ELF Week 8 Top Performances offer a couple of surprises

| American Football | 07/26/2023

This week was a continuation of the close, exciting games that the European League of Football has seen recently but which were lacking in a big way in the first weeks of the season.

We saw the Galaxy win another game on a game-winning field goal by Ryan Rimmler and the Raiders beat the Ravens 25-24 before lighting up the ELF world with the Christian Strong-Jarvis McClam news. There were fewer games for individuals to showcase their abilities with two canceled games this week with Prague joining Leipzig in their troubles in the league. Drama aside, let’s get straight into it.

Markell Castle – Munich Ravens

5 Catches – 164 Yards – 2 TDs

Castle is the first, and currently, the only, receiver this season to hit the 1,000 yards mark and is a strong Offensive Player of the Year front-runner. In this game, he also broke past the 10 touchdown mark and beyond, and is sitting in second in receiving touchdowns. His ability to score long tempo-changing scores was once again displayed, with a 60-yard score to put his team inches from victory, but his Ravens were beaten by a single point in the fourth quarter.  Markell just continues to prove he’s in the elite class of ELF players.

Phileas Pasqualini #35 – Stuttgart Surge

15 Rushes – 115 Yards – 3 TDs – 3 Catches – 18 Yards

The Surge needed a big statement after last week’s worryingly comfortable loss to the Guards. Their offense had a new look at quarterback and the mid-season signing of Pasqualini took a lot of pressure off the offense and put it into his own hands. A total of 18 touches for the German, totaling 132 yards and a trio of scores to get the Surge back on track for their playoff push. He ran hard and found the openings that the defense allowed. His offensive line deserves praise for their unit performance, and his stat totals are representative of that.

Devan Burrell #25 – Milano Seamen

192 Kick Return Yards – 1 TD

5 Total Tackles – 1 Pass Breakup – 1 Interception (33 Yards)

Do new team debuts get any better than an opening kick-off return touchdown and a fourth quarter interception? Burrell was a bright spot on the Kings team before the folding and it was music to people’s ears in Italy to hear that he’d signed to Milano. The stats that show the overall impact of Burrell and the passing defense is that only 76 passing yards were accumulated with three interceptions. A total of 225 all-purpose yards would have any player on this weekly list, let alone in a debut and as a defensive back, he had more yards on kick returns than the Guards had on offence.

Ken Hike Jr – Helvetic Guards

6 Total Tackles – 1 TFL – 1 Fumble Recovery & 100 Yard TD – 2 Pass Breakups –

1 Blocked Kick – 194 All-Purpose yards – 1 Punt Return TD

From one outstanding performance by a defensive back to the next as Ken Hike Jr was spectacular in the Guards‘ 34-21 victory over the Milano Seamen. Deserving of the first defensive player to win Player of the Week this season, in my opinion. The Guards’ offense was, for lack of a better term, atrocious. However, Hike Jr took the team to victory with not only a punt return touchdown but also a 100-yard fumble recovery touchdown. It wasn’t without its controversy as Milano players protested that the ball broke the plane of the goal line, but at the end of the day, it counted. The Guards have extended their win streak to three behind Hike Jr’s production and if the offense can catch up, we could have a surprise wildcard team.

Aaron Jackson – Berlin Thunder

Berlin WR Aaron Jackson #4 Photo: @eric.muehle

8 Catches – 56 Receiving Yards – 178 KR Yards – 1 Kick Return TD – 49 PR Yards (283 All-Purpose)

The Berlin offense was somewhat stifled in their game against the Vienna Vikings but Jackson was not kept quiet and put up a fight. His 56 receiving yards may not be an excellent stat line but when it comes to the 283 All-Purpose yards and opening kick-off return that remained the only Berlin score it becomes more evident. Having narrowly lost 16-6 if just one more of his field positioning expertise was utilized, it could have been a huge upset.

 

Many more defensive players were putting in serious performances, the league has been hyper-offensive friendly but it’s refreshing to see more defenses competing. There were exceptions of course, but the close games over the weeks have been plentiful, whereas before, we were starved of any close games. Onto the next week. Until next time.

Honorable Mentions:

Jean Constant – Milano Seamen – 9 Catches – 140 Yards – 1 TD. 204 All Purpose Yards

Jarvis McClam – Tirol Raiders – 47 Receiving Yards – 2 Receiving TDs – 113 KR Yards – 67 PR Yards (227 All-Purpose)

Amin Black – Munich Ravens – 14 Total Tackles – 1 Sack – 4 TFLs – 1 Forced Fumble