The Battle of I-80 saw both the Steamwheelers and the Barnstormers throw everything they had at each other till the end.  It was an all-out defensive battle with the game being decided in the final few seconds.

The Wheelers got busy with Judd Erickson rushing into the endzone for a touchdown, Kyle Kaplan added on with the extra point making it a 7-0 game early in the first quarter.

Later on in the period the Wheelers defense was called for a pass interference penalty which led to the Barnstormers getting on the board and tying the contest up at 7 a piece. Before the end of the quarter Kaplan had a problem with it being a tied game, so he took the lead for the sQUAD with a FG to make it 10-7 Wheelers going into the second.

The Steamwheeler defense stood tall and carried a big stick throughout the entire matchup, an example of their dominance was Jaylen Jenkins who made his presence felt in his Steamwheelers debut. He picked up 7 total tackles including three solo tackles and four assisted tackles. 

Another sQUAD member that showed up and showed out was Darreon Jackson, Jackson piled up almost 10 total tackles on the night consisting of six total tackles and 3 assisted tackles.

The scoring in the second got started by the Barnstormers with a good FG attempt by Gabriel Rui, knotting up the game at 10. Kaplan then came back with a FG of his own to take the lead once again, 13-10.

Rui and Kaplan were in a kicker's duel all throughout the contest, with Kaplan finishing 2-4 on FG attempts and 3-3 on PATs. While Rui ended 2-3 on PATs and 2-5 on FGs with a deuce on a kickoff.

During the second the Barnstormers scored another touchdown to take back the lead and make it 17-13 Iowa, right after they scored a deuce to add two extra points to their lead and put them ahead by a touchdown.

The sQUAD worked their way down the field and it was capped off by Erickson with the world's smoothest fake handoff for a touchdown, the play was so slick he even fooled the cameraman as he waltzed into the endzone to make it a 20-19 game before halftime.

The third quarter saw both defenses put on a display of who had the better stonewall, both teams made stops left and right and neither allowed a touchdown until the Barnstormers saw an opportunity and took it. Scoring and taking the lead the Stormers were on top 25-20 going into the fourth quarter.

The Steamwheelers started by moving the chains towards the end zone and finished the drive with Erickson slipping a pass into the hands of Warren Newman III for a touchdown, Newman's second TD in as many weeks for the sQUAD, also giving them the lead 27-25 after a good Kaplan PAT.

Also in the fourth quarter a crucial part of the Steamwheelers defense, Melik Owens was injured in crunch time and didn't return to the game.

The Barnstormers took their chance to lead while they had it and hit a lead-taking FG to go up 28-27 over the Steamwheelers with under 2 minutes left.

It all came down to Kaplan to win the game for the sQUAD, he won it against Massachusetts a few weeks ago and he looked to do the same against Iowa.

Within scoring position the Wheelers lined up and Kap geared up to win the game again, but the cards were not in his favor and the kick was no good. The Wheelers fell to the Barnstormers 28-27, making them 1-2 in the season series against Iowa and 5-6 on the season so far.

We hope you can join us next week, June 22nd at the Vibrant Arena at the MARK for a home matchup against the Green Bay Blizzard.