Islanders face first road test tonight at Quad City
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Hawaiian Islanders' Darrell Jones had a bad taste in his mouth after last year's game against the Quad City Steamwheelers in Moline, Ill.
It had a lot to do with what came out of the Quad City players' mouths before, during and after their 69-39 rout of the Islanders.
Some Quad City players continued the verbal jousting in the Islanders' hotel lobby after the game.
The Steamwheelers trash talked "from pregame warmups all the way to the end. Even at the sports bar after," said Jones, the offensive specialist.
"Everybody met up after the game. (The Steamwheelers were) just talking trash, you guys suck, you guys aren't ready to beat us."
The exchange of words at the hotel didn't bother Islanders quarterback Darnell Arceneaux.
"We had to go down there with our coaches and had some drinks. It was all good," Arceneaux said. "It's not anything to get up for. It's part of the game, you trash talk a little bit."
Arceneaux added opposing players often meet up after games and the host team shows the visitors around town.
When the Islanders rallied to beat the Steamwheelers, 56-55, later in the year, Arceneaux said some Islanders showed the Steamwheelers players around Waikiki and did a little trash talking of their own.
The Islanders expect Quad City will be looking for payback tonight at The Mark of the Quad-Cities arena. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. HST.
Quad City is in Davenport, Iowa, but the team's home games are played across the Mississippi River in Moline.
"They're waiting for us up there after what happened last season," said kicker Kimo Naehu.
Jones said: "I know they're looking for revenge. Gotta be."
Quad City second-year coach Rich Ingold downplayed the revenge factor.
"Not at all," he said. "We were up by 20 points (21-0 early in second quarter) at one point in that game. We self-destructed. One thing we preach to our team is to protect the ball. They understand those guys don't quit, they play 60 minutes."
It's the season opener for Quad City, which won the first two arenafootball2 titles, but fell to 10-6 last year and was banned from the postseason for violating player compensation guidelines.
"The glaring thing about this team is we have great team speed at the wide receiver and defensive back position," Ingold said. "Last year we played with a lot of rookies, and now we have a lot of returnees. The experience factor will help us."
It's the first road game for the Islanders (1-0), who are coming off a 48-37 win over the expansion Green Bay Blizzard on Sunday.
"We get to go cross country and play our opponent," head coach Cal Lee said. "The players are excited after last week's game and looking forward to another exciting game."
Robert Kemfort (wide receiver/linebacker), Roy Ma'afala (lineman) and Taulia Lave (tight end/defensive lineman), all of whom played last week, didn't make the trip because of work-related reasons.
Evile Puna (tight end/defensive lineman), Mike Funaro (wide receiver/defensive back) and Feiamma "Flex" Armstrong (wide receiver/defensive back) took their places on the travel roster.
Josh "Zeus" White will shift from fullback to tight end.
"There are a few guys not making the trip and that happens," Lee said. "The guys that are going to come in, they have to step up and play bigger."
Notes: The team left Honolulu Airport at 10:05 p.m. Wednesday and was expected to take 15 hours to reach Davenport, according to Islanders director of communications Thomas Yoshida. The trip includes a layover in Los Angeles, a flight to Chicago and a three-hour drive to Davenport. ... Quad Cities comprises Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island in Illinois. The two states are separated by the Mississippi River.
