Key stats leaders stay on top as Italian season winds up

Italy’s Div. I wound up the regular season this past weekend with all the stats leaders holding on to their top spots while a couple of new faces entered the lists.

Mialno Seamen QB Luke Zahradka topped the passing yardage list to end the season while Silas Nacita of the Firenze Guelfi wound up as the leading rusher and Bolzano Giants WR Mark Simone finished the year as the wire-to-wire leading receiver.

The league #1 Milano Seamen finished with three players among the top five in the three offensive categories. The Bolzano Giants, Firenze Guelfi,  Torino Giaguari and Ancona Dolphins each had two while the Lazio Ducks,, Parma Panthers, Bergamo Lions and Bologna Warriors have one player each. This is only the second time this season that all nine teams have representation on at least one of the lists.

Passing

Luke Zahradka of the Milano Seamen held on to the passing yardage lead and finished the year with 1,864 yards and a league-best 27 TDs. Mark Wright of the Torino Giaguari has climbed all the way up into 2nd to end the year  with 1,839 yards and 21 TDs after throwing for 627 yards in his final two games, wins over the Bologna Warriors and Ancona Dolphins which lifted Torino into the playoffs.  Bolzano Giants QB Austin Gahafer slid to 3rd with 1,759 yards and 21 TDs. Lazio Ducks QB Tyler Johnson is 4th with 1.463 yards and 17 TDs. Ancona Dolphins QB Nelson Hughes ended the year in 5th with 1,452 yards and 14 TDs.

Rushing

Firenze Guelfi’s Silas Nacita scored 5 TDs and rushed for 210 yards in the Guelfi’s 41-17 romp over the Bergamo Lions. He upped his final rushing total to 1,146 yards with by far the league’s best 20 TDs.  James Flanders of the Warriors finished the year with 599 yards while Bergamo Lions QB Andrea Fimiani wound up with 507 yards finishing 3rd.  Parma Panthers running back Modeste Pooda  dropped to 4th with 473 yards while while Guelfi QB Lynx Hawhorne finished the season in 5th with 471 yards.

Receiving

Bolzano Giants WR Mark Simone has led all receivers in Italy the entire season and ended it the same way winding up with 959 yards and a league-best 13 receiving TDs. Ancona Dolphins WR Dylan Robertson ended with 619 yards, good for 2nd. Stefano Di Tunisi of the Milano Seamen wound up 3rd with his 596 yards while his teammate Xavier Mitchell finished 4th with 523 yards. Torino Giaguari WR Michael Wacoubo managed to finish the season in 5th after a pair of big games and had 447 yards receiving and 14 TDs.

Graphics: Igor Lazarevic

Roger Kelly is an editor and a writer for AFI. A former PR Director the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League for 7 years, he now lives in Sweden writing about and scouting American Football throughout the world.