1 week Ago By TOM JOHNSTON [email protected]
The Quad City Steamwheelers only had 15 snaps in the first half of Saturday’s Indoor Football League game at Vibrant Arena. Among those were two interceptions. You might think those numbers would have added up to trouble for the hosts against the Jacksonville Sharks at Vibrant Arena at The Mark.
However, it was just the opposite as the Wheelers were the picture of efficiency in racing out to a lead they never lost en route to a convincing 62-41 victory over the Sharks in the Eastern Conference showdown. The victory kept the Steamwheelers undefeated after their first five games as they added to the franchise record for wins to start a season. QC quarterback Daquan Neal threw five touchdown passes in the first 30 minutes of action – three to Rock Island’s Jordan Vesey – as the Wheelers put up 35 first-half points.
“We had a confident game plan,” said Vesey, who had scoring grabs of 14, 37 and 30 yards in the first half. “We watched film and we seen what they were doing. Coach Ross dialed them up real nice and we went out and executed.
“All we did was run what Coach Ross called.” The offense finished the game scoring seven touchdowns on 11 offensive possessions, which included the two picks. Kyle Kaplan added a 35-yard field goal in the second half.
Appropriately, QC’s defense continued its dominance, forcing four Sharks (3-2, 1-2 Eastern) turnovers. That unit capped the victory when defensive lineman KeShaun Moore forced a fumble in the end zone and recovered it for the Wheelers’ final score of the game. Ross was ecstatic over the fast start that allowed QC to shrug off a 2-0 deficit when the opening kick resulted in a deuce by Sharks kicker Marc Orozco.
“We’ve been starting slow in the first four games really and then picking it up in the second half,” said Ross. “I think that the bye week was nice, but it gave guys an opportunity to lock into the playbook a little bit more.” In the first half, QC’s five scoring possessions totaled just 11 plays.
The longest of those was four plays. Vesey’s final score came on a nice grab and run after the catch. After making the reception on an out pattern, he juked a defender and stayed in bounds against the wall as the clock expired.
Kaplan’s extra point gave QC a 35-21 halftime lead. Neal added a 9-yard scoring run in the third quarter and Gino Appleberry broke off an 18-yarder in the fourth that preceded Kaplan’s deuce on the ensuing kickoff. “We had great practices this week, so we had the potential to really explode offensively,” said Ross.
The coach wasn’t even bothered by the two first-half turnovers. “The score could have been even higher,” he said. “We missed open guys on those particular plays.
Other than that, it’s special to watch when we get going and we’re getting stops.” That defense did its job, too, forcing fumbles on Jacksonville’s first two possessions – QC converting both into scores to take a 14-2 lead. Bubba Arslanian picked off a pass in the third quarter and flipped the field with a nice return that set up Neal’s 9-yard TD as QC blew out to a 45-28 lead midway through the third.
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