The ‘Wheelers and Barnstormers later became af2 rivals in 2001, before Iowa went dormant for seven seasons, returning to face QC for the last two af2 campaigns in 2008-09.

The Barnstormers later played in a re-constituted AFL (2010-14) before joining the IFL in 2015 with Green Bay, another former af2 foe for QC.

“We’re polishing up the (Pilot Wheel and Prop) trophy,” John Pettit, the Barnstormers’ vice president and chief operating officer, said about the traveling treasure Foster founded for the winner of the games between Iowa and QC.

New Cedar Rapids GM Ryan Eucker also is ecstatic to be getting a backyard bragging rights series.

“This is a win for our fans, our players and our league,” said Eucker, the IFL’s 2016 Executive of the Year during his tenure with another old af2 club, the Spokane Shock. “This just takes everything up a notch.”

Bland was first approached with an invitation to attend the IFL’s United Bowl championship game won by the hosting Barnstormers in July.

“I was very transparent with the CIF during the whole process,” Bland said. “We withdrew from the league July 16, and told them we’d be a free agent to review what direction we wanted to go.