AFI’s Recap features scores from across Europe

AFI | AAB 89ers | 09/02/2021

Graphic: Igor Lazarevic

Weekends continue to be jam-packed with American football in Europe.

This past weekend, the Danish Nationalligaen wound up its regular season with two games while the European League of Football had four games and it approaches the end of its season. Meanwhile, the Finnish Maple League regular season ended with two games and the Swiss National League featured two games with two more rounds remaining before the playoffs.

Danish Nationalligaen

The Søllerød Gold Diggers (3-1) held onto top spot in the Danish Nationalligaen with a 48-18 pounding of the Triangle Razorbacks (0-4).

The Copenhagen Towers broke open a tight 22-14 football game outscoring the AaB 89ers 24-12 in the second half to go on to a 46-26 win and keep pace with the Gold Diggers in the Danish Nationalligaen standings.

European League of Football

The Wroclaw Panthers improved their record in the ELF to 5-4 with a 35-12 win over the Berlin Thunder (2-7). With the victory, Wroclaw will now face the Leipzig Kings this coming weekend for the fourth and final playoff berth.

The Leipzig Kings (5-4) overcame a 17-0 halftime deficit, scoring 18 unanswered points in the final two quarters of play to defeat the Hamburg Sea Devils and set themselves up for a chance at the playoffs.

The Frankfurt Galaxy (8-1) took a 22-6 lead over the Barcelona Dragons (3-7) going into the fourth quarter only to watch the Dragons storm back with a touchdown and two-point conversion. But the Galaxy held on to post their 8th win of the inaugural season with one game left.

The Cologne Centurions moved to a 5-4 record with one game left in the ELF season in beating the Stuttgart Surge (2-7) 19-9. The Centurions had fallen behind 9-0 midway through the second quarter before staging a comeback.

Finnish Maple League

The Seinäjoki Crocodiles (4-4) broke open a 14-14 halftime tie against the Helsinki Roosters (6-2), scoring 20 unanswered third-quarter points and then holding on for a 44-22 win in the final game of the regular season in the Maple League. The Crocodiles will now take on the first place Kuopio Steelers in the Maple League semifinals this weekend while Helsinki will face the Porvoo Butchers.

The Porvoo Butchers scored 13 straight second-half points to overcome a 12-7 United Newland Crusaders halftime lead to down UNC 20-12 in their final game of the regular season. The Butchers move on to face the Helsinki Roosters in the Maple League semifinals this coming weekend.

German Football League

The unbeaten Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (9-0) solidified their spot atop the GFL South standings by shutting out the second place Saarland Hurricanes (7-2) 28-0. Unicorns’ RB John Santiago rushed for 126 yards and 1 TD to pace his team.

The Munich Cowboys (5-4) jumped out to a 27-3 halftime lead over the winless Frankfurt Universe (0-8) and then cruised to an easy 34-3 victory. Munich now needs to defeat the Allgäu Comets this weekend and hope for the Ravensburg Razorbacks to lose to the Saarland Hurricanes to claim the fourth and final playoff spot in the GFL.

The Braunschweig New Yorker Lions (5-4) atoned for an embarrassing 50-3 loss to the Potsdam Royals (7-2) six weeks ago in soundly beating the Royals 35-20 in Potsdam. With the win, the Lions stayed ahead of the Cologne Crocodiles in the GFL North standings with one game left in the season.

The GFL North leading Dresden Monarchs (8-1) made short work of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (2-8) rolling out to a 28-7 lead at halftime en route to a decisive 49-19 win.

The Cologne Crocodiles (5-4) kept pace with the New Yorker Lions in the GFL North standings with one game left by beating the Berlin Rebels (1-9) 20-7.

After spotting the Marburg Mercenaries(2-7) a 6-0 first-quarter lead, the Allgäu Comets (6-2) scored four touchdowns in the second period and went on to defeat the Mercenaries 41-12. Comets RB Glen Toonga rushed for 114 yards and 2 TDs to remain the 2nd leading rusher in the country.

Swiss National League

The Bern Grizzlies (5-1) stayed right behind the first place Calanda Broncos in the Swiss standings with a 17-0 shut out of the Winterthur Warriors (3-4) with two games to go in the regular season.