LIVESTREAM Swedish Championship: Stockholm Mean Machines vs Örebro Black Knights, July 9, 16:00 CET (4 pm, 10:00 am ET)

The defending champion Örebro Black Knights will face the Stockholm Mean Machines in the Swedish Championship Game Saturday, July 9 at Behrn Arena in Örebro, Sweden.

This is the second year in a row that these two teams will battle to decide the Swedish title. The Black Knights defeated Stockholm in the 2021 final 28-14 to capture their first ever Swedish crown.

These two have met twice already this season with the Mean Machines coming out on top both times, 26-23 and 51-7.

Stockholm finished first in the regular season winning all six regular season games. Meanwhile, Örebro wound up second with a record of 3-3 after losing both games to Stockholm and then dropping a 35-16 decision to the Tyresö Royal Crowns.

Stockholm defeated the Royal Crowns in the semifinal 35-22 while the Black Knights disposed of archrivals, the Carlstad Crusaders, beating them 43-20.

For the Black Knights, 6’7″ quarterback Trevor Vasey has been outstanding. In the semifinal win, he threw for 286 yards and five touchdowns after an excellent regular season which saw him throw for 1,242 yards and 15 touchdowns in the six games in Sweden. His key weapons are the brothers Lindeus. Johannes had eight catches for 113 yards and three touchdowns in the semifinal win over Carlstad while younger brother Jesper had eight for 113 and two scores. Receiver Filip Wetterberg who missed most of the season for personal reasons, returned for the semifinal but was used sparingly. Expect to see more of him today.

Stockholm Mean Machines vs Örebro Black Knights, July 9, 16:00 CET (4 pm, 10:00 am ET)

Defensively, the front seven is anchored by linebackers Jonathan Armendariz who had four tackles and two interceptions last week, along with Filip Jönsson (4.5 tackles) while defensive linemen Martin Jäppinen and 6’3″, 307-pound Tristen Cox along with Team Sweden’s Sebastian Nilsson (7 tackles, 2 sacks), make for an impressive unit.

Stockholm is led by American quarterback Mark Pappas who paced the Superserien in passing yards this past season, throwing for 1,580 yards with his accurate arm. In the semifinal win over Tyresö, he threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns with Anton Blomgren as his main target. Blomgren hauled in 10 passes for 96 yards while Matt Retzlaff had five receptions for 79 yards. The three touchdown passes were caught by Johan Hallgren, Robin Gavelin and running back Oliwer Stedt. Stedt has been the league’s leading rusher this season and in the semifinal he rushed for 52 yards and two touchdowns.

In other words, Stockholm has plenty of weapons on offense.

 The Mean Machines also relied on their exceptional defensive talent to add tallies to their win column this season. Third year linebacker Adam Westin is a force to be reckoned with for offenses, finishing second in tackles and fourth in sacks. In the semifinal he had 3.5 tackles while Viljo Lempinen topped the Mean Machines with 6.5. Alexander Eshagi is another key in the Stockholm front seven. In the secondary,

This game could well boil down to the ground game and this is where Stockholm has the edge. The Mean Machines averaged 109 yards rushing per game this season while the Black Knights finished last in the four-team league with a 56.8 yard average. On the other hand, Örebro was the best team in Sweden against the run allowing only 56.2 a game while the Mean Machines were last.

This could be a classic final.

Watch the game live here. Stockholm Mean Machines vs Örebro Black Knights, July 9, 16:00 CET (4 pm, 10:00 am ET)