ELF Recap: Week 9

By Peter Mann

Several, high-octane games of football, highlighted the ELF this past weekend, with the narrow victories, in the final two outings of the weekend, both Nordic Storm, and Wroclaw Panthers, among those to feature. There were also successes for the like of Munich Ravens, and Madrid Bravos, as the hunt for the play-offs turned up a gear.

THREE OUT OF FOUR DIVISIONAL LEADERS HAVE SEVEN VICTORIES APIECE There’s a high percentage that these franchises will now make the play-offs with three of the four divisional leaders on seven wins apiece following the weekend’s games.

In the North Division, NORDIC STORM (7-0) are the only, undefeated franchise in the play-off hunt, and continued their impressive start to the season with a fourth quarter rally, and a come-from-behind, 25-24 win; whilst the VIENNA VIKINGS (East Division, 7-1) and MUNICH RAVENS (South Division, 7-1) have both lost one apiece as the former edged a thriller in France, toppling the Paris Musketeers 40-33, and the latter, they opened the weekend with a hard-fought, 34-20 success at Helvetic Mercenaries.

Meanwhile, the remaining divisional leader, Stuttgart Surge, sit 6-2 atop of the West Division, with the Musketeers breathing hard down their necks.

Jadrian Clark led the STORM to a stunning win against his former employers, Rhien Fire (4-4) when posting 304yds, 4TDs (passing), as Bendan Beaulieu, Simon Foens, Adria Botella, and Jonathan Nielsen, all recipients of his work, this after the Fire had led through a TD from Chad Jeffries to Justin Schlesinger, then a FG from Erritros Haggi, had the hosts 24-12 to the good.

Jeffries would finish the contest with 155yds, 1TD (passing), and 30yds, 1TD (rushing) as they failed to capitalise, and close down, their opponents.

The VIKINGS continued their fine form with an impressive win in Paris, despite being out-scored in the second and fourth quarters as Ben Holmes led the way with 269yds, 3TDs, and ably assisted by rushing scores from Karri Pajarinen’s 67yds, 2TDs, and Florian Wegan’s 43yds, 1TD.

Replying, Jaylon Henderson notched up 231yds, 2TDs (passing), and 133yds, 1TD (rushing) for the Musketeers, Nicolas Khandar adding 32yds, 1TD (rushing) for added measure; Austin Mitchell meanwhile was the recipient of a pair of Henderson throws, 35yds and 51yds respectively.

As for the RAVENS, theirs was a more routine win, when in Switzerland, against the winless Mercenaries, and with the damage mainly having been done in the first quarter; Russell Tabor posted 58yds, 1TD (passing) and 20yds, 2TDs (rushing) in a quieter showing for the visiting quarterback, with Benedikt Pohler also adding a rushing score of his own for stats of 120yds, 1TD.

Josiah Norwood replied with the bulk of the mercenaries scoring, posting 102yds, 2TDs (passing), and 123yds, 1TD (rushing), Ismael Schmid the recipient of his two TD passes.

BATTLE OF THE BIG CATS GOES IN FAVOUR OF THE PANTHERS AGAINST THE LIONS WROCLAW PANTHERS (5-3) visited Prague Lions (4-4) in Sunday’s closing encounter, and registered their fifth win of the season with a battling, 41-37 success, thanks to a late surge and a fourth quarter shutout.

Although the Panthers led 21-16 at half-time, the Lions clawed themselves into a 38-27 advantage at the end of the third quarter, and looking like they’d go on to win, however, a pair of FGs from Jakab Aldas (44yds and 30yds) and a very late, rushing TD from DJ Irons, gave the visitors a stunning, turn-around win.

Irons actually opened the game-scoring as well, hitting Kacper Jaszewski from nine yards out in the first quarter, the visiting QB going on to post stats of 185yds, 2TDs (passing) and 153yds, 2TDs (rushing) in a busy showing, Dawid Brzozowski (see below) adding 79yds, 1TD (rushing) himself. 

