LIVESTREAM France: Cannes Iron Mask @ Marseille Blue Stars, May 4, 20:00 CET (8 pm, 2 pm EDT).

AFI | American Football | 05/04/2024

Graphic: Igor Lazarevic

The Cannes Iron Mask (3-4) pay a visit to Marseille, Saturday, May 4 to take on the conference leading Marseille Blue Stars (6-0-1) in a key matchup for both teams chasing playoff positioning in the French D1 Elite league.

This is the second game between the two teams this year. The Blue Stars took the first one 29-0 back on April 6.

The Blue Stars have won six games this season and tied another. Marseille beat the Aix Argonauts 34-6 and Toulouse 22-7 and followed that up by downing the Nice Dauphins 13-7 before blanking the Cannes Irons Mask 29-0. In back to back meetings with the Grizzlys Catalans, Marseille took the first one 28-20 and then tied the other 14-14. Last week, they got by the Toulouse Ours 14-13.

The Iron Mask will be trying to regain momentum after finally halting a four game skid after they opened the season in impressive fashion by knocking off the Nice Dauphins 19-6 and following that up with a 35-8 pounding of the Aix Argonautes. After that they lost to the Grizzlys Catalans 45-7, the Toulouse Ours 14-10, the Marseille Blue Stars 29-0 and Nice Dauphins 2016 before beating the lowly Aix Argonautes 11-7.

Blue Stars quarterback Hadrian Lynda is the second leading passer in the league having thrown for 1,244 yards and nine touchdowns. Pedro Rosa has caught 39 passes for 378 yards, good for second overall in France, while teammate Vincent Monteiro has 32 receptions for 353 yards.

The Iron Mask are led by Hungarian national team quarterback, Mate Hegedus who has thrown for 806 yards as well as receivers Damien Floury and Nassem Ouais. Yanis Polin is one of the top running backs in the league having rushed for 425 yards and a league best seven rushing touchdowns. Defensive back Christian Koukoua has been a key in the defensive secondary and is tied for third in the league with two picks.

This will be an uphill battle for the Iron Mask. They will need their offense to find life again against the stingiest defense in the league.