Germany’s Braunschweig New Yorker Lions open Big6 with tough win over La Courneuve Flash

The Braunschweig New Yorker Lions, defending and back-to-back-to-back Eurobowl champions, opened the defense of their 2017 title by beating reigning French champions, the La Courneuve Flash in Paris 10-6 in the opening round of Big6 action.

In their very first game of 2018, the Lions faced a La Courneuve squad that had already played six games in the French league and were already battle seasoned.

Braunsschweig quarterback Jadrian Clark completed 20 of 36 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Niklas Romer caught 11 passes for 119 yards while Justus Holtz hauled in two for 89 including a 73 yard touchdown pass. Running back Lennies McFerren had 50 yards rushing on 17 carries and caught two passes for 17 yards.

Paul Durand threw for 142 yards and scored the lone touchdown for the Flash on a five yard run. Nicolas Khandar carried the ball 13 times for 75 yards to lead all Flash rushers.

The Lions took an early 3-0 lead on a field goal and it wasn’t until the third quarter that Durand engineered a scoring drive capping it with a five yard plunge to give the Flash a 6-3 lead.

Trailing 6-3 in the fourth quarter and pinned deep in their own zone, Braunschweig struck as Clark caught the corner looking inside and Holtz showed his speed racing past him for a 73 yard touchdown.

Lions defensive back Tissi Robinson sealed the win with a beautiful interception of a deep Durand pass.

The Lions now face the Amsterdam Crusaders in April 28 while La Courneuve will take on the Frankfurt Universe on the same day. The Universe downed Amsterdam 40-9 in their Big6 game.

Check out game highlights