AFI’s Recap covers a great weekend of regular season, playoff and championship games
It was another busy weekend of football in Europe with 16 games on schedules.
The European League of Football had its second weekend of the inaugural 2021 season while Central European Football League title game took place. In addition, Finland’s Maple League, Switzerland’s National Liga A, Denmark’s National League, the German Football League, Polish Football League and Sweden’s Superserien were all in action.
Behind 138 yards rushing by Jake Mayon, the Potsdam Royals rolled to 3-0 with a 31-7 win over GFL North rivals the Cologne Crocodiles to remain the only unbeaten team in the division.
Despite having to rely on their third string quarterback for most of the game, the Søllerød Gold Diggers took control early and never let up, going on to defeat the Triangle Razorbacks by a convincing 24-10 score in Danish National League action.
The Berlin Rebels had more trouble than anticipated against the winless Kiel Baltic Hurricanes but managed to pull away with a late touchdown to finally win 28-14.
The Carlstad Crusaders found themselves trailing twice in the final regular season matchup with the Örebro Black Knights but scored two unanswered touchdowns late in the game to come away with a 34-27 victory. However, despite the loss, the Black Knights finished the season in first place for the first time in their history.
The Dresden Monarchs produced the biggest surprise of the week in the German Football League when they knocked off the defending (2019) German champion Braunschweig New Yorker Lions 35-27. It was the first loss by the Lions since 2018.
The Calanda Broncos looked just as dominant in Switzerland as they ever have with a 31-6 win over the Winterthur Warriors.
The Allgäu Comets took their second straight win in downing the Munich Cowboys 20-17 in the German Football League South division. The Comets trailed for most of the game but scored the winning touchdown with just over a minute left in the game.
In ELF action, the Frankfurt Galaxy jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead over the Stuttgart Surge and then cruised to a 42-20 win, improving their record to 1-1.
In the only Saturday ELF game of the weekend, Poland’s Wroclaw Panthers proved they are for real by handing the Leipzig Kings a 54-28 loss. This was the Panthers second straight lopsided win following last week’s 55-29 defeat of Berlin.
Cologne Centurions running back Madre London rushed for 352 yards and four touchdowns in leading his team to a 40-12 win over the Barcelona Dragons as the European League of Football wound up its second weekend of play.
The Stockholm Mean Machines finished up the regular season in the Swedish Superserien by whipping the Uppsala 86ers 43-0, securing a date in the semifinals against the Carlstad Crusaders.
The Tychy Falcons, still without starting quarterback Gabriel Losada, managed to defeat the Krakow Kings in the Polish Football League Wild Card Round 21-7 and advance to the PFL semifinals.
The Seinäjoki Crocodiles opened their Finnish Maple League season with an impressive 33-0 shut out of last year’s semifinalists, the Wasa Royals. Crocodiles running back Christian Powell led the way rushing for 156 yards and 2 TDs.
The Stuttgart Scorpions won their first game of the German Football League season with a 55-20 thrashing of the hapless Frankfurt Universe.
In perhaps the best game of the weekend in Europe, Germany’s Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns scored the winning touchdown with 12 seconds remaining following an 11 play, 85 yard drive, to defeat the Swarco Raiders 22-16 in Innsbruck, Austria, to capture the Central European Football League crown.
In the other nail-biting finish of the weekend, the Silesia Rebels Katowice scored the winning touchdown with seconds remaining to defeat the Warsaw Mets 26-21 in Warsaw and move on to the Polish Football League semifinals.
The Saarland Hurricanes scored 28 fourth quarter points to defeat the Ravensburg Razorbacks 38-31 in the German Football League South to improve to 3-1 in the standings.
