Steamwheelers Pound Dawgz
Gary Stibolt
Monday April 25, 2005
Now based on their first two outings, I can understand why fans around the league might pick the Steamwheelers to lose a game but to predict a huge blowout by 30 or more points is an indication that several fans are just not in-tune with the Steamwheelers of today. So when Quad City put a thumping on the Yard Dawgz that included a 27-point fourth quarter performance led by the ‘Wheelers defense, the only people who were not surprised were those suiting up to play the game. Even Steamwheelers’ fans have some apprehensions about the teams first two games of the season. They have little patience to watch a new coaching system and a new set of players come together as one, especially when it includes a loss and lack-luster offensive output. That may have subsided a bit after the Steamwheelers offense played their best game of the young season and their defense continued to gel together within the new system coach Frazier has been putting in place.
You never expect the defense to score but with pressure up front all night and the secondary performing well, despite the communication breakdowns, it was the defense that kept the game in control and ultimately in the win column for the visitors. The games ADT Defensive Player of the Game, Matt Forbes, said there were some breakdowns but they over came them.
"I gave up a few touchdowns early in the game and our defense just kept at them," Forbes said. "That stuff is going to happen but you know when it came down to crunch time I made a couple of plays and we won the game. Coach Frazier’s defensive coverage helps out."
The Yard Dawgz quarterback, Craig Strickland is perhaps the best in the league and will be remembered as one of the best to ever play af2. The fact that Strickland had 316 yards and six touchdowns demonstrates his talent. Most of that he had to do on the run. The Steamwheelers defensive pass rush was winning the battles up front and when you play for sixty minutes and you win the bulk of the battles, you are going to win the game. Steamwheelers lineman, Pete Traynor, explains. "Yeah, we did play sixty minutes. I mean, we’ve got a bunch of new guys and every week we’re getting better. We’re jellin’ together. You know, we’re learning how to play with each other. Personally I feel we’re getting stronger every week and this is just another stepping stone and hopefully next week we’ll be even better."
Winning on the road at Oklahoma City is a very good indication that things are coming together for the Steamwheelers. In the third quarter, the Steamwheelers got down and the momentum pendulum swung the other way when Oklahoma City scored nineteen unanswered points. It was a test of adversity. They over came it as the offense and defense each scored two touchdowns. Quad City veteran lineman, Corey Brown, agrees.
"You always have some sort of adversity to overcome," Brown said. "They came out in the second half, but we held there and we held our ground and that was tough. That’s what coming together as a team is all about…getting the win on the road."
So with this win, the Steamwheelers (2-1) pass a difficult division road test and return home to take on the Midwest division leading and what should be the leagues number one ranked team, the Memphis Xplorers. To the Steamwheelers, the ranking won’t matter to them. So far in this season, they are the ones that really know what they are capable of and having this next particular game at home is a huge plus. Whether the expected number one ranking will mean anything to Memphis is yet to be seen, but no matter where the Steamwheelers themselves end up in the coaches poll, they got this win against all the odds and they look towards doing it again in front of their home crowd. To do so would not be a surprise...well, to them anyway.
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.