Wheelers plugged in

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By Craig DeVrieze | Saturday, May 19, 2007 1:18 AM CDT | () comments

Non-stop trash talkers Sidney Lewis and Kris Peters will say a lot to the opposition in the course of a football game, but neither was quite done talking after helping the Quad-City Steamwheelers stop a three-game losing streak with a 63-54 victory over the Everett Hawks on Friday night in the Q-C crew’s first turn at home in a month.

Lewis justifiably claimed to supply the current for an electric Steamwheelers opening half at The Mark of the Quad-Cities.

“I wanted to come out ticked off,” the veteran defensive back said after contributing an interception and a 33-yard fumble recovery as the hosts blew out to a 49-20 edge at intermission. “I wanted to come out on fire. I told the guys if you can’t flick the switch, plug into me.”

Receiver Peters, meanwhile, perfectly summed up what the Steamwheelers (4-3) did not do in the second half, when they allowed the visiting Hawks to outscore them 34-14 and come within a couple of two-point conversion passes of making the final seconds extremely nerve-wracking.

“You got to kill a snake with a sledgehammer,” the fast-talking pass catcher said, repeating the cautionary words once offered by a college coach. “You let them crawl around, they will bite you.”

In this case, though, all was well that started well.

Looking to come together — rather than falling apart — while in the throes of their three-game skid and in the wake of an embarrassing, week-old intrasquad fight, the Steamwheelers came home like a house afire in the opening 30 minutes.

Lewis and the defense had two picks and recovered three fumbles, two of which they took to the end zone, before intermission. Quarterback J.J. Raterink completed 17 of 18 passes for 182 yards and four touchdowns in the opening half, while Jack Walker Jr. had a touchdown trifecta — reeling in a one-handed, 34-yard circus catch in the end zone, running another in from 10 yards off a lateral and falling on a fumbled Everett snap in the end zone from his jack linebacker position.

“That’s what we talked about all week,” Walker said after an eight-catch, 108-yard night. “The last three games, we were flat at the start. Coach (Sean Ponder) said we were waiting too long to flip the switch.”

Lewis and Peters made certain the Steamwheelers were on go from the git Friday.

Peters had two of his four touchdown receptions in the opening period as the Steamwheelers jumped out to a 20-6 lead. And Lewis made the game’s headiest play to rebuild a three-score lead after Everett closed to within 20-14 early in the second.

Walker’s one-handed, 34-yard catch at 10:32 of the second made it 26-14. Then, on the first play of Everett’s ensuing possession, Everett receiver Randell Lewis caught a ball and then rolled it away without being touched. Lewis scooped up the ball and streaked 33 yards down the sidelines for a 33-14 Q-C lead.

“I try to do that every week,” Lewis said of the no-touch, no-whistle, dash-to-the-end-zone ploy. “That’s the first time it has worked. It was Christmas early.”

The Steamwheelers stalled, though, after intermission, and Everett (1-6) nearly played the Grinch, closing to within 56-48 on a touchdown with 4:28 left in the game, but then failing to get a conversion pass past Lewis and then botching the onsides kick.

Then, after a 4-yard Lavar Stepter end-around touchdown run, Everett still had a last gasp, as QB Jason Campbell and receiver Josh Richey hooked up for the fifth time in the game to make it 63-54. They might have had a chance to steal the win with some late magic, but Campbell threw a 2-point pass through a wide-open Richey.

Down nine, Everett didn’t even attempt an onsides recovery, and the Wheelers losing streak was at an end.

Richey finished with 18 catches for 236 yards. Campbell was 28 of 42 for 321 yards with six touchdowns.

“They did a good job coming back, and we know we need to work on finishing,” Raterink said after a 25-for-30, 243-yard, five-touchdown night. “But we’re exicted to come home and get the win. We were hoping to come out firing and we did.’’

Wheelers scoreboard

Score

Steamwheelers 63, Everett 54

Next

The Steamwheelers host Midwest Division rival Louisville at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Wings suspend QB Carter

In the bold move of the year department, Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings coach Jon Norris has suspended former NFL starter Quincy Carter for two games after the quarterback missed a number of position meetings.

“I wanted a well-defined line and I felt like this type of moved warranted this action,’’ Norris said. “I sent the message to Quincy, but the offshoot is that everyone gets the message.’’

Carter had the Wings off to their best start in their six-year history at 5-1 and will miss a pair of home games, to boot.

Team owner Fan Newman backed his coach.

“That man runs this team,’’ Newman said of his coach.

