Sunday August 16th features the defending Danish defending champion Triangle Razorbacks visiting the Aarhus Tigers. This is the first game of the season for both teams.
The defending champion Triangle Razorbacks are going into the 2020 season looking to defend their 2019 Mermaid Bowl title. They will return most of their 2019 squad including veteran quarterback Reed Gottula and Danish league MVP Niko Lester. Lester amassed 2,589 all-purpose yards and 30 touchdowns last year for the Razorbacks including 2 touchdowns in the Mermaid Bowl. Adrian Jimenez, a Spanish running back who last played for the Hildesheim Invaders (Germany) and Osas Rivas (Spain) will be a good addition for the offense. Jimenez is known as a powerful runner and good blocker. The Razorbacks also return offensive lineman Matthias Stockamp and center Mikkel Hansen.
Triangle Razorbacks @ Aarhus Tigers, Aug. 16, 14:00 CET (08:00 ET)
Defensively the Razorbacks added former Munich Cowboys (Germany) defensive lineman EJ Parnell. In the secondary, defensive coordinator Kim Ewe will be relying on Martin Jepsen and Simon Knudsen at the corner spots with Henrik K. Dinesen and Niko Lester at safety.
“Defense is where I expect to see the biggest jump compared to the regular season last year when we were really decimated at DB, relying on a lot of non-defensive backs filling in. We’ve had a good long offseason of preparation, and personnel wise, the secondary group has now gotten to be a real strength.”
The Aarhus Tigers will enter the season under the leadership of first year head coach Jonn Mathews. Mathews played four seasons for the Tigers before hanging up his cleats. The goal for his team is develop the entire program as a whole and focus on young players.
“I know I keep saying it, but we have a chance to really work on development this season. We want our Danish players to be ready. Our top 10 players can match any other team’s top 10 players, but it’s the next 10 to 25 players that make the difference and that’s where we need to focus this season.”
At quarterback Mathews has two potential playmakers, Christoffer Bay Carstens and U19 Danish national team quarterback Alexander Schwartz. Two other young pieces Mathews has are wide receiver Magnus Urth and defensive back Milos Illic both are very athletic players with high ceilings.
The Tigers and Razorbacks matchup is the last of five games happening in Scandinavia this weekend. It will be interesting to see how the young guns in Aarhus matchup against a proven veteran Razorbacks squad.
Watch the game live here. Triangle Razorbacks @ Aarhus Tigers, Aug. 16, 14:00 CET (08:00 ET)
Triangle Razorbacks + Aarhus Tigers rosters (Click on image to enlarge)
