Leading to Austrian Bowl XXX, let’s look back at 2014 in the AFL!
The Austrian Football League 2014 season comes to an end on Saturday with Austrian Bowl XXX at NV Arena in St Pölten (kickoff 7 p.m. CET, 1 p.m. EST). Like the past three seasons, the two of Austria’s traditional power houses will face each other. In the semi-finals, the Raiffeisen Vienna Vikings took care of business against the Prague Black Panthers, 41-27, and the Swarco Raiders Tirol easily shut down the Danube Dragons, 34-00.
The 2014 AFL (Austrian Football League) season has been one of the most exciting in years. With only one import player allowed per team, no one team dominated the regular season and we saw a lot of close, exciting games. Let’s take a look back at the teams and season of the 2014 Austrian Football League.[/tps_header]
[tps_title]GRAZ GIANTS[/tps_title]
The Graz Giants are have had a full rebuilding year and they were the only team in the league without an import. Their 1-7 record does not reflect how hard they played and how close they were at times. They lost by one point to the Dragons, and by 12 combined points in two games against Prague. On top of that, it took double overtime for the finalist Raiders to overcome the Giants by only 3 points. Typical situations from a very young squad with not much experience. Beating the Vienna Vikings in a mud-fest was their only win of the year but with the development of quarterback Christoph Gubisch and running back Alexander Sanz, they have a bright future in front of them.
[tps_title]PRAGUE BLACK PANTHERS[/tps_title]
Even with a 3-5 AFL record,the Prague Black Panthers were the biggest surprise of the season. Thanks to the best offense in AFL and league MVP quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero (3162 yards 31 TDs), they were the most exciting team to watch and really competitive for the first time since joining the AFL in 2010. They lost four games by a combined 11 points and actually beat the Raiders on the last week of the regular season. We will see if they can build on that next year.
[tps_title]DANUBE DRAGONS[/tps_title]
At 4-4, the Danube Dragons are still in rebuilding mode since their championship in 2010. Even if you can start to finally see some good youngsters stepping up on both sides of the ball, their 34-0 loss vs the Raiders in semifinal showed that they still have a long way to go.
[tps_title]RAIFFEISEN VIENNA VIKINGS & SWARCO TIROL RAIDERS[/tps_title]
The Raffeisen Vienna Vikings and the Swarco Raiders had their share of ups and downs (both 6-2 record). Vikings lost to the Giants. Raiders to Prague. They both had an early exit from the Big 6 competition. The Viennese team lost a lot of veterans after their 2013 dream season and also had a bunch of key injuries during the year. But now they are chasing their first Austrian three-peat since 2003. On the other side, the Tyrolean staff has done a great job developing young players since their last championship in 2011, but they are still looking for that big statement win.
Keep your eyes on www.americanfootballinternational.com for a full preview of Austrian Bowl XXX!
