Wheelers fall on the road in first game of season at Fishers

Wheelers fall on the road in first game of season at Fishers

By Timothy Wallis

In the first game of the IFL season, the Quad City Steamwheelers faced off in the first of two matchups against Eastern Conference foe, the Fishers Freight, at the Fishers Events Center. In a grueling game, two turnovers and a lack of timely stops proved too much for the Steamwheelers to overcome, as they fell 45-27 and dropped to 0-1.

Fishers received the opening kickoff, and right away, Freight quarterback Felix Harper quickly moved the ball down the field, which later turned into a JT Stokes two-yard rush for a Freight touchdown. Not to be outdone, Wheelers quarterback Daquan Neal moved the team down the field and found wideout Quian Williams wide open for a touchdown from 11 yards out, but a missed PAT still ensured a Fishers lead, 7-6.

Once again, Harper and running back Josiah King drove Fishers down the field, which led to a CJ Windham touchdown, giving Fishers a 14-6 lead. On the first play of the second, Neal tried to find Williams down the field again, but a breakup by former Steamwheeler Cejai Parrish led to an interception, and a field goal that extended the Fishers lead to 17-6. Needing a score to stay in the game, a long reception to the running back Jarrod Ware Jr set up another Neal touchdown pass to Williams, and after a failed two-point conversion, the Wheelers cut into the lead, 17-12. 

Newcomer Kevin Ransom announced his presence the following Fishers drive and intercepted a Harper pass in the end zone, which set up another Neal to Williams connection for a touchdown. Following a two-point conversion from Neal, the Wheelers led 20-17, but Fishers drove back down for a touchdown right before halftime that gave the Freight the lead right back, 24-20.

With the ball out of halftime, the Wheelers drove down despite a penalty, thanks to receptions from Keyvan Rudd and Ware and a rush by Jordan Vesey, and found the endzone when Rudd caught a Neal pass and juked a defender. With a 27-24 lead, that would be the last score for the Wheelers of the night. The next drive, the Wheelers' defense could not stop the combination of Harper and King, as they drove down and converted on a King touchdown run, which gave Fishers a 31-27 lead. 

After a tough kickoff return off a squib kick, Neal's deep ball was intercepted again, giving Fishers an opportunity to start to pull away, which they converted on when Harper found Windham, making it 38-27. With momentum on their side, the Fishers defense held firm and sacked Neal in the end zone for a safety, and a 40-27 lead. From there, Fishers tacked on a deuce and a field goal from kicker Calum Sutherland, and the Wheelers could not respond, leading to a 45-27 defeat on opening night. 

Daquan Neal completed 14 of his 23 passes for 111 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 30 yards, but also threw two interceptions. Jarrod Ware only took two handoffs for 16 yards but caught four passes for 11 yards, while Jordan Vesey ran twice for ten yards. Quian Williams caught five passes in his Wheeler debut for 48 yards and three touchdowns, while Jalal Dean brought in 3 passes for 34 yards, and Keyvan Rudd caught two passes for 18 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Kevin Ransom Jr tallied seven tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass breakup and an interception. Camron Harrell and Alex Herriott both racked up six tackles and one tackle for loss each, while Chima Dunga and KeShaun Moore both recorded five tackles. 

The Steamwheelers will head into next week 0-1 overall and in conference play, as they return home to the Quad Cities for their home opener. On Saturday, March 21, the Wheelers will take on the Iowa Barnstormers at 5 pm as they look to get into the win column.