Adam Tadisch feels like a 335-pound man in need of a rope and tow truck.

"It's like quicksand,'' the hulking Quad-City Steamwheelers lineman said of a Wheelers losing streak that reached seven games after a 53-35 loss to the Manchester Wolves on Saturday at the i wireless Center.

The loss assured the franchise's 10th anniversary season will be the second losing campaign in club history, dropping coach Troy Biladeau's crew to 4-9 with three games left to play.

To make the playoffs, the Steamwheelers will need to win out and have a host of American Conference teams in front of them and beside them lose all of their remaining starts.

Tadisch said it's not about playoffs anymore. It's about pride.

"We can't give up," he said. "These next three games are going to show what kind of players we are and what kind of character we have. The easy thing to do would be to give up."

The Steamwheelers didn't do that Saturday, even when poor all-around play and breaks about as bad seemed to invite that.

To its credit, the home crew continued to battle, even after a blocked field goal was recovered for a Manchester touchdown and a 33-14 lead inside the final minute of the opening half.

The Steamwheelers scored before the half was over and then scored again to close to within 33-28.

But they fell back 46-28 after an offensive series that fairly epitomized their offensive struggles in the contest. After a Wolves score that made it 40-28, the Steamwheelers advanced to the Manchester 13 and then, in short order, went backwards on a sack, a false start, a delay, a waved-off catch and finally another sack that saw them turn it over on downs at their own 19.

"We make a lot of mistakes," Biladeau said of a group he initially thought could challenge for an af2 title.

Quarterback Brian Zybdniewski completed 16 of his 40 throws for 198 yards and five touchdowns. He was intercepted twice and fumbled the ball away once.

"That's horrible," Zybdniewski said of his third Q-C start.

Biladeau said he considered trying Zach Wells, the rookie backup QB from Muscatine, but said, "I wanted Zebby to tough it out. I wanted to give him the game."

Too, the coach stressed, "It wasn't all Zebby. There were guys dropping balls. Guys missing blocks.

Even standout receiver Jesse Schmidt struggled somewhat, sprinkling three drops among nine catches for 138 yards. He did surpass Shon King's franchise single-season record of 135 receptions by running his season total to 141 and also scored three touchdowns to break King's single-season total TD mark with his 48th score.

Schmidt thanked his teammates and said it's nice to keep company with King, but also said records don't ease the frustration of seven straight losses.

"I needed to step up and put the team on my shoulders," he said of the loss in front of 2,663 fans. "That didn't happen."

With 2,038 yards, Schmidt needs 42 to set a league record for receiving yards in a season and will seek the mark next week in Peoria.

SCOREBOARD

Score: Manchester 53, Quad-Cities 35

Next: The Steamwheelers travel to Peoria for a 7 p.m. start Friday. They'll close the season with home games July 11 vs. Green Bay and July 18 vs. Iowa. Gale Sayers will be in the house to sign autographs on the 11th.

Dent comes indoors: Former Bears great Richard Dent participated in the pre-game coin flip and signed autographs throughout the contest.

Dent has seen a few indoor football games, and, while the high-scoring affairs wouldn't seem to suit a defensive great such as the Super Bowl XX MVP, Dent said he enjoys the spectacle.

"I've seen a few,'' he said. "It's exciting. It's a quick game on a short field and you can do a lot of scoring.''

Defensive players have to have a different mindset than do their outdoor counterparts, he said.

"There is no field position,'' he said. "Every time you get the ball, you have good field position.''

Hats off to players: Dent made millions playing the game, but said he understands why af2 players take the field for $200 per week.

"You play for the love of the game,'' he said. "We all played for free at one point. Right now, someone is paying you for your services, and they could pay you more if you prove you can play in a bigger arena.''

Real volunteerism: Veteran Steamwheelers equipment manager Darrick Reaves is showing some serious love of the game.

Unpaid since being laid off by former owners A&J Football Inc., a month ago, Reaves contributes his services on Q-C game nights.

Recently, Reaves has been flying home to Virginia to work in the family garbage collection business and then flying back for games.

Lucky for him, his sister works for an airline.