The newly crowned European Football League champion Thonon Black Panthers (8-2) will take on the Aix-en-Provence Argonautes (5-5) today in the second semifinal in the Fédération Française de Football Américain 2017 season at Moynat stadium in Thonon-les-Bains.
The Black Panthers are fresh off of their victory over the Milano Rhinos in the EFL title game.
In the first semifinal last weekend, the La Courneuve Flash defeated the Rouen Leopards 40-16.
During the regular season in France, the two teams met twice. In the first encounter, the Argonautes defeated Thonon in the opening game of the year, 27-21. In that game, Aix-en-Provence quarterback Jimmie Russell only threw for 65 yards and a touchdown, but he ran for almost 100 yards and scored the other three touchdowns for the Argonautes. Thonon’s defense has to be able to keep Russell in the pocket. He was the fifth leading rusher in France in 2017 with 693 yards rushing. He also ran for 13 touchdowns.
The Black Panthers won the second game 28-7 behind the running of Stephen Yepmo who had 85 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Still, Thonon’s high-powered offense topped the league and was led by running back Andreas Betza who led the league in rushing, with 1,211 yards and 21 touchdowns, despite missing two games due to injury. He averaged 151 yards and 2.6 touchdowns a game. Teammate Yepmo is also dangerous.
The difference could be defense. The Black Panthers had the second best defense in France in 2017 allowing only 16 points a game while Aix-en-Provence gave up an average of 23.5.
The winner of this game advances to the French championship game – Casque de Diamant – June 24 against the La Courneuve Flash.
LIVE STREAM: France Semi-Finals – Thonon Black Panthers host Aix-en-Provence Argonautes
Demi-Finale 2017 – Black Panthers VS Argonautes by blackpanthers-football
