In the Season Opener for the Steamwheelers took on the defending conference champions Sioux Falls Storm at the Vibrant Arena at the MARK. Last time these two teams clashed, Quad City won by holding off a comeback by the Storm. This time around the Wheelers dominated the time of possession and controlled the pace for almost 43 minutes of game time. The Storm would force overtime, but after a Judd Erickson TD run, Sam Houston State product Trey Smith would close the game out by intercepting a Storm pass to the endzone.
First drive of the game saw the Steamwheelers be stonewalled by the Storm defense, led by the Storm's (DL) Dajon Emory. The Wheelers then took their momentum back when the Storm had butterfingers, fumbled the ball on the snap and it was finished off by (DB) Malik Duncan. The next play the Wheelers forced a turnover on downs.
Starting off the next drive for the Wheelers, Emory made his presence known again by getting to the backfield and taking (QB) Judd Erickson down. The Steamwheelers offense recovered quickly and moved the chains down the field with a 10 yd pass to (WR) Keyvan Rudd from Judd Erickson, a penalty for illegal defense on the Storm giving the Wheelers 5 extra yards, and a 12 yd reception from Erickson to (WR) Ka'Ron Ashley. Quad City would go on to cap off this drive with a 15 yd FG by (K) Kyle Kaplan, the first points of the 2024 season.
The Storm would have trouble with the snap again and (DL) Jaylin Swan made a HUGE tackle for loss after the Storm recover the ball. (WR) Jarrod Harrington would show off his return skills on a 35 yd FG return that was unfortunately called back due to a penalty on the Wheelers, ending the quarter up 3-0 on the Storm.
At the beginning of the second quarter the Wheelers came out steaming with a quick 5 yd pass to (WR) Raheem Harvey and a 12 yd rushing TD by (RB) Edward Vander. A Kaplan extra point finished the drive, putting the Steamwheelers up 10-0.
The Storm were looking to finally get the gears shifting with a 9 yard pass from (QB) Billy Hall to (WR) Carlos Thompson. The next drive would see their motion stop suddenly with another fumble, this time recovered by Jaylin Swan for the Wheelers.
After the Wheelers drive deep into Sioux Falls territory, the tide would soon shift back in favor of the Storm. A Judd Erickson throw to Jarrod Harrington was picked off by (DB) Cameron Harrell and returned for a TD to finally get the Storm on the board. The two point conversion would bring the score to 8-10 still in favor of the Steamwheelers.
The Wheelers were set up really well by a 18 yard kick return by Jarrod Harrington to start their next drive down the field. Raheem Harvey received a dot of a pass, taking a big hit from the wall, from Erickson for 21 yards and a 1st down. Again Vander took over and wreaked havoc on the Storm defense with a 16 yard rush for a 1st down followed by a 3 yd run in for a TD. This brought his total on the night to two touchdowns and putting the Wheelers up 16-8, add another Kaplan extra point onto that and the Steamwheelers found themselves up 17-8 going into halftime.
Throughout this game the Storm and Steamwheelers, emotions were high. A couple scuffles, players jawing back and forth, and even some Storm players getting into it with #WheelerNation. This shows how intense and passionate this game was for everyone in the arena and how big of a first win this would be for the Wheelers.
Coming out of halftime the Steamwheelers started off slow and got things going in the second half. Both teams would be plagued by penalty throughout the rest of the game, starting with a false start call on the Storm after a 15 yard completion from Hall to (WR) Kentrez Bell, resulting in a 5 yard loss.
Right after that came an illegal defense call on (DB) Darreon Jackson of the Steamwheelers, resulting in a 10 yard gain for the Storm. The Hall to Bell connection was one of the lifelines for the Storm tonight, starting with a 15 yard reception for a TD, making it 14-17. After a Dean Sarris PAT the score was 15-17 with the Storm hot on the Wheelers trail.
Jarrod Harrington was putting the wheels on display tonight with a huge kick return TD that ran the full length of the field, that was unfortunately called back because of a holding penalty. After a 15 yard pass from Erickson to Vander, where he made it to the 25 yard mark, Erickson threw a 25 yard dime to Harrington for his first TD of the night. After a failed Kaplan PAT the score remained 23-15 with the Wheelers looking to stretch their lead over the Storm.
Defensive backs Darreon Jackson and Malik Duncan both made massive tackles on the Storm's next drive to help carry the momentum that the offense created. The Storm didn't go away that easy though, with another Hall to Bell completion coming later in the 3rd quarter, this time for 24 yards. After an 8 yard rush by Hall, Bryson Denely was stopped a yard short of the goal line, then rushing in the endzone for a Storm TD. Alongside an extra point by Sarris, the score became closer with the Wheelers up 23 to the Storm's 22.
Immediately after that, Sarris would hit a deuce on the kickoff to give the Storm the lead, making the game 24-23 going into the 4th.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter the Wheelers started off right with a solid 10 yard reception from Erickson to Rudd, the rest of the drive however was anything but solid, with the Wheelers eventually turning the ball over on downs. The Storm were starting to gain momentum after a short run by Hall and a short pass completion to Thompson from Hall, then Jaylin Swan came in and made a big TFL for the Steamwheelers that eventually led to a missed 35 yard FG attempt by (K) Dean Sarris.
After this drive Jarrod Harrington made one of the biggest plays of the night with a 40 yard TD sliding to the wall to catch the Erickson pass. With the Storm defense thinking he was downed, Harrington got up and ran it in with no problem as everyone in the crowd lost their minds at what they had just seen.
Kaplan would make the extra point the score became Steamwheelers 30 and Storm 24. Kaplan followed up with a deuce of his own, kicking the ball right through the uprights on the next kickoff. Extending the Quad City lead to 32-24.
The Storm however were undeterred by the gap in the points column, with Hall and Bell connecting again for a 17 yard complete pass. Hall would turn on the jets and run the ball in himself for a 28 yard TD, making the score 32-30. The Storm's two point conversion being successful, had the game tied at 32 with 3:13 left on the clock.
Two penalties on the Storm totaling in 10 yards for the Wheelers alongside an Edward Vander 5 yard run, brought the Steamwheelers within FG range with under 10 seconds left in the game.
4th and 13, the Steamwheelers call timeout with one second left on the clock. Sending Kyle Kaplan in to win the game. Unfortuneately, a rolled snap would keep him from having an opportunity to sign, seal, and deliver Wheeler Nation the W. This led to overtime in Game 1 for the Quad City Steamwheelers.
In overtime the Steamwheelers received the ball and got busy quickly. With a 14 yard reception from Erickson to Rudd to move the chains downfield. Next play Erickson would take it in himself with a two yard rushing TD to take the lead in overtime. The regulation snap and placement issues continued leaving the score at 38-32.
The Steamwheeler defense then took over and absolutely stonewalled the Storm with huge tackles by Jaylin Swan and Keyshaun Moore, as well as a clutch pass break-up by Gregory Filer III. The Storm quarterback would look to win the game with strike to the endzone, which would be picked off by Trey Smith to secure the win for sQUAD CITY.
The Steamwheelers won 38-32, quieting the Storm with an incredibly hard fought win that came down to the wire. The Wheelers welcome the Green Bay Blizzard on April 6th for Hometown Heroes Night presented by Tyson Foods! Kickoff is set for 7:05 at Vibrant Arena at the MARK!
