The Sioux Falls Storm Indoor Football Team and The Quad City Steamwheelers will meet for the third and final time this season when they face of on Friday, May 12th at 7:05 PM from Vibrant Arena at the Mark in Moline, IL.

The two teams have split the home-and-road series so far this season with each team winning on their home turf. Tonight's contest will be the third meeting in six weeks for the two division rivals. A win for Sioux Falls would not only give the Storm the season series win over Quad City, but it would also move the Storm into a tie for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference standings with the Steamwheelers.

The Steamwheelers defeated the Sioux Falls Storm 36-34 in Moline, IL on April 1st. It was the first game of the season for the Storm, and the fewest points scored by the Storm offense this season.

SERIES OVERALL: Sioux Falls leads the series 5-2
SERIES IN SIOUX FALLS: 3-0 at home all-time against the Steamwheelers
SERIES IN MOLINE, IL: The Storm and Steamwheelers have split the series in Moline, IL 2-2



(4/1/23)

STORM SUFFER WEEK 1 ROAD LOSS AT QUAD CITY

MOLINE, IL - The Sioux Falls Storm opened the 2023 Indoor Football League season in Moline, IL, facing the defending Eastern Conference Champion Quad City Steamwheelers.

Veteran quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr. scored three rushing touchdowns and Tony Tate added two more, but a safety and several costly turnovers proved to be too much to overcome as the Storm dropped their first game of the season by the final score of 36-34.
 
Quad City jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the 1st quarter when quarterback EJ Hilliard connected on a 6-yard strike to CJ Windham. Steamwheelers kicker Chase Allbaugh extended the lead to 10-0 after a successful 28-yard field goal attempt.

Brown scored the first Storm touchdown of the season on a 1-yard dive to make it 10-6 but a blocked extra-point kept it a four-point game early on in the 2^nd quarter.

Hilliard and Steamwheelers wide receiver Keyvan Rudd pushed the lead back to a double digits after connecting on a 22-yard touchdown to make it 17-6.

Storm wide receiver Tony Tate scored the first of his two touchdowns moments later when he took the ensuing kickoff 52 yards down field for the first special teams score of the season.

The momentum started to shift Sioux Falls' way after Tate's electrifying return. He would add a 3-yard rushing touchdown just before halftime to tie the game at 20-20.

Sioux Falls got the ball back to start the 2^nd half and took their first lead of the night on Brown's 5-yard rushing touchdown. The 26-20 lead was short-lived though, with Quad City answering moments later as Hilliard connected on a 35-yard bomb that found Rudd for his 2^nd touchdown of the night.

A Storm safety late in the 3^rd quarter gave the Steamwheelers a 29-26 lead, and Hilliard put the pressure on after connecting with Windham again, this time on a 9-yard touchdown pass that pushed the Quad City lead to double digits.

Brown brought the Storm back again late in the 4^th quarter, scoring on a 1-yard run making it 36-32. A successful two-point conversion gave the Storm a chance at the end, but a botched Duece attempt spoiled the comeback attempt.

Brown finished the day with eight carries for 29 yards and three rushing touchdowns, but struggled to get the pass attack working. The veteran quarterback finished the night 6-for-20 with 53 passing yards and two interceptions.

Cole Thurness led the Storm in receiving yards in his IFL debut, reeling in three catches for 26 yards in the loss.

Linebacker James Brown paced the Storm defense with nine tackles in his first game in a Storm uniform. Brown teamed up with Jaylon Abdul-Karim for the Storms only sack of the night. Eugene Ford collected his first interception of the season in the loss.




(4/29/23)

SECOND HALF SCORING SURGE LIFTS STORM TO HOME WIN

SIOUX FALLS, SD - The Sioux Falls Storm used a second half scoring surge to complete the 59-47 comeback win over the Quad City Steamwheelers inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
 
The Storm took their first lead of the night at 12-6 midway through the second quarter when quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr. found wide receiver Cole Thurness on a six-yard touchdown pass.
 
Newly signed running back Xavier Jackson added another score on a 13-yard touchdown run to give the Storm an 18-14 lead with 2:55 left in the 2nd quarter.

There were five different lead changes in the first half, including a rushing touchdown for Steamwheelers wide receiver Kayvon Rudd with :02 seconds left in the 2nd quarter to give Quad City a 21-18 lead at the halftime break.

Thurness scored three touchdowns in the Storm win, including a 36-yard strike on the first play of the second half to give Sioux Falls the lead for good.

Storm defensive back Antwan Hadley recorded his second interception of the season moments later to help the Storm steal momentum away from Quad City.
 
Sioux Falls outscored the Steamwheelers 21-8 in the 3rd quarter and posted 42 second half points in the comeback win.

Lorenzo Brown Jr. threw four touchdown passes while going 12-of-18 through the air for 136 yards. Brown ran the ball 11 times, finishing with 49 rushing yards and a touchdown in the win.
 
 The Veteran signal caller now has 12 rushing touchdowns on the season, ranking 3rd in the IFL overall.
 
