Today is the day that every American football fan in Belgium has been waiting for. The day of Belgian Bowl XXVIII.
This year the Belgian Bowl turned into a matchup of two teams from Brussels. The Brussels Black Angels will play against the Brussels Tigers. Apart from being rivals because they play in the same city, the Black Angels are looking for revenge after losing to the Tigers in last years’ semi-finals. Both teams are still undefeated this year and that makes the match-up even more interesting. Both teams will give the best of themselves in the Puyenbeke Stadium tomorrow.
Yassine Hartman
For both teams, moving the ball on the ground will be a challenge. Both the Black Angels and the Tigers prided themselves on stopping the run during the regular season. The Tigers hope to have some flexibility with their 3-4 defense to stop both the run and the pass. They will have their hand full though against strong fullback Mwamba Rudy and fast halfback Sam Bangamuabo. Not only the ground game will be a problem for the Tigers defense. The Black Angels have quarterback Kevin Noël under center, protected by one of the best offensive lines of Belgium. But the Black Angels’ offensive line will have switch it up to stop the deadly A-gap blitzes which were a big problem against the Ostend Pirates in the semi-finals.
For the Tigers, American quarterback Marshall Kontos will start. Their backfield is made complete by running backs Yassine Hartman and Thomas Allison. They, and the Tigers offensive line, will have a lot of trouble against the best defensive line in Belgium where defensive end Reda Vranken and defensive tackle Issiaka Sanogo make the plays. The Black Angels defensive backs Guillaume Cerfontaine, Kevin Van de Wiele and Hadrien Godichal will, according to Angels quarterback Noël, have a tough matchup against the American quarterback of the Tigers and his wide receivers Amouh Mohamed and Gilles Desaever.
The game promises to be a great matchup between two pass happy teams. It remains to be seen if the Tigers will win the Belgian Bowl for the third time in four years or if the Black Angels will crown themselves victorious for the first time in their existence.
Kick-off is at 7p CET in the Puyenbeke Stadium in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.
Tickets are available via www.belgianbowl.be