European League of Football - Week 2 Recap

By Peter Mann

After an exciting opening week of the 2025 European League of Football season, only four of the leagues’ franchises remain unbeaten coming out of week two, although the rest of the season will be done with out MVP running back, Glen Toonga.

The former Rhein Fire star, who moved to the next, expansion franchise, Nordic Storm, registered his new employers’ first points of the season in the opening week, suffered a Ruptured Achilles Tendon late in the first half; prior to coming off Toonga has rushed for 114-yards and a TD.

As for week two itself, and as mentioned, just four franchises remain undefeated, one of whom, Rhein Fire, were inactive, so will look to stay that way next time out when they have a re-run of last season’s Championship Game, against the visiting Vienna Vikings.

JUST FOUR UNDEFEATED: Alongside RHEIN FIRE (1-0) and with two victories to kickstart their respective season’s, there is VIENNA VIKINGS, NORDIC STORM and MUNICH RAVENS (all 2-0).

The Vikings powered themselves to a 62-14 win at home to the Fehervar Enthroners, the Storm saw off their hosts the Wroclaw Panthers 40-21, and the Ravens won 38-16 at home to Berlin Thunder.

Last season’s runners-up would see quarterback Ben Holmes at the fore as he registered 4TDs, 1Int, 161yds in their high-scoring victory, the New York-native opening with a 44-yard throw for Noah Toure, and finishing with a 12-yarder for the same, in between he connected twice with Reece Horn, from six and ten yards respectively.

In taking care of the hosting Panthers, to move to 2-0 at the start of their run in the ELF, the Storm breezed to victory thanks to the other of their off-season signings from the Fire, star quarterback, Jadrian Clark, he registering an impressive 5TDs, 303yds and connected with Brendan Beaulieu (3, second was 53-yard throw), Simon Foens, and Adria Botella.

In the midst of all that, and late in the second quarter, there was also an equally impressive, left-sided 57-yard run from Alexander Chaanhing for a TD of his own, the Swedish running back putting up the numbers in the opening weeks.

And then there was the final game of the weekend’s action, an all-German clash between hosts Munich Ravens, and visiting Berlin Thunder, the hosts remaining undefeated in the opening throes of the season following a 38-16 victory.

Ravens QB, Russell Tabor, was at the forefront in this one (see below) as he picked off the Thunder early on, the hosts twenty-points to the good at the end of the first, and led by thirteen at the half; the hosts continued to push in the third and fourth, keeping themselves in the ascendency for another victory.

SCORE-FEST & BORE-FEST? Let’s start with a quick mention on the latter, the one-score game between hosts PARIS MUSKETEERS and visitors Stuttgart Surge, the Musketeers taking a 6-0 victory, that only score arriving in the first quarter when Jaylon Henderson with a 9-yard pass for Remi Bertellin to score; and that was pretty much that in a game the ELF had as the ‘Game of the Week.’ 

Sharp contrast though to the game in Spain, hosts Madrid Bravos and visitors FRANKFURT GALAXY putting up eighty-points between them, Galaxy emerging victorious 47-33, although it could have been anyone’s going into the fourth, they were tied at 27-apiece.

Some 1206 yards were registered between the two franchises, five players maxing out double figures with Matthew McCay (287yds) and Sandro Platzgummer (248yds) for the Galaxy, along with Reid Sinnett (485yds), Aron Cruickshank (229yds), and Justus Seelig (102yds) for the Bravos.

McCay (Galaxy) and Sinnett (Bravos) traded TDs with three apiece for their respective employer, whilst Patzgummer (Galaxy) stole the show in the fourth when rushing through for two TDs of his, the first from 41-yards, and the second, a lung-busting 88-yards, Gerald Amien with a 52-yarder of his own sandwiched between for the energetic victors.  

Surprisingly, neither side had registered any points in the opening quarter either, the victors hotting twenty in both the second and fourth, the Bravos edging the fourth, in a stunning clash.

RUSSELL TABOR quarterback for the MUNICH RAVENS, has enjoyed an impressive start to the 2025 season, helping his side to an unbeaten start.

Despite a low-scoring, season-opening, 20-7 success at home to Raiders Tirol, the former North Carolina Tar Heels player posted 2 TDs (3 overall), 206yds, 29yds rushing, following that with an even more impressive showing in the 38-16 success over Berlin Thunder for 4 TDs (5 overall), 206yds passing, 97yds rushing.

Tabor is one of seven, rookie quarterbacks, in the ELF this season, as he steps in to the boots of the Ravens’ now former, all-star QB, Chad Jeffries.  

RAIDERS TIROL & THE BATTLE OF THE ALPS RAIDERS TIROL saw off their cross-border rivals, Helvetic Mercenaries, for the latter’s second defeat of the season, as the Raiders moved 1-1 following a strong, 44-6 win.

Tobias Bonatti inspired the Raiders to success with the first three of his sides’ six TDs, Lukas Haslwanter with two and Jan Wiesauer the last; Bonatti’s opening two firing from range, the first with a fifty-yard rush, the second even further, from eighty-eight yards out.

The solitary reply for the Mercenaries was a third quarter 14yd, TD from Isaiah Weed to Ismael Schmid, but the hosts were already moving out of sight, a fact that was blitzed in the fourth quarter as the Raiders posted twenty without reply.

SANDRO PLATZGUMMER With only 48yds rushing in the season opening defeat to Stuttgart Surge, FRANKFURT GALAXY’s Austrian running back threw on the after-burners in the dominant, week two success at Madrid Bravos.

Part of the International Player Pathway Programme five years ago, Platzgummer joined NFL side, New York Giants, where he spent two years, before returning to Austria with the Raiders, before moving to Germany in March last year.

This season though, following the stutter against the Surge, the running back ran, and ran, and, for an impressive 248yds against the Bravos, surprisingly not the game’s highest marker either, with two other players posting higher (as mentioned above).

WEEK THREE will see a rematch of the 2024 Championship Game, the weekend’s final match seeing defending champions, RHEIN FIRE, play host to 2-0 VIENNA VIKINGS; the weekend begins with two winless sides looking to pick up their first of the season as PRAGUE LIONS head to Hungary and the FEHERVAR ENTRHONERS.

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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