The Wheelers end up dropping their final regular season game of the year to the Jacksonville Sharks, 43-37. This wa a back and forth battle till the last seconds of the game, continue reading to learn about the madness of the finish to this contest.

The Sharks bit first, scoring a touchdown to get things started early in the first quarter. The Wheelers however struggled with moving down the field and containing Jacksonville's offense, all while being contained by their defense in the process.

This would continue as Jacksonville scored again, making it a 14-0 lead until Edward Vander made his presence felt by running into the endzone for a touchdown. Kyle Kaplan added the cherry on top and made it a 14-7 game for the sQUAD.

Later on the Wheelers end up knotting the battle at 14 apiece, then Jacksonville took the lead once again. After a missed extra point the the Sharks added to their total with a rogue, after the ball bounced off the uprights on the kickoff Jarrod Harrington didn't make it out of the endzone, giving the Sharks another point to make it 21-14 late in the second quarter.

Later in the period Mike Irwin ended up pitching the pigskin to Edward Vander for another touchdown to tie it up at 21. 

Vander would end the night with three touchdowns for the sQUAD.

Jacksonville didn't enjoy Vander's touchdowns one bit and for that they decided to score another touchdown as the time expired going into halftime.

Coming out of the break the Sharks were up 28-21  when both defenses traded interceptions, first the Sharks picked off an Irwin pass then Brain Hughes picked Jacksonville off the next throw. This Hughes interception led to the sQUAD moving down the field and Kaplan cutting the lead down to four with a FG.

Jacksonville had a 28-24 lead over the Wheelers to start the final period of the game, the Sharks then kicked a FG that extended their lead and made it a 31-24 game and were their first points of the second half.

Judd Erickson was subbed into the game for Irwin and he immediately found Warren Newman III over the middle for a huge gain, this led to Vander running it in for another touchdown to tie the game at 31.

The Sharks end up taking the lead with a late touchdown and while being up 37-31, the Judd to Rudd connection struck in crunchtime as Erickson found Keyvan Rudd with a deep ball dime in the endzone to knot things up at 37.

Everything came down to a FG attempt from Kaplan, as the ball went wide left and was caught by the Sharks, they returned the ball for a touchdown as the clock struck zeros. Ending the game and handing the Wheelers a loss in their final matchup of the regular season, 43-37.

The Steamwheelers final record for the 2024 season is 8-8 overall, going .500 and securing an IFL Playoff spot. The sQUAD starts their playoff run next weekend and we will give you all the information that you need. Thank you to the Steamwheeler fans for riding with the sQUAD for the year and we're gonna keep on rolling throughout the playoffs.