Austria: Dragons, Panthers pulling away as midpoint of season looms

The Austrian Football League is approaching the midpoint of the regular season and there is already a separation with a clear indication of where the power is.

The Danube Dragons and Prague Black Panthers both remained unbeaten to stay on top of the standings this past weekend while the Telfs Patriots are right behind after the weekend’s games. The Mödling Rangers are vastly improved over 2021 and not far behind and the Znojmo Knights notched their first win of the season.

Znojmo Knights (1-3) 28 – Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants (1-3) 26

The Znojmo Knights secured their first win of the season this past Saturday when they took down the Giants in Graz 28-26.  Znojmo jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and never let Graz tie it up or take the lead again.  This game was fairly even on the stat sheet, as both teams gained a similar number of yards, and even scored the same number of touchdowns.  However, a Graz missed extra point in the first half proved to be the difference, as they were unable to make up for it with a two-point conversion.  Knights quarterback Christopher Howard went 10/20 yards for 232 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception in his team’s victory, while Giants quarterback Tyrone Williams went 27/41 for 258 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception in defeat.

Telfs Patriots (3-1) 49 – Dacia Vikings (3-1) 42

In a high-scoring battle, the Telfs Patriots took down the Dacia Vikings 49-42 at home.  Patriots quarterback Aaron Ellis had an amazing performance, completing 16 of 21 passes for 339 yards with a whopping 7 touchdowns while not throwing an interception.  Ravon Johnson also had a monster day receiving, catching 8 passes for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Theodor Landstrom had 3 catches for 114 yards and 1 touchdown and Thomas Langecker had 3 catches for 59 yards and 3 touchdowns.  On the other side, the Vikings used more of a ground attack, as running back Devontae Jordan racked up 210 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries.  Vikings quarterback Nico Hrouda went 18/28 for 251 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception, while Daniel Schwam led the way in receiving with 103 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 catches.  The Vikings dropped their first game of the season in the defeat, falling to 3-1, while the Patriots improved to 3-1 with the win.

Danube Dragons (5-0) 42 – Swarco Raiders Tirol (0-4) 0

The Danube Dragons continued their undefeated season over the weekend, moving to 5-0 with a dominating 42-0 victory on the road against the Raiders in Innsbruck.  Quarterback Chad Jeffries had a fantastic day for the Dragons, completing 15 of 20 passes for 273 yards along with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, while adding 43 yards and a touchdown on the ground.  His favorite target was his fellow import Camron Lewis, who recorded 5 catches for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Lukas Gold had 2 catches for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns as well.  The Danube defense was extremely stout, shutting out the Raiders, limiting quarterback Isaiah Weed to just 54 yards passing and forcing a pair of fumbles.  Brian Peavy all but put the game out of reach when he returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown, making the score 28-0.

Other scores

Mödling Rangers (3-2) 28 – Salzburg Ducks (0-4) 26

Prague Black Panthers (4-0) 38 – Traun Steelsharks (1-3) 7