Wheelers Fall Flat in Second Half at Vegas

By Timothy Wallis

The Quad City Steamwheelers traveled to Las Vegas for an inter-conference matchup. After hanging around for much of the first three quarters, the Wheelers could not keep pace with the Vegas Knight Hawks on Saturday night, falling 61-28 after Vegas pulled away in the second half.

The Wheelers struck first when quarterback Daquan Neal connected with Keyvan Rudd on a 39-yard touchdown pass midway through the opening quarter, giving Quad City an early 6-0 lead. The defense followed that up with a goal-line stand, stopping Josh Tomas on fourth down at the eight-yard line to keep Vegas off the scoreboard.

However, after Bryce Hampton intercepted Neal and returned the ball to the Quad City four-yard line, Vegas capitalized immediately. Vegas quarterback Jayden De Laura found Deshon Stoudemire for a four-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at six.

The Knight Hawks grabbed their first lead early in the second quarter when Gabe Rui connected on a PAT and short field goal, putting Vegas ahead 10-6. Quad City answered in just one play as Neal found Jazeric Peterson for a 50-yard touchdown strike, giving the Steamwheelers a 13-10 advantage.

Vegas responded with a lengthy drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown run from Tomas, reclaiming the lead at 16-13. The Steamwheelers quickly answered in dramatic fashion when Quian Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards for a touchdown, moving back in front, 19-17.

The lead would not last long, when De Laura once again found Stoudemire in the end zone to put Vegas ahead 23-19. Quad City managed to add a late field goal from Vincent Standridge, but the Knight Hawks struck one more time before halftime when De Laura connected with Stoudemire on a 26-yard touchdown pass with under a minute remaining. Vegas carried a 30-22 lead into the locker room.

The Knight Hawks wasted little time extending their lead after the break. On their opening possession of the second half, De Laura found Quentin Randolph for a 23-yard touchdown, pushing the score to 37-22. Quad City responded with a strong drive of its own, capped by a one-yard rushing touchdown from Neal, cutting the deficit to 38-28 after a failed conversion attempt. That would be as close as the Steamwheelers would get. Vegas controlled the remainder of the third quarter, chewing up more than seven minutes on a drive that ended with a Rui field goal to make it 41-28 heading into the final period.

The fourth quarter belonged entirely to the Knight Hawks. De Laura engineered another scoring drive and connected with Tomas for a touchdown pass to extend the lead to 47-28. Moments later, a Quad City turnover on downs deep in its own territory gave Vegas excellent field position. The Knight Hawks took advantage as De Laura found Stoudemire for his fourth touchdown reception of the night, pushing the lead to 54-28.

Vegas added one final score late in the game when backup quarterback Avaun Rucker found Senika McKie on a fourth-down touchdown pass. The extra point was no good, but the Knight Hawks had already put the game out of reach, securing a 61-28 victory.

Daquan Neal completed ten passes on 18 attempts for 134 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while rushing 12 times for a combined loss of 16 yards and one touchdown. Jazeric Peterson caught four passes for 83 yards and one touchdown, while Keyvan Rudd caught two passes for 54 yards and a score. Jarrod Ware Jr snagged four passes for 35 yards, and Quian Williams caught two passes for 20 yards while also returning a kick for a touchdown.

With the loss, the Steamwheelers fall to 3-7 overall and 2-5 in conference play. The Wheelers will look to rebound next week, but will face a tall task against the Green Bay Blizzard. That game will be on June 6, at 7:00 pm, at The Wheelhouse at the Vibrant Arena.