Replying, Javarian Smith was on-hand with 327yds, 1TD (passing) and 59yds, 2TDs (rushing), for the Lions, Adam Zouzelka adding 90yds, 1TD (rushing) also. 

BRZOZOWKSI CONTINUES TO ROAR FOR THE PANTHERS Polish running back, 22-year-old DAWID BRZOZOWSKI, is having an impressive, MVP-calibre season for the Wroclaw Panthers, and, in the win over Prague Lions, continued to show why he remains in the reckoning.

In his fourth campaign with the Panthers, Brzozowski is now closing in on 50 appearances for his home franchise, constantly building as each season progresses; this season has seen impressive, with the ailing Cologne Centurions feeling the full force over the two meetings.

In week five (won 57-3 in Cologne) he posted 146yds, 2TDs (rushing), whilst week eight (won 54-2 in Wroclaw) saw 88yds, 4TDs (rushing), they’d be glad to see the back of him; overall, his TDs and yardage have shown in the league statistics as well.

Brzozowski’s 79yds, 1TD (rushing) in the Panthers’ last outing, the win over the Lions, sees the RB leading the Rushing TDs leaderboard with 11TDs, and sitting fourth in Rushing Yards with 609yds to his name, just 35yds off second place Chrisman Kyei (Madrid Bravos, 644yds), and just nine yards off Lukas Haslwanter (Raiders Tirol, 618yds).

BEAULIEU AND BOTELLA CONTINUE BREWING UP A STORM Statistics don’t lie and the powerhouse pairing at NORDIC STORM, WR BRENDAN BEAULIEU and TE ADRIA BOTELLA, continue to ride high in the receiving charts, chasing down the effective Madrid Bravos star, Arron Cruickshank.

Although Cruickshank seems to be storming ahead, the Storm duo is quietly going about their business, the former in second place in both Receiving Yards, and Receiving TDs, registering 935yds and 11TDs respectively, whilst the latter is joint second, with his team-mate, on 11TDs, this campaign.

So far this season Beaulieu has registered 935yds, 11TDs, whilst Botella, who is with his fifth franchise in five seasons, has 276yds, 11TDs, with their last outing, the narrow win against visiting Rhein Fire, seeing them post the following, receiving stats – 127yds, 1TD (Beaulieu), and 42yds, 1TD (Botella).  

KICKERS DESERVE A SHOUT-OUT AS TIMO BRONN SHOWS HIS METTLE Like the afore-mentioned Brzozowski, Stuttgart Surge’s kicker, TIMO BRONN, is having an MVP-inspired season, but this with the boot.

Showing impressive accuracy and range, the 26-year-old German who has an MSc of Chiropractic qualification from Welsh Institute of Chiropractic played for Stuttgart Scorpions prior to joining the Surge, with his university education sandwiched between two years with the latter.

This season has seen Bronn make ten of twelve FG attempts, whilst also added 36 PATs from 45 attempts for an impressive, 80%+ success rate make 4 from 7 PATs in his last outing the win away to Frankfurt Galaxy, whilst his best outings have been against Cologne Centurions (week six), and Fehervar Enthroners (week eight).  

After week nine, Bronn leads the kicking chart with 66 points, 18 ahead of the next best, Madris Bravos; Alvaro Penas.

We’re heading into WEEK TEN now, and there’s still so much to play for as the jostling for a play-off berth heats up; the Vienna Vikings (7-1) have a top weekend, opening proceedings with a trip to Poland and the Wroclaw Panthers (5-3), the hosts certainly looking to strengthen their chances. Sunday meanwhile kicks off with the only, undefeated franchise, Nordic Storm (7-0), in Germany against Berlin Thunder (3-5), which could be a banana skin for their hopes, whilst Paris Musketeers (5-3) and Stuttgart Surge (6-2) clash in Germany, and Prague Lions (4-4) entertain the winless, Fehervar Enthroners (0-7).

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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