SIOUX FALLS, SD - The Sioux Falls Storm Indoor Football team hosted the Quad City Steamwheelers on Friday night inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The two eastern conference opponents found themselves in another thrilling shootout, but ultimately the Steamwheelers came away with the 56-49 road win.
 
The Storm entered this final game of their current home stand playing electric offense, taking an early 21-7 lead over their division rivals. They were clearly energized coming off their big win last week, powered by veteran QB Lorenzo Brown Jr., who got his first start for the Storm this season after helping them beat the Blizzard last week off the bench. He and the offense looked poised to make it a two-game win streak.
 
Unfortunately, for the Storm, The Steamwheelers were not going to make it easy. Steamwheelers running back Edward Vander ran in a second-quarter touchdown that was quickly followed by a forced fumble created by the Quad City defense, which led to another Steamwheelers score to tie the game at 21-21.
 
The Storm converted a late first half field goal by Dean Sarris that gave them a 24-21 lead going into halftime.
 
Quad City return man Jarrod Harrington, ran the opening kickoff of the second half back for a touchdown, giving the Steamwheelers their first lead of the game, and swung the momentum into the Steamwheelers favor.
 
The Storm would reclaim the lead with Brown's second TD of the day and his first one on the ground, and he scampered into the endzone to make it a 30-28 Storm advantage.
 
Vander continued his monstrous day for the Steamwheelers, catching a 25-yard touchdown pass to put the Steamwheelers back in front and give Vander his third touchdown of the evening. The Quad City defense held the Storm offense scoreless on the next drive before kicker Kyle Kaplan knocked in a field goal to extend the lead to 38-30.
 
Quad City DB Malik Duncan would intercept Lorenzo Brown Jr. on the following drive and the Steamwheelers turned that into a Mike Irwin touchdown run, pushing the lead to 45-30.
 
Brown and the Storm offense regrouped and showed off their lightning-strike offense with a 36-yard deep ball touchdown pass to Carlos Thompson Jr. that cut deficit to 45-36.
 
Kyle Kaplan kicked in another Steamwheelers field goal before Lorenzo Brown found Draysean Hudson in the endzone for his fourth TD of the game.
 
The Storm still trailed 48-43 with only 1:15 seconds left in the game, and the Storm needed a miracle to get back in the game.
 
Luckily, Dajon Emory and Claude Davis just happened to have a miracle in them at that moment as they harassed the QB in the pocket on a botched play and ended up forcing the ball out and recovering it on the one-yard-line with just a little over a minute on the clock and trailing by just 5 points.
 
Lorenzo Brown was allowed to walk right into the endzone as the Steamwheelers were preparing to go on a game-winning drive, declining to try and stop them defensively. The Storm took a one-point lead and failed a potential two-point attempt that would have given them a field-goal lead.
 
Mike Irwin and the Steamwheelers offense moved methodically down the field, ending the drive (and effectively the game) with yet another TD pass to Edward Vander.
 
The Storm had one last  effort to find the endzone, but Brown's pass attempt to Carlos Thompson jr. was intercepted in the endzone, ending the comeback attempt and the game on Friday night.
 
This was an exciting offensive game powered by two running backs that really came into their own in this one. For the Steamwheelers, Edward Vander was the top performer, running for 25 yards and a touchdown while also catching six passes for 87 yards and two more scores through the air.
 
Storm running back Keyshawn Williams had a breakout game, running for 38 yards and two TD's while catching one pass for 28 yards.
 
The two QBs finished the night with similar numbers; Irwin finished 14-22 for 178 yards and four TDs through the air while running for 31 yards and an additional TD on the ground.
 
Lorenzo Brown Jr. was 14-22 for 163 yards, three TDs, and two interceptions while running for 46 yards and two additional touchdowns on the ground.
 
Irwin's favorite target was Vander, but he also completed three passes to Jordan Vesey, two of which were touchdowns. Jarrod Harrington also caught two passes for 24 yards, but his contribution was primarily in the kick return game, where he totaled 127 yards on five kick returns and one TD.
 
Carlos Thompson caught six passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns for the Storm on Friday night. Lorenzo Thompson also was a big piece on offense, catching three passes for 24 yards, and Draysean Hudson got in on the action, too, catching two passes for 18 yards and a TD.
 
Bryson Denley also caught two passes for 18 yards, and his one rush for two yards, but his 111 return yards on seven kicks were his primary focus.
 
Defensively, Elijah Reed led the team with nine tackles and a TFL assist, and Amin Black with seven tackles and another TFL assist.
 
Laronji Vason-McCoy was on pace to lead the team in tackles when he went down with an apparent injury early in the game; he had four tackles at that time.
 
Dajon Emory was credited with a TFL on the Mike Irwin fumble recovered by Claude Davis late in the game and also had three tackles.
 
Jaylin Swan led the Steamwheelers in tackles with six, but their defense was truly led by the two interceptions they made in the game, one by Malik Duncan early in the game and one by Trey Smith to close the game out. They also got a team sack in this game, with the star being shared between Jaylon Swan and Keshaun Moore.
 
The Sioux Falls Storm hit the road in week 10 of the Indoor Football League season, visiting the newest member of the IFL in the Jacksonville Sharks. The Storm return home on Saturday, June 1^st at 7:05 PM CT to host the Iowa Barnstormers. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting the KELOLAND Box Office inside the main lobby of the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center or by visiting Ticketmaster.com.