Steamwheelers vs. Fire – The Battle Rages On
Gary Stibolt
Tuesday August 3, 2004
The first half was reminiscent of a bunch of talent not putting the game together in all facets and letting a team they should beat, hang around. In the second half it was gratifying to see the Steamwheelers defense play like they are suppose to as well as the offense. This particular game was also loaded with the fiery that the first game between these two teams had back on June 5th in Louisville.
This game started with offensive firepower from both Ronnie Gordon and Matt Sauk. In the second half, the Steamwheelers responded to Coach Ingold and his challenge to them in the locker room trailing 24-19 at intermission. “I challenged our guys at half time,” stated Ingold. “I wasn’t happy with several guys not playing to their potential. We knew we were a better team than they were and I wanted them to go out there and play our game.” In the second half, the Steamwheelers defense answered the call with three interceptions that went for touchdowns thanks in large to the pass rush on Matt Sauk. “Our secondary played well tonight, but that was possible because we were able to get a good pass rush.”
Fire Head Coach, Tommy Johnson thought it was a good game for the most part until the momentum changed. “It was a good hard fought game,” stated Johnson. “It was good until people started letting the game get out of control. I think the momentum changed when (Charles) Sheffield ran that interception back for a touchdown but our guys kept fighting.”
Fighting they did. Matt Forbes was burnt on a couple of plays when he fell down and the plays resulted in Louisville Touchdowns. However, he had three interceptions on the night and one for a score. On that particular touchdown play, Forbes decided to show boat a little while crossing the plane for the score waiting for a defender to catch up to him before crossing the line. That would be tackler was Louisville’s, Brandon Dyson (#58). Forbes crossed the line and flipped the ball to Dyson. “I just flipped him the ball,” said Forbes defending his actions. Brandon Dyson then started to fight with Forbes and Steamwheelers cornerback Chaz Moore came running to Forbes rescue to pull Dyson off. Dyson kept fighting and now with Moore. The refs never signaled a touchdown and yet two flags were on the ground. There was a huge mix of Fire and Steamwheelers players and coaches in one corner of the end zone, most pulling their own players and coaches away.
Coach Ingold was in the middle of it trying to pull players away as well. This was also reminiscent of the June 5th game where Dyson took a cheap shot at Jamal Cherry after Matt Sauk was nearly sacked yet ending up on the ground. A fight broke out there too and coaches and players were at it then. Dyson and Cherry were ejected. This time Dyson and Moore were ejected.
Following last weekend’s game, Dyson decided to press criminal assault charges against Steamwheelers Coach Ingold. What will come from all of this from a legal stand is yet to be determined. However, because Louisville has to return this weekend to the Quad Cities for the first round of the playoffs, you can bet there will fresh wounds, memories, and locker room material to keep the battle raging on one more time before one loses and goes home and the other advances.
Gary Stibolt has covered the Quad City Steamwheelers since their 2000 inaugural season. He also owns, operates and is the Chief Editor/Publisher of SteamwheelerFans.com, a website dedicated to the Steamwheelers and their fans. He coresponds for other media outlets covering arenafootball2. In addition to leading the Steamwheelers Fan Club, Gary serves as Coordinator of the National af2 Fan Club. He is married with two sons and works as an Infrastructure Analyst for Deere & Company in their Corporate Computer Center in Moline, Illinois.