Steamwheelers Take Care Of Business In Peoria
Michael Vergane
Sunday July 22, 2001
The Quad City Steamwheelers did just that with their 45-7 win over the Peoria Pirates at Carver Arena on Saturday. That victory upped their record to 15-1 while the Pirates finished their season at 7-9.
The Pirates played Quad City even for most of the 1st half. On Peoria’s opening drive they moved down the field and were inside the Quad City 10 yard line with a first down. The Pirates came away empty as the Steamwheelers stopped Pirate QB Mike Nelson on a 4th down quarterback sneak from the one yard line.
Quad City rested starting QB Jay McDonagh and went instead with backup Steve Birnbaum. Birnbaum started off slow and the Steamwheelers found themselves holding on to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“The line did a nice job”, said Steamwheeler Head Coach Frank Haege. “They (Peoria) have some good pass rushers like Ken Bouie and our line kept him away from Steve (Birnbaum) all night.”
Haege said he would give his quarterback a grade of ‘B or B minus’ in the first half and a ‘C’ for his second half effort. Birnbaum’s numbers were 19 of 37 for 183 yards and 3 TD passes.
Quad City will now face the Macon Knights in the first round of the af2 playoffs Saturday night. The Knights are led by former Steamwheeler backup QB, Mike Gluski.
When asked about going up against a QB that knows his defensive coverages inside and out, Haege was philosophical. “He’ll know what we are doing. He just won’t know when we are doing it.”
Michael Vergane was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2002.
