CEFL: Kragujevac Wild Boars pull away from Koc Rams for big win

Serbia’s defending champion Kragujevac Wild Boars took the first step in reaching the Central European Football League title game by downing the reigning Turkish champions, the Koc Rams 53-36 Saturday in Kragujevac.

This was the third straight year that these two teams have met in the first round of the CEFL tournament and the second time Kragujevac has prevailed.

The Wild Boars broke open a tight 29-29 ball game, scoring three second half touchdowns and a field goal to pull away for the win.

Kragujevac quarterback Jake Sisson threw five touchdown passes, four of them to game MVP Pedro Medici and ran another one in himself, while Nebojša Mirković scored on a fumble recovery.  Stefan Borković also scored on a touchdown reception. Petar Goic kicked six extra points and added a two-point conversion.

For the Rams, quarterback David Whipple threw three touchdown passes, two to British receiver Kris Wedderburn and one to Joshua Quezada while both Quezada and Wedderburn scored rushing touchdowns. Mehmet Sarikatipoglu kicked four extra points while Whipple added a two-point conversion.

Quezada opened the scoring for the Rams, plunging the ball in from the three yard line but Medici answered for Kragujevac on a 23 yard pass reception.

Early in the second quarter, Wedderburn gave the Rams a 14-7 lead, hauling in a 55 yard bomb from Whipple.

That lead was short-lived though as Sisson called his own number on the next possession and scampered 63 yards for a touchdown to tie the game up at 14-14.

Whipple, under constant pressure from the Wild Boars front seven, found himself in trouble again as Mirković  forced a fumble in the end zone and pounced on the ball to give Kragujevac the lead, 21-14.

Wedderburn proved his value to the Istanbul squad, finding a seam and racing 63 yards to tie the game again, 21-21.

Sisson capped another drive, connecting with Medici from the four yard line with Goic adding a two point convert for a 29-21 Wild Boars lead, late in the second quarter.

The Rams equalized right before the half though as Whipple found Quezada for a 33 yard touchdown and then added the two-point conversion to tie the game at 29-29 at the break.

Kragujevac kicked into higher gear in the second half as Sisson found Medici from four yards out in the third quarter and hit Borković for a 44 yard touchdown to take a 43-29 lead early in the fourth. Wedderburn closed the gap to 43-36 with a terrific 30 yard touchdown reception but Medici was unstoppable, scoring again on an eight yard pass from Sisson late in the fourth. Sarikatipoglu kicked a 23 yard field goal late to finalize the score at 53-36.

Next up for the Wild Boars in CEFL play are the Wroclaw Panthers from Poland on May 11. The Panthers lost to Switzerland’s Calanda Broncos 27-3 in their first round game.

Source: Igor Lazarevic