Steamwheelers Topple Memphis
Gary Stibolt
Tuesday May 3, 2005
It has been well publicized in the local media and on af2 message boards across the Internet on how this game ended. The Xplorers certainly had their chances to win the game by taking advantage of four turnovers but the Steamwheelers defense responded with a forceful vengeance stopping Memphis on downs on several occasions, especially in the second half to keep the game in the balance.
The game came down to a field goal attempt with :08 remaining on a third down possession for Quad City. The snap was high and bounced into the end zone and kicker Nick Gatto chased down the errant ball, swooped it up, and eluded a would be safety. Gatto then punted the ball down to the other end zone. Local television coverage caught the bizarre play on tape and it was clear that Memphis tackler Nate Grace threw a cheap block on Quad City lineman Nate Bell from behind drawing a penalty. Shortly thereafter, you could see Prentiss coming into the camera view from the right and fielding the ball to return it. He was tackled and Nate Grace, again, committed another illegal block. Both blows were intentional and he was ejected from the game. The illegal kick from the end zone was just that, illegal.
According to the AFL/af2 rulebook, it is a five-yard penalty despite the Memphis bench claiming safety. The result was offsetting penalties and long-snapper Pete Traynor redeemed his previous horrendous snap by giving Gatto a ball he can kick—and that he did. The ball sailed straight for 45-yards giving the Steamwheelers a 45-42 win. Following the game, officials met with both head coaches and they reviewed the rulebook so there was no doubt that they had made the right call. Game over…it’s time to move on.
The Steamwheelers will play their fourth division battle in a row and their fifth game of the season when they travel to Amarillo and take on the Dusters. Despite their offensive mistakes, the Steamwheelers have proven a few things already: Their defense is good, their offensive pass protection is good, their special teams play is improving, and they know how to win games. They kept the highest scoring receiver in the league out of the end zone all but one time and they did not allow him to return a kick for a score either. Xplorer OS, Kevin Prentiss and his scoring ability was held in check and in week one, the Steamwheelers held Pioneers monster scoring machine J.R. Thomas to limited production as well.
In their Oklahoma City game, the Steamwheelers offense was very efficient and they controlled the game. Last weekend against Memphis quarterback Sam Clemens turned the ball over four times with three of those being interceptions (the other was a fumbled snap). Sam also over-threw receivers for sure scores and there were some dropped balls. Needless to say, the offense did not take a positive step forward but they did enough to win the game. Despite all of that, they are on a three game winning streak and all of those came against division combatants.
One of the things that will help Quad City for the duration of the season is the fact that they can now practice at OS Field at The MARK of the Quad Cities. Up to this point, they have had to work with a 35-yard practice field in a metal building where you can’t even kick the ball.
So with their practice piece of the puzzle falling into place and kicker Nick Gatto now re-located in the Quad Cities, the Steamwheelers are focused on Amarillo.
Amarillo is not a typical expansion team. They won the championship last year in the Intense Football League and they enter the af2 with a continuance of winning. The Dusters lose their head coach, Don Carthel, to West Texas A&M and announce that their defensive coordinator, Steve Perdue, will take over. Nevertheless, this will not be an easy game for the Steamwheelers as I expect it to be a tough fought battle.
It is a road game for Quad City and that is always a challenge. It is a smaller arena and 300 people can sound like 3,000. Amarillo has arguably the best quarterback in this year’s af2. Julian Reese is mounting up points and he drives an offensive scoring machine at will. Then again, so did Memphis.
To win this game, the Steamwheelers defense will again have to play tough and dominate with their front line getting after Reese. Their offense will have to have remarkable improvement from last week and there is no reason to believe that they won’t. The Steamwheelers defense is the perfect equalizer for the Amarillo offense. The balance and the game will rely on the Steamwheelers offense and being able to minimize mistakes and stay in control of the game. They have an offensive front line that is good at pass protection. So this game comes down on the shoulders of Sam Clemens and his receiving core. For them, their room for improvement will very well be the difference in this game.
Quad City Notes:
Travis Burns left the game last week with bruised ribs and is expected to start this week.
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.