Austria: Danube Dragons secure comfortable win over Mödling Rangers to advance to 3rd in the standings

In the only game played in the Austrian Football League this past weekend, the Danube Dragons, defending Austrian Football League champions, exploded for five first half touchdowns and then cruised to a 38-0 win over the visiting Mödling Rangers in a game that was hampered by driving rain.

Dragons quarterback Alexander Thury threw for 185 yards and four touchdowns while his backup, Lukas Schramm completed three passes for 32 yards and another score. Steve McShane led all receivers with three catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns while Moritz Dungler had two receptions for 49 yards and a score and Bernhard Ruscher three for 43 and two touchdowns. Maneo Böck rushed for 66 yards while Manuel Chytilek had10 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Rangers quarterback Shazzon Mumphrey completed just nine of 31 passes for 145 yards and was picked off three times. Benjamin Spieler had four catches for 65 yards while Simon Kalkhofer recorded three for 31 and Noel Michael Kruppa one for 41.

Danube racked up 395 yards of offense compared to the Rangers‘ 129.

McShane opened the scoring on the third play from scrimmage hauling in a 56 yard touchdown pass from Thury. Then the Danube defense made its presence known forcing a fumble on Mödling’s first play and recovering the ball on the Rangers 19 yard line. Chytilek scored on the very next play to extend the lead to 13-0.

Neither team was able to find the end zone again until early in the second quarter when Thury capped a five play, 78 yard drive with a 12 yard touchdown pass to Ruscher, increasing the lead to 19-0 after a second PAT was missed.

A failed Rangers fourth down attempt on the very next possession gave Danube the ball on the Mödling 34 yard line and Thury made no mistake hitting Dungler for another touchdown to boost the lead to 25-0. Then with time winding down in the first half, Thury threw a seven yard scoring pass to McShane and Danube went into the locker room up 31-0.

Early in the third period, Schramm stepped in for Thury on the second Danube play from scrimmage and immediately connected with Ruscher for a 12 yard score. This time the PAT worked and the Dragons went up 38-0.

With the Rangers unable to mount successful scoring drives the rest of the way, Danube seemed content to extend their drives and eat up the clock.

With the win, Danube improves to 2-1 while the Rangers fall to 1-3.

Danube head coach Fred Armstrong was satisfied with the win:

“We played well on both offense and defense. The weather was another challenge that we overcame. We are happy to get the win but now a tough game against Graz awaits us next week.”