The Dacia Vienna Vikings defeated the Swarco Raiders for the first time in two years Saturday in Vienna with a resounding 31-14 win.
With a crowd of 2,214 looking on, the Vikings rolled up 463 yards of offense and used a bend-but-don’t-break defense to keep the powerful Raiders in check. The win catapults the Vikings into first place in the Austrian Football League.
Vienna quarterback Kevin Burke completed 28 of 36 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns.Wide receiver Maruice Wappl caught 10 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown while Bernard Seikovits caught six for 95 yards and a score and Santino Schlimpert grabbed six for 91 yards. Burke also rushed eight times for 60 yards and added another touchdown. Bernhard Raimann scored a touchdown as well.
Raiders quarterback Sean Shelton had a mediocre day for him throwing for 260 yards and two touchdowns on 16 of 32 passing. Tobia Bonatti and Adrian Platzgummer had a receiving touchdown apiece for Swarco.
The Vikings opened the scoring on their first drive when Burke found Seikovits from eight yards out. The score remained 7-0 until early in the second period when Shelton connected with Bonatti for a 32 yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. Burke responded two possessions later hitting Wappl with a 20 yard touchdown pass with four minutes left in the half.
Raiders WR Simon Unterrainer hauls in a Sean Shelton pass
Vienna added a field goal with less than 30 seconds to go to take a 17-7 halftime lead.
Swarco wasted no time in the second half as less than two minutes in, Shelton threw a 48 yard touchdown pass to Platzgummer to close the gap to 17-14.
And then Vienna’s defense took over. First Burke marched the Vikings on a four and a half minute drive capping it with a three yard touchdown pass to Raimann to increase the lead to 24-14. And then the defense allowed Swarco only two first downs before the offense scored again as Burke carried the ball in from the six yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Vienna a 31-14 lead.
Swarco squandered a chance to narrow the lead but could not punch the ball in from the Vienna six yard line early in the fourth. The Raiders final drive ended on Vienna’s 39 yard line and the Vikings then held on to the ball for the final three and a half minutes with Burke taking a knee to end the game.