Wheelers overcome the Blizzard to break even on the season

By Timothy Wallis

In the rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Finals against their rivals up north, the Quad City Steamwheelers got their revenge Saturday night when they defeated the Green Bay Blizzard in Moline. Despite a slow first quarter, where the Steamwheelers' offense only mustered up three points, they started a scoring barrage in the second quarter and did not look back, defeating the Blizzard 51-36.

On the opening kickoff, Blizzard kicker Andrew Mevis opened the scoring with a deuce, which gave Green Bay a 2-0 lead before the Wheelers could even touch the ball. Despite having to start at their own five-yard line, quarterback Daquan Neal drove the Wheelers down the field with the help of his legs, but the drive stalled after a few failed runs, leading to a Jan Bogdan 18-yard field goal, which gave Quad City a 3-2 lead.

The Wheelers' defense showed their muscles early on, and even though Liam Thompson and receiver Demilon Brown got the Blizzard to the Quad City 17-yard line, their drive hit a dead end, which led to a Mevis 23-yard field goal. Neal drove the Wheelers right back down the field, and after an offsides call, which moved the ball to the one-yard line, running back Jerrod Ware Jr took the handoff in for a touchdown, which gave the Wheelers a 10-5 lead, a lead they would never relinquish.

The Steamwheelers' defense once again showed its strength, and although the Blizzard managed to get to the ten-yard line, the defense managed to hold them to a fourth and goal, thanks to the help of defensive lineman KeShaun Moore stopping Thompson at and behind the line, where the Wheelers would force a turnover on downs. Quad City took advantage of this, and after Neal found receiver Jordan Vesey on a pass for 13 yards, Ware Jr took the handoff 30 yards to the house, which extended the Quad City lead to 17-5. After the defense once again got another stop by forcing a long kick, which went out of bounds, the offense got back to work and scored after Neal found receiver Quian Williams for a touchdown. After Mevis nailed a field goal as time expired in the first half, the Wheelers led 24-8.

Right out of the break, Thompson drove Green Bay down the field and capped off the drive when he found Brown in the end zone for a score, which cut the lead to 24-16. The third quarter continued the fireworks from the second quarter, with the Wheelers scoring two touchdowns by an acrobatic Keyvan Rudd flipping into the end zone and another less aerial score after, while Terrell Carey added a touchdown for the Blizzard. At the end of the third quarter, the Wheelers led 38-22.

After Green Bay cut into that, two plays into the last quarter, when Thompson found Draysean Hudson from 25 yards out, Neal responded by rushing it in himself for a score after he drove the home team down the field. Green Bay responded again when Thompson hit Trevon Alexander for a touchdown, which cut the lead to 44-36 with 7:01 left to go. 

Unphased, the Wheelers fought through a holding on the kickoff and drove down the field, which included a connection between Neal and Vesey down to the Green Bay four. The drive was capped off when Vesey caught another pass, this time in the end zone, scoring the game's last touchdown and extending their lead to 51-36. Desperate for anything, Thompson floated one last pass downfield, but former Blizzard player Kevin Ransom picked off the pass, sealing the game as a Wheelers winner, 51-36.

Daquan Neal played a clean game, going 14 for 19 with 117 passing yards, four touchdowns, while throwing zero interceptions, also adding on 99 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on 13 attempts. Jarrod Ware ran for 52 yards and two touchdowns on 13 attempts, while catching three passes for nine yards. Jordan Vesey caught three passes for 38 yards and a touchdown, also rushing two times for 11 yards. Keyvan Rudd led the team in receptions and receiving yards, catching five passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns, while Quian Williams caught two passes for seven yards and a touchdown.

On defense, linebacker Alex Herriott led the team with nine tackles, while KeShaun Moore had four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Kevin Ransom Jr tallied two tackles while breaking up two passes and snagging an interception. Kicker Jan Bogdan went 1/1 on field goals while also converting on six out of his seven attempts. 

With the win, the Wheelers move to 2-2 on the season and in conference play, earning a much-needed win over their conference foe. Next week, the Steamwheelers will travel out west to face off against the San Diego Strike Force in an inter-conference matchup. That game is on Friday, April 17, at 9:00 p.m at the Frontwave Arena.