Around the Continent: Roger’s Corner – September 4th, 2014
Three championships coming up as finalists decided; Adler back in hunt!
[su_dropcap]T[/su_dropcap]he German Football League playoff race suddenly became very interesting this past weekend. The Berlin Adler (Europe #9), with a bend-but-don’t-break defense, turned back the powerful Dresden Monarchs (Europe #3) 28-17. A day earlier the Cologne Falcons (Europe #14) had beaten the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 28-20. With those two upsets, Cologne leads the Adler by a game but Berlin has a game in hand and these two face each other for the final playoff spot this weekend. Read more in the Germany section.
The top three spots in the North are secure but the order of three and four is still not certain. Should Cologne beat the Adler, they finish third by virtue of their defeat of Kiel both times they met this year. In the South the Munich Cowboys are battling to stay alive but Saarland could overtake them and in the event of a tie the Hurricanes have the edge in the two meetings between the teams.
The Swedish semifinals saw one minor upset and another unexpected blowout as both Carlstad and Orebro advanced to the Swedish final. The Carlstad Crusaders had an easy time of it roaring past Kristianstad 64-7 while Orebro took an early 19-0 lead and hung on to win 19-13. The Swedish championships will be this Sunday televised live in Sweden and streamed live. The Finnish playoffs are scheduled for September 6-7. In Denmark the playoffs don’t start until late in September as is the case in Germany as well. And finally in Russia, the two Russian finalists were decided.
We have added a section on Russia.
The Top 20 will be delayed another week.
Here then is what happened around the rest of the continent last weekend.
Austria
The Austrian final last month, Austrian Bowl XXX, was a thriller for the ages as the Vienna Vikings (Europe #2) and the Swarco Raiders (Europe #4) battled to a 17-17 tie in regulation time. Vienna scored the only touchdown in overtime to win its third straight Austrian title 24-17. Read the game recap here.
Belgium
Belgian Bowl XXVII saw a new champion crowned in July as the Ghent Gators made no mistake handing the defending champion the Brussels Tigers a 38-0 pummeling. This was the first ever title win for the Gators and they did it on their first try. Read the game recap HERE!
