It was another action-packed weekend of American football in Europe.
The German Football League featured 10 of the 14 teams in action while Finland’s Maple League saw three games. The Austrian Football League wound up the regular season for all but two teams while there were key playoffs games in Sweden, Poland and Italy.
The Hamburg Sea Devils were just too much for the Barcelona Dragons to handle in the European League of Football after taking a 32-0 lead and cruising to a 32-14 win.
In the final regular season Austrian Football League game for both teams, the Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants had no trouble with the Modling Rangers, pulling away early and downing them 38-10.
In other ELF action, in a torrential downpour in Frankfurt, the Frankfurt Galaxy relied on a solid ground game to defeat the previously unbeaten Wroclaw Panthers 22-13.
In this German Football League North battle, the Dresden Monarchs surprised the Potsdam Royals taking an early lead and holding on to defeat them 31-15.
The Cologne Crocodiles are beginning to look like a serious contender for the GFL North title after easily defeating the Berlin Rebels 34-6.
The SsangYong Danube Dragons surprised the Swarco Raiders, beating them 24-17 after capitalizing on five second half turnovers by the Raiders. It was only the third time the Dragons have beaten Swarco in the past 10 years.
The Berlin Thunder took advantage of a Stuttgart Surge team still looking for a new starting quarterback thumping the Surge 40-19
The Cologne Centurions scored a late touchdown and added a two-point conversion to defeat the hometown Leipzig Kings 48-47 in front of a crowd of 5,000 in Leipzig.
The Bydgoszcz Archers continued their unbeaten streak in the Polish Football League by whipping the Silesia Rebels Katowice 50-8 in their semifinal matchup this past weekend. With the win, the Archers advance to the Polish Bowl for the first time in their history.
The Helsinki Wolverines captured their first win of the Finnish Maple League season scoring two touchdowns in the last 37 seconds of the game to defeat the United Newland Crusaders 27-22.
The Tychy Falcons scored a minor upset in beating the favored Bialystok Lowlanders 34-15 in the Polish Football League semifinals to advance to the Polish Bowl for the first time in their history.
In Austria, the Dacia Vienna Vikings had no trouble dispensing the Prague Black Panthers 49-3 in their final game of the AFL season.
The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns simply manhandled the Stuttgart Scorpions from the opening whistle while rolling to a 82-0 thrashing of the GFL South opponents.
Playing without a true quarterback, the Stockholm Mean Machines used a powerful ground game to defeat the Carlstad Crusaders 16-14 in the Swedish Superserien semifinal and advance to the Swedish championship game.
In Finland’s Maple League, the Helsinki Roosters surprised the previously unbeaten Porvoo Butchers, jumping out to a 28-0 halftime lead and then cruising to a 42-14 victory.
In the Italian semifinals, the undefeated Parma Panthers were simply too good for the Firenze Guelfi, whipping them 55-20 to advance to the title game.
The Munich Cowboys scored two unanswered fourth quarter touchdowns to come from behind and defeat the Marburg Mercenaries in a German Football League South matchup.
The previously winless Kiel Baltic Hurricanes stunned the defending German Bowl champion Braunschweig New Yorker Lions, scoring a late touchdown to come from behind and earn a 34-31 win.
The Kuopio Steelers continue to look like title contenders in Finland’s Maple League after defeating the Seinäjoki Crocodiles 38-24 to improve to 2-0 in the standings.