ELF Recap: Week 10

By Peter Mann

These are very much interesting times across the European League of Football of late, and, this past weekend, expansion franchise, Nordic Storm, showed some heavy involvements; there was the usual successes on the field. Having seen their game against Helvetic Mercenaries postponed a few weeks back, the Storm were awarded that game, whilst off-the-field, they also threw their weight behind the European Football Alliance.

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL ALLIANCE GATHERS MORE SUPPORT Eight ELF franchises recently announced an Alliance, for a better future, of the game across Europe.

The founding members of this are Vienna Vikings, Frankfurt Galaxy, Rhein Fire, Paris Musketeers, Madrid Bravos, Wroclaw Panthers, Prague Lions, and Raiders Tirol; the mission statement saying that: “The alliance was formed with a shared mission: to raise the quality, sustainability, and visibility of tackle football throughout Europe. By fostering collaboration, sharing resources, and promoting best practices, the EFA seeks to build stronger franchises, engage communities more deeply, and ensure the sport’s long-term success on the continent.”

The Storm became the tenth member of that Alliance, adding themselves that: “We believe in the future of our sport, and we’re committed to shaping it together.”

CLARK CONTINUES TO SHOW WHY HE’S THE MVP Former Hamburg Sea Devils and Rhein Fire quarterback, last season’s MVP and two-time ELF Championship-winner, JADRIAN CLARK (Nordic Storm), not only helped the Scandinavians to another victory, but broke one of his records along the way.

Back in the 2022 season, against former ELF franchise, Istanbul Rams, Clark posted a league high 514yds passing; fast forward three years and he’s at it again, this time in the win over Berlin Thunder, posting 519yds passing to set a new record.

This season alone Clark, the former Weber State Wildcats QB, already has 2619yds and 37 TDs to his name, whilst also holding four of the top-five, single-game passing yards records in the league. It looks set to be another standout campaign for the American.

GALAXY AND BRAVOS BOTH STORM TO BIG WINS ON THE ROAD As road wins go, those collected by FRANKFURT GALAXY (74-10) at Cologne Centurions, and for MADRID BRAVOS (61-6 at Helvetic Mercenaries) were as routine as they come, against two of the league’s winless franchises.

Galaxy travelled to Cologne on Saturday night and, despite a quiet opening quarter, produced a very damaging second in which they registered 51, unanswered points (seven TDs and a FG); four of their thirteen scores actually came via that method as Ryan Rimmler kicked from 40yds. 23yds, 38yds, and 37yds respectively.

QB Jameson Wang impressed for Galaxy, registering 173yds, 5TDs, hitting WR’s Brevin Easton twice, Kevin Kaya, Nico Strahmann, and Paul Kavadia-Lenhardt, whilst RB Gerald Ameln added 56yds, 1TD (rush) in the rout; meanwhile CB Bijon Harris returned two failed punts from the Centurions (David Immel and Jens Appelt) for 73yds and 83yds TDs.

Meanwhile, the Bravos were in Switzerland, facing the Mercenaries, also running in nine TDs in the opening Sunday game; the hosts registering themselves with the games’ last score.

The Bravos, like Galaxy the day before, were seemingly unstoppable, finding themselves 41pts to the good at half-time, and 48-up at the end of the third quarter with Reid Sinnett, another MVP hopeful, posting 276yds, 4TDs (pass) and 21yds, 1TD (rush), with further scores coming from RBs Justus Seelig 43yds, 2TDs (rush) and Gonzalo Haro 34yds, 2TDs (rush), WR Aron Cruickshank with 134yds, 2TDs (rec) also to his name.

STORM, VIKINGS AND RAVENS MAINTAIN IMPRESSIVE, WINNING RECORDS This season’s big three continued their impressive season with statement wins over this past weekend, strengthening their respective, playoff credentials.

NORDIC STORM (9-0) edged a high-scoring encounter in Germany, coming from behind midway through the second quarter before easing to a 53-35 success; VIENNA VIKINGS (8-1) inflicted a first-half shut-out to dominate Wroclaw Panthers in a 38-12 victory, whilst MUNICH RAVENS (8-1) edged Raiders Tirol 31-24 in a battle in Austria.

