Tulsa finished the IFL regular season with a dominant 66-42 victory over the Quad City Steamwheelers, Saturday night at Vibrant Arena at The Mark in Moline, Il.
With the win, the Oilers record improved to 11-5, the most wins in a season in team history and expanded their franchise-record win streak to nine games entering the playoffs. Quad City dropped to 5-11.
Tulsa will play at Jacksonville on Saturday in the first round of the playoffs.
Tulsa’s kicker Axel Perez opened the game with a deuce, by kicking the ball through the uprights on the kickoff, to give the Oilers an early 2-0 lead. Quad City answered with a 13-yard field goal to take a 3-2 advantage with 8:38 remaining in the first quarter.
Tulsa retook the lead when quarterback TJ Edwards II escaped pressure on fourth down and scrambled 12 yards for a touchdown. Quad City scored again before the end of the quarter, as Daquan Neal avoided a sack and lofted a touchdown pass to Keyvon Rudd to give the Steamwheelers a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Oilers answered quickly in the second quarter as Edwards connected with Ketron Jackson Jr. on a 7-yard touchdown pass along the goal line to make it 16-10 with 12:01 remaining in the half. On Quad City’s next possession, Mark Shepherd Jr. intercepted a pass in the end zone, and the Oilers capitalized immediately with a 45-yard touchdown strike to Jackson Jr., extending the Tulsa lead to 23-10.
The Steamwheelers answered with a touchdown but missed the extra point to make it 23-16. Tulsa responded once again as Edwards found Jerminic Smith Sr. on a 44-yard touchdown pass to give the Oilers a commanding 30-16 lead. Quad City added another touchdown but missed another extra point, trimming the deficit to 30-22.
Before halftime, Tulsa’s TJ Davis caught a 28-yard touchdown strike from Edwards and Tulsa led 37-22 at halftime.
The Oilers continued their dominance in the second half as Caleb Ramseur opened the third-quarter scoring with a 2-yard rushing touchdown to extend the lead to 44-22. After a Quad City score, Edwards connected with Davis again, this time on a five-yard slant making the score 52-28.
Tulsa scored again when Edwards powered his way through the defense with a four-yard rushing touchdown to stretch the lead to 59-28. Davis caught his third touchdown pass of the night, a seven-yard scoring play that put the Oilers ahead 66-36.
The Steamwheelers scored one more time to close out the game when Daquan Neal completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jazeric Peterson.
Tulsa outgained Quad City, 321-271, in total offensive yards. Edwards completed 15-of-22 passes for 238 yards and six touchdowns. He also carried the ball 35 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns. Smith led Tulsa’s receiving corps with five catches for 113 yards and one touchdown. Jackson finished with 48 yards on two receptions with two touchdowns. Davis totaled four catches for 46 yards and three touchdowns.
IFL PLAYOFFS
The Indoor Football League features the top four teams from each conference advancing to the playoffs. The No. 1 seed Green Bay (13-3) will host No. 4 seed Orlando (10-6), while No. 2 Jacksonville (11-5) hosts the No. 3 Tulsa (11-5).
In five regular-season games over three seasons, the Sharks lead the all-time series, 3-2, over the Oilers.
This is Tulsa’s second consecutive season to make the playoffs. Last year, the Oilers lost in the first round of the playoffs.