Austria: Dacia Vienna Vikings win Battle of Vienna
The Dacia Vienna Vikings defeated cross-town rivals, the Danube Dragons 27-21 Saturday in almost 100 degree heat to come closer to clinching second place in the Austrian Football League standings and a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
This was was 19th time the Vikings have beaten Danube and all they need to clinch second place is a win over the Traun Steelsharks in the final game of the season.
Vikings QB Austin Herink, whose entire family of seven had traveled to Vienna from the USA for the game, had 15 completions in 19 attempts for 193 yards and two touchdowns. His key target was WR Maurice Wappl who finished with five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Bernhard Seikovits caught the ball three times for a total of 35 yards. Wide Receiver #14 Yannick Mayr closed the game with 2 catches for 29 yards and one TD.
Running back Andrew Spencer had a monster game rushing for 215 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries (9.9 yd per carry average).
Dragons QB Chad Jeffries threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns with Philipp Haun catching seven passes for 154 yards and two of those touchdowns. Felix Reisacher caught four passes for 54 yards and the third Danube touchdown.
Photo (c) Peter Kramberger
Dominant Vikings started fast
The Dacia Vikings jumped out to a 13-0 lead scoring two quick touchdowns with Andrew Spencer, being primarily used as a running back and wide receiver #14 Yannick Mayr scoring for the Vikings within the first two minutes. Jeffries answered late in the first, finding Haun to narrow the lead to 13-7. The second quarter was fiercely contested but ended without a score and Vienna took a 13-7 lead into the break.
In the second half it was WR Maurice Wappl and again Spencer, who provided a comfortable 27 to 7 lead for the Vikings with their touchdowns. Thanks to a strong finish in the fourth quarter, Danube scored twice more, culminating in the 27-21 score and continuing the Vikings’ winning streak against the Dragons.
Today’s most spectacular catch was #6 Maurice Wappl’s Touchdown in the third quarter. Photo (c) Petr Kramberger
Dacia Vienna Vikings head coach Chris Calaycay:
“It was a great, exciting and hot AFL game today. We started extremely strong, showed very good plays and never lost control over the game. But the Dragons fought and proved why this year they are dangerous at every stage of the game. Towards the end it was again close, but we played it smart and finally got the important victory here with a good run game. I’m proud of my team, and we’re happy about the second place in the AFL. This brings us a big step closer to an extra Bye Week on Wild Card Weekend.”
Source: Dacia Vienna Vikings