The Storm, who clinched the North and moved to 9-0 earlier in the week after being awarded victory following the postponement of the game against Helvetic Mercenaries, claimed their eighth, on-field success, following the high-scoring game in Berlin, against the Thunder.

Level at halfway, the hosts led for most of the opening salvo before the visitors spun the contest late in the second quarter; Jakeb Sullivan (Thunder) and Jadrian Clark (Storm) traded TDs in the first half, registering three apiece, Sullivan’s 40yds hit to Niklas Schumm the pick of the six.

Sullivan and the Thunder kept themselves in the contest during the second half, Nils Schauerte with a 35yd FG at the end of the third quarter pulling them within ten points; the Storm however kept themselves in the driving seat as five further scores were shared in the fourth.

Clark would finish the high-octane contest with stats of 519yds, 7TDs, Simon Foens and Adria Botella three-time recipients apiece, the former 104yds, 3TDs (rec) and the latter 103yds, 3TDs (rec), with Brendan Beaulieu also in there with 134yds, 1TD (rec); in reply Sullivan notched 382yds, 5TDs (pass) to Niklas Schumm 114yds, 2TDs (rec) and Nicolai Schumann 34yds, 2TDs (rec).

The Vikings meanwhile put on a first-half shut-out when in Poland, eventually moving to 28-0 in the third quarter before the hosting, Wroclaw Panthers, got on the board, the visitors with five TDs and a FG, the latter, Dennis Tasic’s 25yd kick, finishing the Vikings’ scoring after Ben Holmes had posted 186yds, 3TDs, alongside Karri Pajarinen 147yds, 1TD, and Florian Wegan 15yds, 1TD (rush), with Demarcus Irons 266yds, 2TDs in reply.

As for the Ravens, they edged a classic battle in Austria, 31-24 at Raiders Tirol, 4TDs and FG to 3TDs and a FG as the Raiders put on a first quarter, and the Ravens a fourth quarter shut-out, it was one of those matches,

Rushing scores opened and closed the games’ scoring as well, Lukas Haslwanter four yards down the middle at the start, whilst Russell Tabor (who else) finished with middle score from a yard out; Justin Rodney also posted 131yds, 2TDs (rush) for the Ravens whilst in a role-reversal, Malik Stanley hit Tabor from close-range with N’Kosi Perry 177yds, 2TDs, both to Markus Schaberi, replying for the hosts.

Those respective field goals, they came courtesy of Jonata Loria (Raiders), and Daniel Schweiger (Ravens), both from 33yds, within a couple of minutes of each other, in the third quarter.

SCHUMM AND SCHUMANN IMPRESS FOR THUNDER IN STORM DEFEAT WR NIKLAS SCHUMM and TE NICOLAI SCHUMANN impressed for the Berlin Thunder as they were eventually pushed aside by Nordic Storm, in Germany.

Both were recipients of receiving TDs, two apiece as 25-year-old Schumm, formerly with Frankfurt Galaxy, continues his season-on-season improvement, putting on 114yds, 2TDs against Storm, 5yds and 40yds passes from Jakeb Sullivan.  

Aging Tight End, 33-year-old Schumann meanwhile has been with the franchise into his fifth season, continuing to show his reliability whilst against the Storm posted 34yds, 2TDs, 4yds and 11yds from Sullivan.

Onto WEEK ELEVEN, which opens with an, on-paper mismatch for the ages, VIENNA VIKINGS (8-1) hosting one of the three, winless franchises, in FEHERVAR ENTHRONERS (0-9) opening proceedings, and another of those, COLOGNE CENTURIONS (0-9) travel to PARIS MUSKETEERS (5-4).

Interesting clashes on Sunday meanwhile sees NORDIC STORM (9-0) put their unbeaten record on the line away to FRANKFURT GALAXY (4-5), MUNICH RAVENS (8-1) host WROCLAW PANTHERS (5-4), whilst the weekend closes with an all-German humdinger in Duisburg as RHIEN FIRE ( 5-4) welcome BERLIN THUNDER (3-6); it’s set for a rollercoaster….

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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