The Thonon Black Panthers will play host to Italian defending champions, the Milano Seamen, Saturday, May 25 in the final game of the Central European Football League tournament for both clubs.
Thonon lost in their opening round game to Austria’s Swarco Raiders 41-7 and then the Seamen suffered the same fate, losing to the Raiders 50-23. With those losses, both teams were eliminated from title aspirations as Swarco has moved on to the championship final.
The Black Panthers are coming off a 74-0 demolishing of the Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons to end the French Federation of American Football regular season. Thonon finished the year undefeated, averaging 42.5 points a game.
Thonon quarterback Clark Evans was the rushing leader in France but his backfield also includes very effective Swedish running back Kasper Wedberg. His receiving corps is talented with both Jefferson Alexandre and Damien Di Cursi able to stretch defenses.
In the Italian league, the Seamen have finished their regular season in first place behind an explosive offense. QB Luke Zahradka leads the country in passing having thrown for 1,864 yards and a league-best 27 TDs. His favorite targets have been Stefano Di Tunisi (596 yds) and Xavier Mitchell (523 yds), who are 3rd and 4th in the league in receiving yards per game.