halftime when Jimmy Smith broke a bunch of tackles to get down to the Wheelers' 12-yard line, and Castronova later found a man open for a touchdown which made it 34-28 Oilers on top. Quad City fired right back when Neal found Tamorrion Terry open for an easy lob pass for a touchdown, and after the PAT and deuce from Kaplan, Quad City took a 37-34 lead. On the ensuing Tulsa drive, the Wheelers' defense dug their feet in and got their first stop of the game when they forced a turnover on downs which gave them good field position. However, the Wheelers had to settle for a Kaplan field goal.

After Tulsa responded with a touchdown but a missed PAT, backup quarterback Seth Morgan entered the ballgame, and on his first play, he threw a dart to Jordan Vesey, who got crushed by a hit, but the deflected ball was snagged by Keyvan Rudd who ran into the end zone for a wild touchdown that gave the Wheelers the 48-40 lead after a missed PAT and deuce from Kaplan. After Tulsa scored on their first play but was not able to convert on the two-point try, Quad City drove down the field with Morgan under center, but on fourth down, Terry lost his footing and was not able to corral a pass and the Wheelers turned it over on downs. After Tulsa was able to hit a field goal with 1:06 left which gave themselves a 49-48 lead, the Steamwheelers offense drove down to the Tulsa 15-yard line, but on the field goal attempt with little time remaining, Kaplan's kick sailed far right and that sealed the game.

On offense, Daquan Neal went 9/13 for 108 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 37 yards and a score on the ground. Seth Morgan went 4 for 5 for 85 yards and a touchdown as well in his first extended playing time this season. Despite having only seven net yards rushing, Jarrod Ware Jr scored a touchdown which extended his touchdown streak to eight games, and also caught four passes for 43 yards. Keyvan Rudd caught three passes for 56 yards and a touchdown, while Jordan Vesey caught four for 56 yards. DeQuan Dudley and Tamorrion Terry both only caught one pass, but Dudley's was for 30 yards and a score while Terry's was for eight yards and a score.

Defensively, defensive back Camron Harrell was the team's leading tackler with six tackles, while Chukwuneke netted five tackles. JaQuan Artis had 5.5 tackles and also a half tackle for loss, and KeShaun Moore tallied four tackles and one tackle for loss. Malik Duncan had three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. On special teams, despite the ending, kicker Kyle Kaplan stood out with 18 total points, nailing four deuces, two field goals and four extra points.

Despite the loss, the sQUAD still clinched the one seed in the Eastern Conference with a 11-5 record, their best win-loss record since joining the IFL. The team will be in action next week on August 2, at 3:00 P.M. for the first playoff football the Quad Cities will see in 18 years since the original Steamwheelers franchise played in the AF2. The sQUAD will host the Jacksonville Sharks for the third matchup between these two teams this season, with the series being split at one.