Braunschweig New Yorker Lions capture 3rd straight Eurobowl title
The Braunschweig New Yorker Lions are the kings of Europe, again, after winning their third consecutive Eurobowl championship – Eurobowl XXXI – easily beating the Frankfurt Universe 55-14 in front of crowd of 7,200 disappointed fans in Frankfurt.
Lions quarterback Casey Therriault threw six touchdowns passes, four of them to wide receiver Nathaniel Morris, while Niklas Römer caught two and running back David McCants added two more touchdowns. Defensive back Tissi Robinson returned an interception for a touchdown and Tobias Goebel kicked eight extra points.
Receivers George Robinson and David Giron each scored a touchdown for Frankfurt.
New Yorker Lions QB, #11 Casey Therriault, (c) Karsten Reißner
The game opened with promise for the Universe but a fumble by otherwise sure-handed running back Silas Nacita on the New Yorker goal line was a portent of things to come for Frankfurt. Two possessions later, Therriault marched the Lions down to the Frankfurt one yard line and McCants scored his first touchdown on a seven yard run.
The next Frankfurt drive stalled and Therriault wasted no time hitting Römer on a 69 yard touchdown pass giving the Lions a 14-0 lead still in the first quarter. After that, Therriault and Morris went on a three-touchdown tear while the Frankfurt offense sputtered. By the time the dust settled late in the second quarter, the Lions held a 35-0 lead. Frankfurt quarterback Jeremy Dixon managed to find Robinson for a touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the first half to give Frankfurt some hope.
New Yorker Lions RB David McCants (c) Karsten Reißner
However, the nightmare continued for the Universe as Braunschweig scored two more touchdowns in under a minute. First, Therriault hit Morris again for a 64 yard touchdown restoring the 35 point lead, 42-7. And then Robinson picked off Dixon carrying the ball in from the 20 yard line giving the Lions a 48-7 lead at the half.
The third quarter saw Therriault commit his only mistake of the game, as Frankfurt linebacker Dustin Illetschko picked off the Braunschweig quarterback in the end zone, preventing a certain touchdown and allowing the Universe another chance. That drive stalled however on the Lions 32 yard line and Therriault took over again, this time engineering a time-eating drive capping it with an eight yard scoring pass to Römer.
New Yorker Lions WR Nathaniel Morris head for another TD (c) Karsten Reißner
With the score 55-7 in the fourth quarter, the Lions substituted liberally, with Therriault being replaced by Tom van Duijin and McCants by Patrick Papke. Frankfurt’s backup quarterback Sonny Weisshaupt threw a 19 yard touchdown pass to David Giron to round out the scoring.
The Lions then began celebrating their third straight Eurobowl title and fifth overall tying them with Austria’s Vienna Vikings for the most Eurobowl championships in history.