Xavier Jackson racked up 64 yards on the ground, scoring two rushing touchdowns in his Storm debut.

The Storm defense posted three sacks and an interception on Saturday night. Linebacker James Brown led all defenders with 10 tackles (7 solo) and recorded his first sack of the season. Defensive linemen Undraez Lilly and Daryle Banfield also recorded a sack on Saturday night.

The Storm victory snapped a four-game win-streak for Quad City that included a week three win over the Sioux Falls Storm (36-34) in Moline, IL.

 

SCOUTING THE QUAD CITY STEAMWHEELERS

The Quad City Steamwheelers enter Friday night's contest with a 5-2 record and hold sole ownership of 2nd place in the IFL's Eastern Conference standings.

The Steamwheelers offense ranks 2nd in the IFL, averaging 51.6 points per game this season. Quad City has scored 47 or more points in six of thier seven games played this season. The Sioux Falls Storm held the Steamwheelers to a season-low 36 points on April 1st, but Quad City pulled out the 36-34 home win.

The Quad City defense enters the weekend ranking 9th in the IFL in points allowed, giving up 45.6 points per game this season. The Sioux Falls Storm scored a season-high 59 points in the April 29th home win over the Steamwheelers. It was the second highest point total allowed to an opponent for Quad City this season. Only the Arizona Rattlers (60 points) have scored more points against the Steamwheelers this season.

Quarterback EJ Hilliard is Quad City's top offensive weapon, rankings 7th in the IFL in total offense, averaging 182.9 yards per game. Hilliard's 975 passing yards are tops in the league this season.
 

SCOUTING THE SIOUX FALLS STORM

The Sioux Falls Storm enter the weekend with a 4-2 record in the 2023 Indoor Football League season.

The Sioux Falls defense enters the weekend ranked 4th in the IFL in fewest points allowed per game (39.2). The Storm's 9 team interceptions ranks 2nd in the IFL, tied with the Duke City Gladiators (9) and trailing Frisco Fighters (13) for the top spot in the league.

Storm defensive back Eugene Ford leads the Storm with 4 interceptions this season, ranked 3rd in the league overall.

Linebacker James Brown leads all Strom defenders with 36 total tackles this season (28 solo).

The Storm Offense are averaging 49.2 points per game in 2023, good enough for 3rd in the IFL.

Storm quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr. leads the team with 13 rushing touchdowns, 3rd most in the IFL.

Storm wide receiver Cole Thurness ranks 6th in the IFL in yards per catch this season, averaging 15.3 yards per grab.

Storm running back Bryson Denley leads the IFL in average yards per kick return this season (35.0)
 

THE KICKING CAROUSEL KEEPS SPINNING

The Sioux Falls Storm had arguablly the best kicker in the Indoor Football League during the 2022 season with Sawyer Petre earning All-IFL honors.

Petre led all kickers in field goals made last season, knocking in 21 out of his 39 attempts. He made 53.7 percent of his field goal tries and averaged 1.3 field goals a game.
Petre stepped away for the 2023 season, leaving a roster spot open for the taking.

Austin Neufeld was the week 1 kicker for the Sioux Falls Storm, but was release after missing his only field goal attempt.

The Storm brought in former Green Bay Blizzard kicker Nick Jaworski for the 2023 Home Opener in the hopes of solidifying the special teams game.

Jaworski was 16-of-36 on field goal attempts during the 2022 season with the Blizzard. The former Mississippi State kicker knocked in 46 PAT's during the regular season.

Inconsistancy cost Jaworski his job after going 1-for-6 in FG tries and 22-36 in extra point tries over a five week period.

The Storm now turn to former Alabama and Austin Peay Kicker Nick Gauna who will make his debut with the Storm on Friday, May 12th when Sioux Falls visits the Quad City Steamwheelers in Moline, IL.

LOOKING AHEAD 

The Sioux Falls Storm are in the toughest road stretch of the 2023 schedule. The Storm will play three consecutive road games over the next four weeks with a bye week scheduled for the week of June 3rd.

The Storm's upcoming schedule includes road games against the Quad City Steamwheelers (May 12), the Tucson Sugar Skulls (May 20), Iowa Barnstormers (May 26).

The Storm will return to the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Saturday June 10th at 7:05 PM to battle the Frisco Fighters.
 

ONE LAST THING

The Storm are expected to get a boost on offense tonight with the return of running back Bryson Denley, who missed the last two games with a minor injury.  Denley was the IFL's week 6 special teams player of the week after returning a kickoff for a TD. Dwight Blakey has been placed on short-term IR to make room for Denley on the roster.

The Sioux Falls Defense will need to be on the lookout for Quad City Wide Receiver Keyvan Rudd. The speedy WR has totaled 4 touchdowns and 132 yards receiving over the first two games against Sioux Falls this season.

Storm Quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr. didn't throw a passing touchdown in the season opening loss at Quad City, but the duel-threat QB scored three rushing touchdowns in the loss.
 In two games against Quad City this season, Brown has 4 rushing touchdowns and 4 passing touchdowns.