Carter previously had drug related issues in the NFL and the CFL.

Florida signs top WR

The Florida Firecats bolstered their offensive arsenal Thursday when they signed fifth-year af2 vet Matt Burstein, a wide receiver who was af2 Offensive Player of the Year in 2004.

He has been out of football since 2005 but lived in southwest Florida.

“I have been thinking about playing for a while,’’ he said.

Hawkeye reunion fizzles

An anticipated clash between former Iowa Hawkeyes Antwan Allen of the Steamwheelers and Warren Holloway of the Hawks fizzled when Allen was forced to the sidelines early in the opening half with an injury.

Allen, who had an early fumble recovery, sat out the final three quarters with a boot on a high-ankle sprain.

Steamwheelers coach Sean Ponder said he will evaluate Allen’s ankle today and, if need be, pursue defensive backfield help early in the week. Veteran safety Leo Fenceroy is on the team’s refused-to-report list, but Ponder said other options exist as well.

Holloway caught six passes for 68 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion in his Everett debut.

Best known for his game-winning touchdown catch in the 2005 Capital One Bowl, Holloway said he fielded few ticket requests from family back home in Homewood, Ill., or from friends in Iowa City.

“My family’s busy, and my friends are working,’’ Holloway said.

Still, he said of being in the vicinity of Iowa City: “It definitely brings back memories.’’

Statistics

Everett 6 14 14 20 — 54

Quad-Cities 20 29 7 7 — 63

First quarter

Q-C — Kris Peters 7 pass from J.J. Raterink (Connor McCormick kick)

Q-C — Jack Walker Jr. 10 run (McCormick kick)

Everett — Josh Richey 43 pass from Jason Campbell (pass failed)

Q-C — Peters 8 pass from Raterink (kick failed)

Second quarter

Everett — Vai Notoa 3 run (Campbell run)

Q-C — Walker 34 pass from Raterink (kick failed)

Q-C — Sidney Lewis 33 fumble recovery (McCormick kick)

Everett — Richey 30 pass from Campbell (pass failed)

Q-C — Peters 14 pass from Raterink (McCormick kick)

Q-C — Walker fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed)

Q-C — McCormick 23 field goal

Third quarter

Everett — Warren Holloway 9 pass from Campbell (Holloway pass from Campbell)

Everett — Richey 2 pass from Campbell (pass failed)

Q-C — Peters 19 pass from Raterink (McCormick kick)

Fourth quarter

Everett — Notoa 1 run (Richey pass from Campbell)

Everett — Richey 18 pass from Campbell (pass failed)

Q-C — Lavar Stepter 4 run (McCormick kick)

Everett — Richey 24 pass from Campbell (pass failed)

E Q-C

First downs 23 20

Rushes-yards (NET) 9-8 11-21

Passing yards (NET) 319 243

Passes Att-Comp-Int 41-28-2 30-25-0

Total offense 51-327 41-264

Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 1-33

Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0

Kickoff Returns-Yards 8-130 5-128

Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 2-1

Punts (Number-Avg) 0-0.0 0-0.0

Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-2

Penalties-Yards 8-49 10-60

Possession Time. 33:53 26:07

Third-Down Conversions 1-6 1-3

Fourth-Down Conversions 3-4 0-2

Red-Zone Scores-Chances 5-7 7-9

Sacks By: Number-Yards 0-0 1-2

Individual statistics

Rushing — Everett, Vai Notoa 7-5; Tali Atoe 1-3; Jason Campbell 1-0. Q-C, Jack Walker Jr. 1-10; Jeff Macrea 5-7; Kris Peters 1-4; Lavar Stepter 1-4; Tom Anthony 1-0; J.J. Raterink1-minus 2; Team, 1-minus 2.

Passing: Everett, Jason Campbell 28-41-2-321; Team, 0-0-0-minus 2. Q-C, J.J. Raterink25-30-0-243.

Receiving: Everett, Josh Richey 18-236; Warren Holloway 6-68; Randell Lewis 4-17. Q-C, tom Anthony 9-62; Jack Walker Jr. 8-108; Kris Peters 6-65; Jeff Macrea 2-8.

Interceptions: Everett, None. Q-C, Jermaine Petty 1-minus 3; Sidney Lewis 1-2.

Fumbles: Everett, Josh Richey 1-1; Jason Campbell 1-1; Randell Lewis 1-1; Team, 1-0. Q-C, J.J. Raterink 1-1; Tom Anthony 1-1.

Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com