On Sunday, April 5, the Orlando Pirates defeated the Quad City Steamwheelers 49-46 in their first ever home game at the Kia Center.
The back-and-forth battle consisted of six lead changes that tested the Pirates in their inaugural home game.
The game started off with a 27-yard touchdown catch by Quian Williams, Steamwheelers wide receiver. After a stalled drive from the Pirates, defensive back Ro Torrence came away with an interception that gave possession back to Orlando.
On the second play of the Pirates drive, Steamwheelers defensive back Jamon Williams caught an interception of his own to put his team in a good scoring position. Despite having a short field, Quad City missed a field goal to end its drive. But, the Pirates fell into a 14-point deficit when Steamwheeler defensive lineman KeShaun Moore returned an interception for a touchdown before the end of the first quarter.
The Pirates opened the second quarter with a touchdown drive ending with a 24-yard catch and dive across the goal line by wide receiver Teo Redding. Pirates defensive lineman, DJ Dale, recovered a fumble on the Steamwheelers’ ensuing drive that led to a 27-yard catch and run touchdown by running back Pooka Williams to tie the game.
Quad City answered back with a touchdown drive of their own to go up 21-14 with 4:21 left in the first half. The Pirates answered back with an 18-yard catch by wide receiver Nyqwan Murray to bring the team to the Steamwheelers one-yard line. Pirates quarterback Paxton DeLaurent ran in a touchdown from the one-yard line on the next play.
An offside kick by the Pirates resulted in a penalty that gave the Steamwheelers the ball in scoring range. Steamwheelers quarterback Daquan Neal ran in a 7-yard touchdown to go up 27-21 after a missed point-after attempt. The Pirates fired right back with a 10-yard touchdown catch from wide receiver Thomas Owens to take the lead for the first time in the game 28-27 at halftime.
The second half started off with a Pirates touchdown drive that ended in a fumble into the endzone recovered by Redding for his second score of the game to put Pirates up by eight. Quad City wide receiver Keyvan Rudd scored a goal line touchdown to cut the deficit to two points after a failed two-point conversion attempt to tie the game.
The Steamwheelers were able to get the ball back with Jamon Williams’ second takeaway of the game, which led to another Neal touchdown run to put the Steamwheelers ahead 39-35 with 11 minutes left in the game. That is when Pirates kick returner and wide receiver, Dante Wright, returned an electric 50-yard touchdown that gave the Orlando crowd life.
The Steamwheelers put together a scoring drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown catch by wide receiver Quian Williams to take the lead 46-42 late in the fourth quarter. Murray caught a 25-yard touchdown for his first score of the game to give the lead back to Orlando with under two minutes in the game.
On the first play of the last potential drive for the Steamwheelers, Pirates linebacker Khari Coleman sacked the quarterback before the one-minute warning. Quad City threw three straight incompletions leading to a turnover-on-downs to give Orlando the ball back. The Steamwheelers were able to get the ball back with 22 seconds left in the game after the Pirates stalled on their last drive; but the Pirates defense was able to hold strong and held the Steamwheelers from scoring.
After being down 14 points in the first quarter and trading touchdowns with the Steamwheelers, the Orlando Pirates were able to squeeze out a win in their inaugural home game.
The Orlando Pirates are now 2–0 on the season, and will play their next game against the Tulsa Oilers at the Kia Center on Sunday, April 12 at 4 p.m.
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