The unbeaten (3-0) Badalona Dracs will host the winless (0-3) Gijon Mariners Sunday, February 23 at Camp de Futbol Pomar in Barcelona as the Spanish League of American Football heads into its fourth weekend of play.
The Dracs have begun to flex their muscles and pummelled the Zaragoza Hurricanes 52-14 two weeks ago. Badalona defeated the L’Hospitalet Pioners 40-21 the week before that week in a comfortable win after struggling to get by Madrid’s Osos Rivas 10-7 in the season opener. Meanwhile, the Mariners are coming off three straight losses after losing to Osos Rivas 40-21, the Zaragoza Hurricanes 8-6 and L’Hospitalet Pioners 29-22 to open the season. In that first game, Gijon had held a 21-20 lead with less than four minutes remaining before L’Hospitalet scoring the winning touchdown.
Dracs new quarterback Anthony Gardner, a veteran of European football and a prolific passer, tossed six touchdown passes in the win over the Hurricanes, making it 12 in total in the two games he has played. Marquese Surrell has caught five of those while Niko Lester has hauled in four.
Gardner, who played for the Ingolstadt Dukes in the German Football League in 2019 and was the leading passer in the Austrian Football League in 2017 with the Ljubjana Silverhawks. Gardner proved his worth in last week’s win over the Pioners throwing six touchdown passes, two to Niko Lester, two to Marquese Surrell and one each to Guillem García and Charlemagne Take.
Mariners head coach Daniel Castañón, has an all Spanish lineup and is testing the skills of the club’s junior players who have moved up. His squad will be sorely tested today. Badalona’s offense kicks into high geat quickly. The Dracs took a 32-0 first quarter lead against Zaragoza and basically cruised to the win after that.