Milano Seamen stay unbeaten in Italy, trounce Parma Panthers

The Milano Seamen, reigning champions of Italy, seem to be on their way to the second straight title run after manhandling the only other undefeated team in Italy, the Parma Panthers, beating them 35-13.

Although these two teams are not cross-town rivals, the intensity of the rivalry was apparent. Over the past eight years, the Panthers and Seamen have combined for seven Italian championships with Parma winning four and the Seamen three. The only blemish is the Milano Rhino’s title in 2016.

This was a night for Xavier Mitchell, the leading receiver in the Italian league, who scored three first half touchdowns as quarterback Luke Zahardka simply picked apart the Panthers secondary en route to a 21-6 halftime lead. Parma was only able to muster two field goals as the Seamen’s  defense stiffened in the red zone.

In the second half, Zahardka connected with the fourth leading receiver in Italy,  Stefano Di Tunisi who made a spectacular touchdown catch with two defenders all over him. Then, with Milano seemingly trapped deep in their own zone, Paul Morant caught the Panthers special teams napping, pulling down a punt snap and racing virtually untouched 75 yards for a touchdown.

Parma quarterback Tommaso Monardi finally found Tommaso Finadri  in the corner of the end zone late in the fourth quarter to make the final score 35-13 for Milano.

With the win, the Seamen sit comfortably atop the standings in Italy with a 6-0 record while Parma is second at 4-1.

Watch the game highlights.